Academia Hernando Closes Spring Series with 1960s Lecture, Dalí Museum Trip
James Goeb, a 39-year classroom veteran, closed Academia Hernando's spring season with a sweeping look at the 1960s, from Woodstock to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Academia Hernando wrapped up its Spring 2026 lecture series Wednesday, March 11, with a presentation spanning some of the most consequential moments in modern American history, from the Space Race to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, all delivered by a historian who spent nearly four decades teaching those same events to high school students.
The final program, titled "1960s: The Years That Shaped a Generation," began at 10 a.m. in Spring Hill and was presented by James Goeb, a longtime educator and historian who earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of South Florida after relocating from the Midwest. Goeb spent 39 years teaching high school social science, specializing in American and World History with a particular focus on World War II, making him a fitting guide through a decade that redrew the boundaries of American political and cultural life.
The lecture examined the 1960s as a period of sweeping social change, political upheaval and cultural revolution, exploring how the decade challenged traditional values and reshaped how Americans viewed themselves and the world around them. Goeb's presentation covered the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, civil rights, feminism, pop culture, television, the Great Society, Woodstock and the political climate of the era, reflecting on both the excitement and the turmoil of a decade that left a lasting imprint on modern society.
Subscribers to the full spring series received an added benefit beyond the eight lectures: a guided bus excursion to the Salvador Dalí Museum. The $90 per-person series subscription covered all eight lectures and the museum trip, with no substitutions permitted.
The nonprofit organization behind the series is marking a significant milestone. Academia Hernando, which offers adult-education lecture programming to county residents, is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary. The group plans to extend that milestone year into the fall, with a Fall Lecture Series scheduled to run from September 16 through November 11, 2026.
Those interested in subscribing to the fall series can mail checks to Ramona Des Lauriers at 15417 Sonora Drive, Brooksville, FL 34604. For additional information, call 352-515-1822.
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