Charles Ingrao

Charlie Ingrao, a popular Smithsonian Journeys Expert, is professor emeritus of history at Purdue University, where he has taught a wide range of courses on the European world.  Several of his thirteen books focus on German history, including The Hessian Mercenary State and The Germans & the East. Two Fulbrights and a fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation have enabled him to spend four years living and working in German-speaking Europe. 

Adam Tanner

A writer who spent much of his career as a foreign correspondent, Adam Tanner has long studied the impact of colonialism, empire and globalization as a foreign correspondent, author and lecturer, with a special focus on the enduring impact of Europe on the rest of the world. He was a Nieman fellow and then associate at Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science from 2011-18.

He served as a Reuters news agency correspondent from 1995-2011, including as bureau chief for the Balkans (2008-2011), San Francisco bureau chief (2003-2008), and correspondent in Berlin, Moscow and Washington D.C.  He is one of America's leading experts on privacy and the commercialization of personal information and author of What Stays in Vegas: The World of Personal Data-Lifeblood of Big Business-and the End of Privacy as We Know It (2014) and Our Bodies, Our Data: How Companies Make Billions Selling Our Medical Records (Jan. 2017). 

He has appeared on CNN, Bloomberg TV, MSNBC, CNBC, NPR, the BBC and VOA; written for magazines including Scientific American, Forbes, Fortune, Time, MIT Technology Review, the Boston Globe and Slate; and has lectured in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.

Hugh Neighbour

Hugh Neighbour brings many years of experience as a diplomat for the U.S. and an officer in the U.S. Navy, mostly working overseas.  Specialized in political and economic affairs, he was posted in Latin America, Asia/Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and North America.  Hugh was awarded the Secretary of State’s Career Achievement Award as well as a number of Department of State awards for distinguished service. 

Since retiring from the U.S. State Department in 2010, Hugh has worked as a consultant in both Washington and overseas, served as an official observer for several elections overseas, and lectured aboard high-end cruise ships. Several times a year, Hugh directs a course in advanced foreign area studies to select groups in the Washington region.  Hugh will offer a fresh, up-to-date perspective on the history, culture, and current affairs of the fascinating peoples and places you will visit.