John Sweets

John Sweets is Professor Emeritus of History, specializing in the Vichy France era, the French Resistance, and occupied France. He has taught 19th and 20th century European history at the University of Kansas, University College, Dublin (Ireland), The School of International Studies (Fort Bragg, NC), and at the Université de Franche-Comté, Besançon (France). John has received two NEH Fellowships for his research and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He has authored many works on France, including The Politics of Resistance in France (1976) and Choices in Vichy France (1986), and has edited four volumes of The Proceedings of the Western Society for French History (1982-85). His other current research interests include a case study of the Lacemakers of Le Puy in the 19th century and an investigation of France and the Holocaust.

Cassandra Potts Hannahs

Cassandra Potts Hannahs has enjoyed leading Smithsonian groups to Great Britain, France, and Ireland since 2000.  With a Ph.D. in medieval history, she was a tenured professor at Middlebury College in Vermont, where she taught courses on a wide range of subjects, from ancient history through the Reformation.  A Fulbright scholar and recipient of several grants, she has also spent considerable time living in France pursuing research.  Her publications include a book exploring the Viking settlement of Normandy in northern France during the 10th and 11th centuries, and the revival of monasticism that took place as the new rulers encouraged monks to return to the region after the Viking raids.  In her research and lectures, Cassandra explores the cultural and political exchanges that have historically linked Britain, France, Ireland, and Scandinavia. She looks forward to sharing her love and knowledge of these lands, their history, music, and literature, with Smithsonian Journeys travelers.

Mary O'Neill

Mary O'Neill is an accredited art appraiser who lectures regularly on all aspects of art history in Washington, DC. She has joined several Smithsonian Journeys voyages, acting as our art expert in destinations from Mexico to Europe and the Middle East. Mary has published articles in several national publications, including Smithsonian Magazine's cover story for September 2001, Virtue and Beauty: The Renaissance Image of the Ideal Woman.

William Keylor

Bill Keylor is Professor of History and International Relations in the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, where he served four consecutive terms as chairman of the Department of History from 1988 to 2000 and currently directs the University’s International History Institute. Bill received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University and his M.A. and Ph.D in European History from Columbia University.  He has been the recipient of Fulbright, Woodrow Wilson, and Guggenheim Fellowships and was named Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite by the French Government. He has also received three teaching awards at Boston University.

Bill has lived and worked France, has served as a consultant to the Museum of Peace at Caen, and has been a visiting professor of the Institute of Political Studies of Paris (Sciences-Po). He has lectured on many Smithsonian tours and cruises since the late 1970s. 

Bill’s publications include dozens of articles and book chapters as well as two books on the history of France.  He is also the author of The Twentieth-Century World: An International History (6th edition, Oxford University Press, 2011) and A World of Nations: The International Order since World War II  (2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 2009).