The New Netherland Institute held its 31st Rensselaerswijck Seminar, a one-day conference on Saturday, September 13, 2008, in the Huxley Theater of the Cultural Education Center at the Empire State Plaza in Albany, NY. The theme was the relationship between the Dutch and French in 17th-century North America. The following speakers will explore various aspects of this relationship, including direct and indirect contacts between these two European trading powers both in Europe and in the New World. Major attention will focus on interactions of these European powers and their respective Indian allies.

James Bradley, ArchLink, Boston, MA (Play an excerpt)

José António Brandão, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI

Willem Frijhoff, Free University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Joyce Goodfriend, University of Denver, CO

Conrad Heidenreich, York University, Ontario, Canada