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Event Series

Director's Seminar

Chair

Grzegorz Ekiert
Grzegorz Ekiert
Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Director (2012-2023), Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
 

Grzegorz Ekiert and Karen Donfried in conversation on Transatlantic Relations on March 7, 2016.

This flagship seminar series, chaired by the CES director throughout the academic year, highlights cutting-edge topics that often reflect breaking news and current issues affecting Europe with a year-long cycle of lectures and panel discussions. Subjects are examined from a range of disciplinary perspectives and the series brings together faculty and scholars from Harvard and other institutions as well as politicians and practitioners of public policy. Past seminars have examined human rights, Eurozone challenges and Greece’s economic crisis.

Peter Maurer, President, International Committee of the Red Cross, March 23, 2016

Series Events Calendar

An Address by H.E. George Gerapetritis, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic Director's Seminar — An Address by H.E. George Gerapetritis, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic
September 25, 2023
11:30am - 12:45pm
  • George Gerapetritis – Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hellenic Republic
  • Chair Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Director (2012-2023), Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Europe at War Director's Seminar — Europe at War
April 14, 2022
11:00am - 12:00pm
  • Radosław Sikorski – Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Poland
  • Angela Stent – Director, Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies & Professor of Government and Foreign Service, Emerita, Georgetown University; Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
  • Chair Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Director (2012-2023), Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Combating Racism in Europe: What Role do Legislators Play? Director's Seminar — Combating Racism in Europe: What Role do Legislators Play?
May 6, 2021
10:15am - 11:15am
  • Christiane Taubira – Minister of Justice of France (2012-2016)
  • Aminata Touré – Vice President, Schleswig-Holstein Parliament
  • Chair Mary D. Lewis – Robert Walton Goelet Professor of French History, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Seminar Co-chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Race and Remembrance in Contemporary Europe Director's Seminar — Race and Remembrance in Contemporary Europe
October 21, 2020
2:00pm - 3:00pm
  • Mame-Fatou Niang – Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies, Department of Modern Languages, Carnegie Mellon University
  • Ana Lucia Araujo – Professor of History, Howard University
  • Chair Mary D. Lewis – Robert Walton Goelet Professor of French History & CES Resident Faculty, Harvard University
Poland’s Constitutional Breakdown: Authoritarian Populism Today Director's Seminar — Poland’s Constitutional Breakdown: Authoritarian Populism Today
March 4, 2020
4:30pm - 6:00pm
  • Wojciech Sadurski – Challis Professor in Jurisprudence, University of Sydney; Sidley Austin–Robert D. McLean Visiting Professor of Law, Yale Law School
  • Vlad Perju – Professor, Boston College Law School; Local Affiliate, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
  • Jacek Zakowski – Director, Department of Journalism, Collegium Civitas; Journalist and Author
  • Chair Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Director (2012-2023), Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
The Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk: Crossroads of History, Memory and Politics CES 50th Anniversary Events Series — The Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk: Crossroads of History, Memory and Politics
February 13, 2020
4:30pm - 6:00pm
  • Pawel Machcewicz – Professor of History, Institute of Political Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences; Director of the Museum of the Second World War (2008-2017)
  • David Armitage – Lloyd C. Blankfein Professor of History, Harvard University; CES Faculty Associate, Harvard University
  • Ewa Lajer-Burcharth – William Dorr Boardman Professor of Fine Arts & Director of Graduate Studies, Department of History of Art and Architecture, Harvard University
  • Chair Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Director (2012-2023), Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Brexit: What Now? Director's Seminar — Brexit: What Now?
October 29, 2019
4:30pm - 6:00pm
  • Pippa Norris – McGuire Lecturer in Comparative Politics, Harvard Kennedy School; CES Faculty Associate, Harvard University
  • Sir Paul Tucker – Senior Fellow, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Research Fellow, Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, Harvard Kennedy School; Deputy Governor, The Bank of England (2009-2013)
  • Michael Rosen – Senator Joseph S. Clark Professor of Ethics in Politics and Government, Harvard University
  • Peter A. Hall – Krupp Foundation Professor of European Studies & CES Resident Faculty, Harvard University
  • Richard Tuck – Frank G. Thomson Professor of Government, Harvard University
  • Chair Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government & CES Director, Harvard University
The European Union's Authoritarian Equilibrium Director's Seminar — The European Union's Authoritarian Equilibrium
April 26, 2019
11:00am - 12:30pm
  • R. Daniel Kelemen – Professor of Political Science and Jean Monnet Chair in European Union Politics, Rutgers University
  • Chair Daniel Ziblatt – Eaton Professor of the Science of Government & CES Acting Director, Spring 2019, Harvard University
Puzzles of Populism Director's Seminar — Puzzles of Populism
April 10, 2019
2:30pm - 4:00pm
  • Stathis Kalyvas – Gladstone Professor of Government, University of Oxford
  • Chair Daniel Ziblatt – Eaton Professor of the Science of Government and Acting Director (Spring 2019), CES, Harvard University
Intimate Violence: Anti-Jewish Pogroms on the Eve of the Holocaust Director's Seminar — Intimate Violence: Anti-Jewish Pogroms on the Eve of the Holocaust
March 6, 2019
4:30pm - 6:00pm
  • Jason Wittenberg – Associate Professor of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley
  • Jeffrey Kopstein – Professor of Political Science, University of California, Irvine
  • Laia Balcells Ventura – Provost Distinguished Associate Professor, Georgetown University
  • Jeffrey Burds – Associate Professor of History, Northeastern University
  • Chair Daniel Ziblatt – Eaton Professor of the Science of Government & CES Acting Director, Spring 2019, Harvard University
Visegrad Contra Brussels: Europeanization Fatigue in New Europe Director's Seminar — Visegrad Contra Brussels: Europeanization Fatigue in New Europe
April 9, 2018
4:15pm - 6:00pm
Poland at the Crossroads Between Authoritarianism and Democracy Worldwide Week at Harvard - Director's Seminar — Poland at the Crossroads Between Authoritarianism and Democracy
October 24, 2017
4:15pm - 6:00pm
  • Jan Kubik – Professor of Political Science, Rutgers University; Professor of Slavonic and East European Studies, UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies University College London
  • Monika Nalepa – Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago
  • Karolina Wigura – Assistant Professor, Institute of Sociology, University of Warsaw; Member of the Board, Kultura Liberalna Foundation; Senior Fellow, Center for Liberal Modernity
  • Brian Porter-Szűcs – Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of History, University of Michigan
  • Chair Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Director (2012-2023), Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Perhapsburg: Reflections on the Fragility and Resilience of Europe Director's Seminar — Perhapsburg: Reflections on the Fragility and Resilience of Europe
April 7, 2017
2:15pm - 4:00pm
  • Ivan Krastev – Chairman, Center for Liberal Strategies, Sofia; Permanent Fellow, Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna (IWM)
  • Kim Lane Scheppele – Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Sociology and International Affairs, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and the University Center for Human Values, Princeton University
  • Chair Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Director (2012-2023), Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Reception following the Director's Seminar
September 14, 2016
6:00pm - 7:00pm
Brexit: The Beginning of the End or the End of the Beginning? Director's Seminar — Brexit: The Beginning of the End or the End of the Beginning?
September 14, 2016
4:15pm - 6:00pm
  • Jane Elizabeth Green – Professor of Political Science, Manchester University; Co-Director, 2015 British Election Study
  • Radosław Sikorski – Speaker of Parliament (2014-2015) and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland (2007-2014)
  • Richard Tuck – Frank G. Thomson Professor of Government, Harvard University
  • Chair Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Director, CES
EU Human Rights Foreign Policy and the Challenges Facing Europe Today CES Director's Seminar — EU Human Rights Foreign Policy and the Challenges Facing Europe Today
April 18, 2016
4:15pm - 6:00pm
  • Samuel Moyn – Chancellor Kent Professor of Law and History, Yale Law School
  • Jacqueline Bhabha – Director of Research & Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights, FXB Center of for Health and Human Rights, Harvard T. Chan School of Public Health; Jeremiah Smith Jr. Lecturer in Law, Harvard Law School; Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School; Faculty Associate, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
  • Stavros Lambrinidis – Ambassador of the European Union to the United States
  • Chair Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Director (2012-2023), Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
The Emerging European Disunion CES Director's Seminar — The Emerging European Disunion
April 11, 2016
4:15pm - 6:00pm
  • Jacques Rupnik – Senior Research Fellow, Sciences Po
  • Loukas Tsoukalis – Pierre Keller Visiting Professor, Harvard Kennedy School
  • Ed Balls – UK Shadow Chancellor (2011-2015); Senior Fellow, Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, Harvard Kennedy School of Government
  • Chair Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Director (2012-2023), Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
The Migration Crisis in the Mediterranean Region: A Humanitarian Perspective Director's Seminar — The Migration Crisis in the Mediterranean Region: A Humanitarian Perspective
March 29, 2016
4:15pm - 6:00pm
  • Peter Maurer – President, International Committee of the Red Cross
  • Melani Cammett – Clarence Dillon Professor of International Affairs, Department of Government, Harvard University; Director, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University; Faculty Affiliate, Middle East Initiative, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
  • Jennifer Leaning – Director, FXB Center for Health and Human Rights; Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
  • Introduction by Negeen Darani – Executive Director, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative
  • Chair Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Director (2012-2023), Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Europe facing Crisis, America facing Elections: What Future for Transatlantic Relations? CES Director's Seminar — Europe facing Crisis, America facing Elections: What Future for Transatlantic Relations?
March 7, 2016
4:15pm - 6:00pm
  • Karen Donfried – President, The German Marshall Fund of the United States
  • Chair Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Director (2012-2023), Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
What’s Next for Greece: The Economic and Political Alternatives What’s Next for Greece: The Economic and Political Alternatives
February 23, 2015
5:15pm - 7:00pm
  • Dimitris Keridis – Professor of International Relations, Panteion University of Athens; Member, Hellenic Parliament
  • Dante Roscini – MBA Class of 1952 Professor of Management Practice of Business Administration, Harvard Business School; Faculty Associate, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
  • Sir Paul Tucker – Senior Fellow, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Research Fellow, Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, Harvard Kennedy School; Deputy Governor, The Bank of England (2009-2013)
  • Moderated by Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Director (2012-2023), Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Troubles on the EU's Borders: The Ukraine Crisis Troubles on the EU's Borders: The Ukraine Crisis
November 13, 2014
5:15pm - 7:00pm
  • Gwendolyn Sasse – Professor of Comparative Politics, Oxford University
  • Lucan Way – Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto
  • Paul D'Anieri – Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor, University of California, Riverside
  • Moderated by Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Director (2012-2023), Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Germany's and Europe's Role in a Changing World Germany's and Europe's Role in a Changing World
April 3, 2014
4:15pm - 6:00pm
  • Guido Westerwelle – Former Vice Chancellor and Former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Germany
  • Chair Daniel Ziblatt – Eaton Professor of the Science of Government, Harvard University; Director, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Unit Director, Transformations of Democracy, WZB Berlin Social Science Center
Director's Seminar - Trouble in the Eurozone: Historical Views on the Once and Future Crisis Director's Seminar - Trouble in the Eurozone: Historical Views on the Once and Future Crisis
February 4, 2013
5:15pm - 7:00pm
  • Niall Ferguson – Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University; Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History, Harvard University; Senior Research Fellow, Jesus College, University of Oxford
  • Harold James – Claude and Lore Kelly Professor in European Studies; Professor of History and International Affairs, Princeton University; Director, Program in Contemporary European Politics and Society, Princeton University
  • Charles Maier – Leverett Saltonstall Research Professor of History, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Director (1994-2001), Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Director's Seminar: "Trouble in the Eurozone: Views on the Once and Future Crisis" Director's Seminar: "Trouble in the Eurozone: Views on the Once and Future Crisis"
November 29, 2012
5:15pm - 7:00pm
  • Michael D Kennedy – Professor of Sociology and International Studies, Brown University
  • Robert Fishman – Professor of Sociology, Kellogg Institute for International Studies, University of Notre Dame
  • Hilary Silver – Professor of Sociology, International Affairs, and Public Policy and Public Administration, The George Washington University
  • Jason Beckfield – Robert G. Stone Jr. Professor of Sociology, Harvard University; Faculty Associate, Minda de Gunzberg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Director's Seminar: "Trouble in the Eurozone: Views on the Once and Future Crisis" Director's Seminar: "Trouble in the Eurozone: Views on the Once and Future Crisis"
October 18, 2012
4:15pm - 6:00pm
  • Mark Blyth – Eastman Professor of Political Economy & Professor of Political Science and International and Public Affairs, Watson Institute, Brown University; Local Affiliate, CES, Harvard University
  • Peter A. Hall – Krupp Foundation Professor of European Studies, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Seminar Co-chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
  • Torben Iversen – Harold Hitchings Burbank Professor of Political Economy, Harvard University; Faculty Associate & Seminar Co-chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
  • Andrew Moravcsik – Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University
  • Jacques Rupnik – Senior Research Fellow, Sciences Po
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