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Event Series

Harvard Colloquium for Intellectual History


Founded in 2001, the Harvard Colloquium for Intellectual History sponsors visiting lectures, workshops, and conferences on diverse themes of interest to scholars in history, philosophy, political theory, literature, and the human sciences.


Series Events Calendar

Refugees (Not) Welcome: European Exile Scholars at Harvard in the 1930s and 1940s The Harvard Colloquium for Intellectual History — Refugees (Not) Welcome: European Exile Scholars at Harvard in the 1930s and 1940s
March 21, 2024
4:00pm - 5:30pm
  • Iryna Mykhailova – EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellow, Early Modern World, Harvard University; Research Grant Holder, Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice
  • Laurel Leff – Professor of Journalism, Northeastern University
  • Sebastian Musch – Alfred Landecker Lecturer, Department of History and the Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies (IMIS), Osnabrück University; Starr Fellow Spring 2024, Center for Jewish Studies, Harvard University
  • Chair Peter E. Gordon – Amabel B. James Professor of History, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Seminar Co-chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Faculty Affiliate, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, Harvard University; Faculty Affiliate, Department of Philosophy, Harvard University
The Rebel's Clinic: The Revolutionary Lives of Frantz Fanon – A Conversation with Adam Shatz Harvard Colloquium for Intellectual History — The Rebel's Clinic: The Revolutionary Lives of Frantz Fanon – A Conversation with Adam Shatz
January 24, 2024
3:00pm - 4:15pm
  • Adam Shatz – U.S. Editor, The London Review of Books; Visiting Professor, Bard College
  • Joelle Abi-Rached – Lecturer in History of Science, Harvard University; Mildred Londa Weisman Fellow, Harvard Radcliffe Institute
  • Jesse McCarthy – Assistant Professor of English and African and African American Studies, Harvard University; Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of African and African American Studies, Harvard University
Flaschenpost: Critical Theory at 100  – The European and American Reception, 1923-2023 |  Day 2 Flaschenpost: Critical Theory at 100 – The European and American Reception, 1923-2023
Harvard Colloquium for Intellectual History — Flaschenpost: Critical Theory at 100 – The European and American Reception, 1923-2023 | Day 2
October 7, 2023
8:30am - 6:30pm
  • Chair Peter E. Gordon – Amabel B. James Professor of History, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Seminar Co-chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Faculty Affiliate, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, Harvard University; Faculty Affiliate, Department of Philosophy, Harvard University and Maxim Pensky – Professor of Philosophy, Binghamton University; Co-Director, Institute of Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention, Binghamton University
Flaschenpost: Critical Theory at 100  – The European and American Reception, 1923-2023 | Day 1 Flaschenpost: Critical Theory at 100 – The European and American Reception, 1923-2023
The Harvard Colloquium for Intellectual History — Flaschenpost: Critical Theory at 100 – The European and American Reception, 1923-2023 | Day 1
October 6, 2023
8:30am - 6:00pm
  • Chair Peter E. Gordon – Amabel B. James Professor of History, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Seminar Co-chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Faculty Affiliate, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, Harvard University; Faculty Affiliate, Department of Philosophy, Harvard University and Maxim Pensky – Professor of Philosophy, Binghamton University; Co-Director, Institute of Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention, Binghamton University
Vulgar Marxism Harvard Colloquium on Intellectual History — Vulgar Marxism
April 11, 2023
4:00pm - 5:15pm
  • Edward Baring – Associate Professor of History and Human Values, Princeton University
  • Chair Charles Clavey – Lecturer on Social Studies, Harvard University; Seminar Co-chair & Thesis Workshop Organizer, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Translating Marx's Capital in the 21st Century: Notes on the New English Edition Harvard Colloquium for Intellectual History — Translating Marx's Capital in the 21st Century: Notes on the New English Edition
February 9, 2023
4:00pm - 5:30pm
  • Paul Reitter – Professor of History, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, The Ohio State University
  • Chair Peter E. Gordon – Amabel B. James Professor of History, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Seminar Co-chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Faculty Affiliate, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, Harvard University; Faculty Affiliate, Department of Philosophy, Harvard University
In the Wake: Exposing White German Abolitionist Performativity and the Limits of Empathy Harvard Colloquium on Intellectual History & Committee on Degrees in Social Studies — In the Wake: Exposing White German Abolitionist Performativity and the Limits of Empathy
November 10, 2022
4:30pm - 5:45pm
  • Obenewaa Oduro-Opuni – Assistant Professor of German Studies, University of Arizona
  • Chair Andrew Brandel – Lecturer on Social Studies, Harvard University; Seminar Co-chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
CANCELLED - Transatlantic Transfers of Political and Administrative Ideas in the 20th Century Harvard Colloquium for Intellectual History & Europe in the World Seminar — CANCELLED - Transatlantic Transfers of Political and Administrative Ideas in the 20th Century
April 14, 2020
4:30pm - 6:00pm
  • Sławomir Łukasiewicz – University Professor of Political Science, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin
  • Céline Mavrot – Postdoctoral Researcher and Project Leader, University of Bern
  • Fritz Sager – Full Professor, University of Bern; Visiting Scholar 2019-2020, CES, Harvard University
  • Taru Haapala – Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow, Autonomous University of Madrid; Visiting Scholar 2019-2020, CES, Harvard University
  • Chair David Armitage – Lloyd C. Blankfein Professor of History, Harvard University; Faculty Associate & Seminar Co-chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
CANCELLED - Psychoanalytic Reflections on a Fulfilled Life Harvard Colloquium on Intellectual History — CANCELLED - Psychoanalytic Reflections on a Fulfilled Life
April 7, 2020
5:00pm - 7:00pm
  • Joel Whitebook – Assistant Clinical Professor of Medical Psychology (in Psychiatry), Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research; Director, Columbia University Psychoanalytic Studies Program (2012-2017)
  • Chair Peter E. Gordon – Amabel B. James Professor of History & CES Resident Faculty and Seminar Co-chair, Harvard University
CANCELLED - Translating "Capital"? Harvard Colloquium for Intellectual History — CANCELLED - Translating "Capital"?
April 1, 2020
5:00pm - 6:30pm
  • Paul Reitter – Professor of History, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, The Ohio State University
  • Chair and Discussant Peter E. Gordon – Amabel B. James Professor of History & CES Resident Faculty and Seminar Co-chair, Harvard University
Confessions of the Flesh: Michel Foucault’s Final Volume of "The History of Sexuality" Harvard Colloquium for Intellectual History & European Politics Seminar — Confessions of the Flesh: Michel Foucault’s Final Volume of "The History of Sexuality"
December 5, 2019
9:00am - 6:00pm
  • James Bernauer, S.J. – Kraft Family Professor of Philosophy, Boston College
  • Julian Bourg – Associate Professor of History, Boston College; CES Local Affiliate & Seminar Co-chair, Harvard University
  • Rey Chow – Anne Firor Scott Professor of Literature, Duke University
  • Agustin Colombo – Postdoctoral Researcher, Boston College & University of Paris, VIII
  • Bernard Harcourt – Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law, Columbia Law School; École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS)
  • Lynne Huffer – Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Emory University
  • Mark D. Jordan – Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Christian Thought & Richard Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Divinity, Harvard Divinity School; Professor of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, Harvard University
  • Austin Sarfan – Graduate Student, Program in Literature, Duke University
  • Annabel Kim – Assistant Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures, Harvard University
  • Edward McGushin – Professor of Philosophy, Stonehill College
  • Durba Mitra – Assistant Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality and Carol K. Pforzheimer Assistant Professor, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University
American Liberalism in France: The French Reception of Rawls, 1971-2010 Harvard Colloquium for Intellectual History — American Liberalism in France: The French Reception of Rawls, 1971-2010
October 30, 2019
4:30pm - 6:00pm
  • Mathieu Hauchecorne – Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Paris 8
  • Chair David Armitage – Lloyd C. Blankfein Professor of History & CES Faculty Associate & Seminar Co-chair, Harvard University
Phenomenology and Religion - One-Day Workshop Harvard Colloquium for Intellectual History — Phenomenology and Religion - One-Day Workshop
October 11, 2019
9:00am - 6:45pm
  • Edward Baring – Associate Professor of History and Human Values, Princeton University
  • Francis Schüssler Fiorenza – Charles Chauncey Stillman Professor of Roman Catholic Theological Studies, Harvard Divinity School
  • Amy Hollywood – Elizabeth H. Monrad Professor of Christian Studies, Harvard Divinity School
  • Sean Kelly – Teresa G. and Ferdinand F. Martignetti Professor of Philosophy, Harvard University
  • Noreen Khawaja – Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Yale University
  • Elisa Magri – Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Boston College
  • Dermot Moran – Joseph Chair in Catholic Philosophy, Professor, Boston College
  • François-David Sebbah – Professor of Philosophy, Paris Nanterre University
  • Sarah Shortall – Assistant Professor, Department of History, University of Notre Dame
  • Chair Peter E. Gordon – Amabel B. James Professor of History & CES Resident Faculty and Seminar Co-chair, Harvard University
Justification and Alienation: Kant, Marx and Contemporary Critical Theory CES 50th Anniversary Series — Justification and Alienation: Kant, Marx and Contemporary Critical Theory
September 27, 2019
4:30pm - 6:00pm
  • Rainer Forst – Professor of Political Theory and Philosophy, Goethe University Frankfurt
  • Chair Peter E. Gordon – Amabel B. James Professor of History; CES Resident Faculty & Seminar Co-chair, Harvard University
Adorno and the Dialectic of Aesthetic Sublimation A Spring 2019 Lecture Series at Harvard University — Adorno and the Dialectic of Aesthetic Sublimation
May 1, 2019
6:00pm - 8:00pm
  • Martin E. Jay – Ehrman Professor of History, Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley
Adorno, Aesthetic Negativity, and the Problem of Idealism A Spring 2019 Lecture Series at Harvard University — Adorno, Aesthetic Negativity, and the Problem of Idealism
April 23, 2019
6:00pm - 8:00pm
  • Robert Pippin – Evelyn Stefansson Nef Distinguished Service Professor of Social Thought, Philosophy, The University of Chicago
Primacy of the Object: Adorno's Aesthetic Theory and the Return of Form Adorno's Aesthetic Theory - A Spring 2019 Lecture Series at Harvard University — Primacy of the Object: Adorno's Aesthetic Theory and the Return of Form
April 3, 2019
6:00pm - 8:00pm
  • Eva Geulen – Professor for European Culture and the History of Knowledge, Humboldt University of Berlin
Adorno as Tourist Adorno's Aesthetic Theory - A Spring 2019 Lecture Series at Harvard University — Adorno as Tourist
March 5, 2019
6:00pm - 8:00pm
  • Sherry Lee – Associate Professor of Musicology and Associate, Trinity College, University of Toronto
Natural History and Aesthetic Experience Adorno's Aesthetic Theory - A Spring 2019 Lecture Series at Harvard University — Natural History and Aesthetic Experience
February 27, 2019
6:00pm - 8:00pm
  • Maxim Pensky – Professor of Philosophy, Binghamton University; Co-Director, Institute of Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention, Binghamton University
Peculiarities of the English Enlightenment Harvard Colloquium for Intellectual History — Peculiarities of the English Enlightenment
February 25, 2019
5:15pm - 7:00pm
  • Colin Kidd – Wardlaw Professor of Modern History, University of St Andrews; Visiting Scholar 2018-2019, CES, Harvard University
Art Has No Power Over Schein Through Its Abolition Adorno's Aesthetic Theory - A Spring 2019 Lecture Series at Harvard University — Art Has No Power Over Schein Through Its Abolition
February 20, 2019
6:00pm - 8:00pm
  • Michael Rosen – Senator Joseph S. Clark Professor of Ethics in Politics and Government, Harvard University
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