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Event Series

Questions of Fascism and Democracy Lecture Series

Chairs

Peter E. Gordon
Peter E. Gordon
Amabel B. James Professor of History, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Seminar Chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Faculty Affiliate, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures; Department of Government; and Department of Philosophy, Harvard University
Daniel Ziblatt
Daniel Ziblatt
Director, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies & Eaton Professor of the Science of Government, Harvard University; Unit Director, Transformations of Democracy, WZB Berlin Social Science Center
 
Frieze at Adolphus Busch Hall
CES Frieze "Es ist der Geist der sich der Koerper baut"

The Questions of Fascism and Democracy Lecture Series is co-chaired by CES Resident Faculty Peter Gordon and CES Director Daniel Ziblatt.

For upcoming lectures, please refer to the events calendar below.

Events Calendar

Lessons from "America's Great Power Prophet" The Belfer Center's Applied History Project & Questions of Fascism and Democracy and Lecture Series — Lessons from "America's Great Power Prophet"
October 30, 2025
1:30pm - 2:45pm
  • Edward Luce – U.S. National Editor and Columnist, Financial Times
  • Graham Allison – Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School; Former Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
  • Susan B. Glasser – Resident Fellow (Fall 2025), Institute of Politics, Harvard Kennedy School; Staff Writer, The New Yorker
  • Chair Daniel Ziblatt – Director, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies & Eaton Professor of the Science of Government, Harvard University; Unit Director, Transformations of Democracy, WZB Berlin Social Science Center
Intent to Destroy: Russia's Two-Hundred-Year Quest to Dominate Ukraine Questions of Fascism and Democracy Lecture Series — Intent to Destroy: Russia's Two-Hundred-Year Quest to Dominate Ukraine
April 15, 2025
4:00pm - 5:30pm
  • Eugene Finkel – Kenneth H. Keller Professor of International Affairs, Johns Hopkins University, School of Advance International Studies
  • Serhii Plokhii – Mykhailo Hrushevskyi Professor of Ukrainian History, Harvard University
  • Chair Daniel Ziblatt – Director, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies & Eaton Professor of the Science of Government, Harvard University; Unit Director, Transformations of Democracy, WZB Berlin Social Science Center
Book Discussion | The Assault on the State Questions of Fascism and Democracy Lecture Series — Book Discussion | The Assault on the State
April 8, 2025
4:00pm - 5:30pm
  • Stephen Hanson – Lettie Pate Evans Professor, The College of William & Mary; Visiting Scholar 2022-2023, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
  • Jeffrey S. Kopstein – Dean's Professor of Political Science, University of California, Irvine; James Bryant Conant Fellow in Germany and European Studies (1995-1996), Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
  • Steven Levitsky – Director, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University; David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies and Professor of Government, Harvard University
  • Theda Skocpol – Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology, Harvard University; Faculty Associate, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
  • Chair Daniel Ziblatt – Director, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies & Eaton Professor of the Science of Government, Harvard University; Unit Director, Transformations of Democracy, WZB Berlin Social Science Center
Resisting Authoritarian Populism: What Is To Be Done? Questions of Fascism and Democracy Lecture Series — Resisting Authoritarian Populism: What Is To Be Done?
April 3, 2025
4:30pm - 6:30pm
  • William E. Scheuerman – James H. Rudy Professor of Political Science, Indiana University, Bloomington
  • Chair Peter E. Gordon – Amabel B. James Professor of History, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Seminar Chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Faculty Affiliate, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures; Department of Government; and Department of Philosophy, Harvard University
Late Fascist Aesthetics: A Theory of the Online Forum Questions of Fascism and Democracy Lecture Series — Late Fascist Aesthetics: A Theory of the Online Forum
March 12, 2025
4:00pm - 6:00pm
  • Katie Ebner-Landy – Junior Fellow, Harvard Society of Fellows, Harvard University
  • Chair Peter E. Gordon – Amabel B. James Professor of History, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Seminar Chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Faculty Affiliate, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures; Department of Government; and Department of Philosophy, Harvard University
Uncivil Society and Polarization in Eastern Europe Questions of Fascism and Democracy Lecture Series — Uncivil Society and Polarization in Eastern Europe
March 5, 2025
4:00pm - 6:00pm
  • Lenka Bustikova – Professor of Political Science, University of Florida
  • Chair Peter E. Gordon – Amabel B. James Professor of History, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Seminar Chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Faculty Affiliate, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures; Department of Government; and Department of Philosophy, Harvard University
Against Haste: On the Heuristic Affordances of ‘Fascism’ Questions of Fascism and Democracy Lecture Series — Against Haste: On the Heuristic Affordances of ‘Fascism’
February 6, 2025
4:00pm - 6:00pm
  • Federico Marcon – Professor of East Asian Studies and History; Chair of the East Asian Studies Department, Princeton University
  • Chair Peter E. Gordon – Amabel B. James Professor of History, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Seminar Chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Faculty Affiliate, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures; Department of Government; and Department of Philosophy, Harvard University
American Swastikas and German Klansmen: Transatlantic White Supremacy from the 1970s to Charlottesville Questions of Fascism and Democracy Lecture Series — American Swastikas and German Klansmen: Transatlantic White Supremacy from the 1970s to Charlottesville
January 28, 2025
4:00pm - 6:00pm
  • Michelle Lynn Kahn – Associate Professor of Modern European History, University of Richmond
  • Chair Peter E. Gordon – Amabel B. James Professor of History, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Seminar Chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Faculty Affiliate, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures; Department of Government; and Department of Philosophy, Harvard University
  • Introduction by David Spreen – Assistant Professor of History, Harvard University; Resident Faculty and Seminar Chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Faculty Associate, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University
The Wannabe Fascists – A Conversation with Federico Finchelstein Questions of Fascism and Democracy Lecture Series & The Democracy and Its Critics Initiative — The Wannabe Fascists – A Conversation with Federico Finchelstein
October 21, 2024
4:00pm - 5:30pm
  • Federico Finchelstein – Professor of History & Chair of History, New School for Social Research
  • Chair Peter E. Gordon – Amabel B. James Professor of History, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Seminar Chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Faculty Affiliate, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures; Department of Government; and Department of Philosophy, Harvard University
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