Boccaccio's character Madonna Filippa brilliantly defends herself in court against an adultery charge—and dodges a cruel capital punishment. Readers have long assumed that since medieval Italian women had no place in court, Filippa's story must be an ironic parody. This presentation inserts Boccaccio's heroine into her historical context of medieval northern Italy, where several women […]

Dr. Tom Smith is Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in German at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. His research focused on queer approaches to contemporary Germany. He was selected as an AHRC/BBC New Generation Thinker in 2019 and regularly presents his work on BBC Radio. Event will include refreshments, book raffle, music and dancing.

As the United States cobbles together a coalition to undo Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, six US officers are trapped in Iraq with intelligence that could ruin Operation Desert Storm if it is obtained by the brutal Iraqi dictator. Desperate, the CIA asks Poland, a longtime Cold War foe famed for its excellent spies, for […]

We know a lot about Angela Merkel as a leader in international politics; we know much less about how the first woman chancellor saw herself and acted as a woman leader. This talk, based on a volume co-edited by Prof. Lang with Prof. Petra Ahrens (Tampere University, Finland) and Prof. Phillip Ayoub (University College London) […]

We typically assume that the international system is made up of states, which we say function as black boxes in pursuit of their physical security and power. In this model, foreign policy does not change, even when domestic politics and priorities evolve. Why then has the transatlantic relationship run hot and cold over the past […]

Traditional models of the welfare state are bounded by place or nationality: social protection is conceived as something that we are eligible for based on where we live and what passport we may carry. This talk, based on a co-authored book by Prof. Dobbs with Prof. Peggy Levitt (Wellesley), Ken Sun (Villanova) and Ruxandra Paul […]

For the first time in nearly two centuries, one ethnic group now constitutes an absolute majority of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s population: the Bosniaks. It is an unlikely development given that, scarcely thirty years ago, they were targeted for extermination and expulsion by Serbia’s Slobodan Milošević. Even as the Bosniak community fought to survive these atrocities, […]

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED FROM JANUARY 22 TO MARCH 6. Climate action is increasingly intertwined with geopolitical risk — even among transatlantic allies. Both the US and EU are implementing landmark climate agendas laced with green industrial policies like subsidies and carbon tariffs that have raised concerns over competitiveness and trade fairness. Recent US-EU […]

Recent years have witnessed significant concern about democratic backsliding. Resulting from the actions of duly elected governments, the incremental deteriorations of democratic institutions, rules, and norms have affected democracies around the globe, including some of the oldest in the world. Dr. Schneider will discuss the current challenges to democracy, with a focus on the international […]

Since the U.S. Congress has been dithering over providing funds to assist Ukraine, the European Union and NATO alliance have stepped forward. While the EU is looking for ways to pay Ukraine out of frozen Russian assets, NATO countries have found 800,000 rounds of ammunition that they are looking to purchase for Ukraine's fight against […]

Giorgia Meloni is Italy’s first female prime minister and its furthest-right political leader since the fall of Italian Fascism. She is also a widely-noted enthusiast of JRR Tolkien’s fantasy epic, The Lord of the Rings, even going so far as to cosplay as a hobbit during her youth. This talk explores the complicated relationship between […]

About the speaker: Jonas Oehman is one of the founders of the Lithuanian non-profit Blue/Yellow. The organization has since 2014 provided non-lethal aid to the Armed Forces of Ukraine for almost 90 million USD. Jonas will talk about the war in Ukraine, the support provided by non-state actors to Ukrainian defenses, and his perception of […]

Since at least the 1980s, intellectual historians and political theorists have recognized seventeenth-century Britain as the site of an “adversary revolution” in political thinking that had momentous consequences for the shaping of modern political thought. The quintessential expression of this revolution, understood as a rejection of consensual politics, was the endorsement of majoritarian decision-making. And […]

Come learn about the EU's environmental law and policy frameworks. Our speaker is a graduate student in Forest and Nature Conservation & Sustainable Development Diplomacy at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands.

The dramatic “Fall of Rome” narrative remains the most appealing story about the end Western Roman Empire, even though scholars have often insisted that it oversimplifies the events of the fifth century, as well as its consequences in the sixth and seventh centuries. The complexity of scholarly accounts leaves the ordinary observer bewildered and eager […]

The Caspian Sea, the world’s largest inland lake, was an important point for commercial and strategic reasons. Much of the historiography on the Caspian locates the emergence of this region as a site of competitive tension in the eighteenth century. But a map of the Caspian brought back to Europe by the Dutchman Nicolaas Witsen […]

The United States, China and Russia (at least until recently) stand out as contemporary superpowers able to support allies across the globe. What do each of these countries offer would-be client states and groups in the Middle East, and how do their approaches differ? Can Gulf Arab monarchies and states such as Iran, Israel, Egypt […]

An individual’s affiliation to a politically constituted community is decisive for their opportunities in life and often vital to their survival. This talk will argue that the primary signifier of political affiliation in 20th century Europe is “citizenship.” The importance attached to citizenship is what distinguishes the 20th century significantly from previous historical periods and […]

Join French philosopher and humanitarian Bernard-Henri Lévy for a conversation to explore his insights on global conflicts and democracy, moderated by Pomona professors Mietek Boduszynski and Oona Eistenstadt. Lunch will be provided. Participants can enter a raffle to win a signed copy of Bernard-Henri Lévy's latest book. RSVP HERE

 Do right-wing populists simply constitute a protest vote in the name of those who feel disenfranchised or are they a political force that radically challenges (liberal) democracy? From a comparative transatlantic perspective, this presentation will critically examine the rise of populism, the forces driving its success, and the implications for democratic rule. One key focus […]