IMPORTANT! READ ABOUT HOW TO GET THE ZOOM LINKS FOR THE LECTURES
If you are not already on the list to receive Winter Lecture Series (WLS) reminders, CLICK HERE to sign up for that email list to receive reminders. We will be sending emails 24 - 48 hours before each lecture with the Zoom link. The Zoom link will be the same for each lecture.
Time: 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM
Format: 45-minute lecture followed by an audience-driven Q&A.
Global Perspectives: The Winter Lecture Series 2024
Can Democracy Be Saved? The Global Trend Toward Strongman Rule
The Lecture Series will consist of four ZOOM sessions presented on four successive Sundays beginning 2/18/2024. Each will begin at 7:00PM and end around 8:30PM, with a 45-minute lecture followed by an audience-driven Q&A.
Sunday, February 18, 2024, 7:00 PM. Professor Barany on Orban in Hungary
Sunday, February 25, 2024, 7:00 PM. Professor Hunter on Bolsonaro in Brazil
Sunday, March 3, 2024, 7:00 PM. Professor Arat on Erdogan in Turkey
Sunday, March 10, 2024, 7:00 PM. Professor Varshney on Modi in India
Series Description:
Across the globe we see many countries displaying some version of liberal democracy but then gradually yielding to strongman rule. We ask how and why this can occur in genuine democracies. We want to know about any successful recovery. We look at four countries that can be discussed within this framework: Brazil, Hungary, India, and Turkey.
To help us understand this puzzle we host a group of distinguished experts.
Zoltan Barany, Erwin Centennial Professor of Government, University of Texas-Austin. A native of Hungary and with a MA from UNL, he is an internationally recognized expert on civilian-military relations and other key aspects of the struggle for civilian democratic rule. He has personal as well as professional reasons to focus on the leadership of Viktor Orban in Hungary.
Wendy Hunter, Professor of Government, University of Texas-Austin. She is a much decorated expert on Brazilian politics. Her impressive scholarship has led to numerous awards, research grants, and visiting positions. She is fully up to date on the rise and fall of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil.
Zehra Arat, Professor of Political Science, University of Connecticut-Storrs. A native of Turkey, she has published many studies on Turkish politics, human rights, and women’s rights. She has followed closely the long rule of Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Turkish Republic.
Ashutosh Varshney, Goldman Professor of International Studies, Watson Institute, Brown University. He also directs the Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia and is Professor of Political Science. A distinguished scholar with a long list of scholarly publications, he knows well the political record of Narendra Modi in India.
Availability: Recorded lectures and Q & A sessions will be posted by the end of March 2024 on the Unitarian Church YouTube WINTER LECTURE SERIES PLAYLIST which lists all the available videos, past and present, for the Winter Lecture Series.
CLICK HERE for the 2024 WLS printable flyer.
History of the Winter Lecture Series
The Winter Lecture Series began at Vine Congregation Church in 1985. The first year the topic of the Series was Central America. That topic set the early trend of the Series focusing each year on a single country or a region of the world. In 2001 the Unitarian Church inherited the Winter Lecture Series. With that change, besides focusing on single countries or regions, sometimes our annual topics were cross-cutting issues such as human rights, or poverty, or environmental issues.
Our goal is to provide unbiased information to our attendees—information provided by experts from local or distant Universities and organizations such as the US State Department. Although bringing experts from other states and countries is expensive, our lectures are always free and open to the public, and no registration is required.
Support for our lectures has been provided each year by grants from Humanities Nebraska (formally the Nebraska Humanities Council), UNL OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute), and the Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Church of Lincoln.
HISTORY OF WINTER LECTURE SERIES - including a list of topics and speakers.
You are invited to attend any and all lectures of the Winter Lecture Series. Each year we inform the people on our email list of the year’s topic and schedule. If you would like to be informed of upcoming lecture series, or you need additional information, please email a note to rdien@allophone.com with “Winter” entered in the subject line. Your email address will not be shared with any other entities.
Want to watch a video from a past series? Winter Lecture Series videos are uploaded to our YouTube channel.
If you are not already on the list to receive Winter Lecture Series (WLS) reminders, CLICK HERE to sign up for that email list to receive reminders. We will be sending emails 24 - 48 hours before each lecture with the Zoom link. The Zoom link will be the same for each lecture.
Time: 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM
Format: 45-minute lecture followed by an audience-driven Q&A.
Global Perspectives: The Winter Lecture Series 2024
Can Democracy Be Saved? The Global Trend Toward Strongman Rule
The Lecture Series will consist of four ZOOM sessions presented on four successive Sundays beginning 2/18/2024. Each will begin at 7:00PM and end around 8:30PM, with a 45-minute lecture followed by an audience-driven Q&A.
Sunday, February 18, 2024, 7:00 PM. Professor Barany on Orban in Hungary
Sunday, February 25, 2024, 7:00 PM. Professor Hunter on Bolsonaro in Brazil
Sunday, March 3, 2024, 7:00 PM. Professor Arat on Erdogan in Turkey
Sunday, March 10, 2024, 7:00 PM. Professor Varshney on Modi in India
Series Description:
Across the globe we see many countries displaying some version of liberal democracy but then gradually yielding to strongman rule. We ask how and why this can occur in genuine democracies. We want to know about any successful recovery. We look at four countries that can be discussed within this framework: Brazil, Hungary, India, and Turkey.
To help us understand this puzzle we host a group of distinguished experts.
Zoltan Barany, Erwin Centennial Professor of Government, University of Texas-Austin. A native of Hungary and with a MA from UNL, he is an internationally recognized expert on civilian-military relations and other key aspects of the struggle for civilian democratic rule. He has personal as well as professional reasons to focus on the leadership of Viktor Orban in Hungary.
Wendy Hunter, Professor of Government, University of Texas-Austin. She is a much decorated expert on Brazilian politics. Her impressive scholarship has led to numerous awards, research grants, and visiting positions. She is fully up to date on the rise and fall of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil.
Zehra Arat, Professor of Political Science, University of Connecticut-Storrs. A native of Turkey, she has published many studies on Turkish politics, human rights, and women’s rights. She has followed closely the long rule of Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Turkish Republic.
Ashutosh Varshney, Goldman Professor of International Studies, Watson Institute, Brown University. He also directs the Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia and is Professor of Political Science. A distinguished scholar with a long list of scholarly publications, he knows well the political record of Narendra Modi in India.
Availability: Recorded lectures and Q & A sessions will be posted by the end of March 2024 on the Unitarian Church YouTube WINTER LECTURE SERIES PLAYLIST which lists all the available videos, past and present, for the Winter Lecture Series.
CLICK HERE for the 2024 WLS printable flyer.
History of the Winter Lecture Series
The Winter Lecture Series began at Vine Congregation Church in 1985. The first year the topic of the Series was Central America. That topic set the early trend of the Series focusing each year on a single country or a region of the world. In 2001 the Unitarian Church inherited the Winter Lecture Series. With that change, besides focusing on single countries or regions, sometimes our annual topics were cross-cutting issues such as human rights, or poverty, or environmental issues.
Our goal is to provide unbiased information to our attendees—information provided by experts from local or distant Universities and organizations such as the US State Department. Although bringing experts from other states and countries is expensive, our lectures are always free and open to the public, and no registration is required.
Support for our lectures has been provided each year by grants from Humanities Nebraska (formally the Nebraska Humanities Council), UNL OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute), and the Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Church of Lincoln.
HISTORY OF WINTER LECTURE SERIES - including a list of topics and speakers.
You are invited to attend any and all lectures of the Winter Lecture Series. Each year we inform the people on our email list of the year’s topic and schedule. If you would like to be informed of upcoming lecture series, or you need additional information, please email a note to rdien@allophone.com with “Winter” entered in the subject line. Your email address will not be shared with any other entities.
Want to watch a video from a past series? Winter Lecture Series videos are uploaded to our YouTube channel.