Humanity in Motion and Colombia: A Conversation with President Iván Duque

Monday, Sept. 20 // 3:15–4:15pm (ET)

Throughout its history, Colombians have been displaced or have migrated to neighboring countries to escape the country’s own internal armed conflict. Today, Colombia hosts the largest number of Venezuelans of any country in the world—over 2 million out of a total of more than 6 million who have fled Venezuela’s authoritarian rule and economic and humanitarian collapse. In February 2021, President Ivan Duque decided to grant temporary protected status for Venezuelans. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi described the bold move as “historic,” “a humanitarian gesture of an unprecedented scale.” Last month, Colombia also agreed to shelter 4,000 refugees from Afghanistan to respond to the humanitarian situation in that country.

Join the Wilson Center for a discussion with Colombian President Iván Duque on the lessons learned from Colombia’s history with displacement as well as to discuss the current humanitarian and development challenges facing Colombia.

Book Talk | Elections, Protest, and Authoritarian Regime Stability: Russia 2008–2020

Monday, Sept. 20 // 2–3pm (ET)

In her latest book, Regina Smyth examines how electoral competition matters to the Putin regime, and how that competition leaves the regime more vulnerable to opposition challenges than is perceived in the West.

Traveling Black: A Story of Race and Resistance

Monday, Sept. 20 // 4–5:30pm (ET)

Traveling Black tells the story of what it was like to travel in Jim Crow cars, ride at the back of the bus, and navigate a myriad of discriminatory travel accommodations—from whites-only service stations to segregated airline terminals. A character-driven account of the many humiliations experienced by Black travelers, as well as their sustained battle to secure the right to travel freely, it places the right to unrestricted mobility at the center of the twentieth-century Black freedom struggle.

Worlds Apart: A Documentary History of U.S.-Iran Relations, 1978-2018

Tuesday, Sept. 21 // 11am–12:30pm (ET)

The first panel of the Global Middle East Seminar Series for the Fall 2021 semester, authors Malcolm Byrne and Kian Byrne will discuss their new book, Worlds Apart: A Documentary History of U.S.-Iranian Relations, 1978-2018. In this unique history, Byrne and Byrne put the records first to explore the key themes, trends, and issues that have defined, and at times plagued, the U.S.-Iranian relationship over the past 40 years.

James H. Billington Lecture | Tamizdat Project and Contraband Russian Literature: The Case of Varlam Shalamov

Tuesday, Sept. 21 // 4–5:30pm (ET)

Join us for a lecture with 2020–2021 Billington Fellow Yasha Klots. He will discuss the ways in which Russian literature written in the USSR but denied publication at home was smuggled out and first published abroad during the Cold War.

What Happened in Canada’s 44th General Election

Wednesday, Sept. 22 // 3–4:30pm (ET)

The Wilson Center’s Canada Institute gathers political experts from coast to coast to assess the outcome and outlook for the new government, trends revealed during the campaign, and implications for Canada’s relations with the United States and the world.

International Underground Railroad Month Event

Thursday, Sept. 23 // 2–3pm (ET)

In partnership with the National Park Service and the Embassy of Canada, The Wilson Center’s Canada Institute is commemorating International Underground Railroad Month through a panel discussion between historians, scholars, and descendants. The panel will address the importance of the Underground Railroad in both Canadian and American history, the relevance of this history today, and the lasting legacy of Freedom Seekers.

Stoic Wisdom: Ancient Lessons For Modern Resilience

Thursday, Sept. 23 // 4–5:30pm (ET)

Ancient Stoicism is not so much a philosophy as a collection of life hacks for overcoming anxiety, curbing anger, and finding calm. It has become the new Zen, and a mega-industry for consumers seeking self-help. In Stoic Wisdom: Ancient Lessons for Modern Resilience, Nancy Sherman argues this distorts the full promise of Stoicism. The me-focused view misses ancient Stoicism’s emphasis on our flourishing as social selves, connected locally and globally, through virtue. If the Stoics are worth reading, it’s because they constantly exhort us to rise to our potential—through reason, cooperation, and selflessness.