LSE: Public lectures and events

Speaker(s): Dr Hope M Harrison | This public lecture will examine the arc of memory politics in Germany since 1989, including the impact of the rise of the far right as well as German plans for the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Wall. The history, meaning and legacy of the Berlin Wall remain controversial three decades after its fall. Approaching the 30th anniversary on 9 November, Germans are engaged anew in debates about the history and aftermath of communist East Germany and its Wall. This public lecture will examine the arc of memory politics in Germany since 1989, including the impact of the rise of the far right as well as German plans for the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Wall. Hope M Harrison is Associate Professor of History and International Affairs at the George Washington University. Her new book is After the Berlin Wall: Memory and the Making of the New Germany, 1989 to the Present and has been called “a tour de force,” “riveting,” and “superbly informed and often moving”. She is the prize-winning author of Driving the Soviet up the Wall: Soviet-East German Relations, 1953-1961 (2003) and has appeared on the BBC, CNN, and Deutschlandradio. She serves on the board of three institutions in Berlin connected to the Cold War and the Berlin Wall. Roham Alvandi is Associate Professor of International History at the London School of Economics and Political Science and Director of the LSE IDEAS Cold War Studies Project. He is the author of Nixon, Kissinger, and the Shah: The United States and Iran in the Cold War (Oxford University Press, 2014), which was selected by the Financial Times as one of the best history books of 2014. He edited the recent volume The Age of Aryamehr: Late Pahlavi Iran and its Global Entanglements (Gingko Library, 2018). LSE IDEAS (@lseideas) is LSE's foreign policy think tank. We connect academic knowledge of diplomacy and strategy with the people who use it. The LSE's Department of International History (@lsehistory) teaches and conducts research on the international history of Britain, Europe and the world from the early modern era up to the present day. Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEBerlinWall

Speaker(s): Mustafa Briggs | Straight from his US tour, Mustafa Briggs will present on the history of Islam in the Americas. Don't miss out on the exclusive and exciting opportunity to learn about black history from a different perspective. Mustafa Briggs' (@MustafaBriggs) profile rose from his ‘Beyond Bilal: Black History in Islam’ lecture series which saw him explore and uncover the deep rooted relationship between Islam and Black History; and the legacy of contemporary African Islamic Scholarship. Mustafa is a graduate of Arabic & International Relations from the University of Westminster whose dissertation focused on Arabic Literature and Literacy in West Africa. Started an MA in Translation at SOAS with a specialisation in Arabic and Islamic Texts, before going onto al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt where he is currently doing another degree in Islamic Studies & Arabic. Martha Ojo is the LSE Student's Union Education Officer (2018-2020). Martha is the Union's authoritative voice on all academic issues and has organised the Black History Month programme. She is a graduate of the Department of International History. Zulum Elumogo is General Secretary of LSE Student's Union and LSE Governor (2018-2020). In his role, Zulum represents students at high level meetings while delivering his own projects and initiatives. These include a Students' Union Fund, LSESU Creative Network and a Graduate Support Fund. The London School of Economics Students' Union (@lsesu) is the representative and campaigning body for students at The London School of Economics and Political Science. LSESU is a not-for-profit organisation run by LSE students, for LSE students. LSESU aims to give students the life-changing experiences. Black History Month is one of the key dates in the Union calendar. Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEBlackHistory

Speaker(s): Mustafa Briggs, Martha Ojo | Straight from his US tour, Mustafa Briggs will present on the history of Islam in the Americas. Don't miss out on the exclusive and exciting opportunity to learn about black history from a different perspective. Mustafa Briggs' (@MustafaBriggs) profile rose from his ‘Beyond Bilal: Black History in Islam’ lecture series which saw him explore and uncover the deep rooted relationship between Islam and Black History; and the legacy of contemporary African Islamic Scholarship. Mustafa is a graduate of Arabic & International Relations from the University of Westminster whose dissertation focused on Arabic Literature and Literacy in West Africa. Started an MA in Translation at SOAS with a specialisation in Arabic and Islamic Texts, before going onto al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt where he is currently doing another degree in Islamic Studies & Arabic. Martha Ojo is the LSE Student's Union Education Officer (2018-2020). Martha is the Union's authoritative voice on all academic issues and has organised the Black History Month programme. She is a graduate of the Department of International History. Zulum Elumogo is General Secretary of LSE Student's Union and LSE Governor (2018-2020). In his role, Zulum represents students at high level meetings while delivering his own projects and initiatives. These include a Students' Union Fund, LSESU Creative Network and a Graduate Support Fund. The London School of Economics Students' Union (@lsesu) is the representative and campaigning body for students at The London School of Economics and Political Science. LSESU is a not-for-profit organisation run by LSE students, for LSE students. LSESU aims to give students the life-changing experiences. Black History Month is one of the key dates in the Union calendar. Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEBlackHistory

Speaker(s): Mustafa Briggs, Martha Ojo | Straight from his US tour, Mustafa Briggs will present on the history of Islam in the Americas. Don't miss out on the exclusive and exciting opportunity to learn about black history from a different perspective. Mustafa Briggs' (@MustafaBriggs) profile rose from his ‘Beyond Bilal: Black History in Islam’ lecture series which saw him explore and uncover the deep rooted relationship between Islam and Black History; and the legacy of contemporary African Islamic Scholarship. Mustafa is a graduate of Arabic & International Relations from the University of Westminster whose dissertation focused on Arabic Literature and Literacy in West Africa. Started an MA in Translation at SOAS with a specialisation in Arabic and Islamic Texts, before going onto al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt where he is currently doing another degree in Islamic Studies & Arabic. Martha Ojo is the LSE Student's Union Education Officer (2018-2020). Martha is the Union's authoritative voice on all academic issues and has organised the Black History Month programme. She is a graduate of the Department of International History. Zulum Elumogo is General Secretary of LSE Student's Union and LSE Governor (2018-2020). In his role, Zulum represents students at high level meetings while delivering his own projects and initiatives. These include a Students' Union Fund, LSESU Creative Network and a Graduate Support Fund. The London School of Economics Students' Union (@lsesu) is the representative and campaigning body for students at The London School of Economics and Political Science. LSESU is a not-for-profit organisation run by LSE students, for LSE students. LSESU aims to give students the life-changing experiences. Black History Month is one of the key dates in the Union calendar. Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEBlackHistory

Speaker(s): Professor Michel Kazatchkine, Dr Katherine Pettus, Professor Peter Reuter, Denise Tomasini-Joshi | The US is in the midst of a major public health crisis. Tens of thousands of deaths are directly attributable to overdose over the past two decades and no end is in sight. Reeling from the failures of the “war on drugs”, many argue for new approaches grounded more firmly in public health and human centred drug policies. Join some of the world’s leading experts on this topic to learn how the US can learn the lessons of past policy failures and policies that provide greater hope to help end the overdose crisis. Michel Kazatchkine (@Kazatchkine) is Commissioner of the Global Commission on Drug Policy Katherine Pettus (@kpettus) is Advocacy Officer, International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care. Peter Reuter is Professor in the School of Public Policy and the Department of Criminology at the University of Maryland. Denise Tomasini-Joshi (@DMTJoshi) is a division director with the Open Society Public Health Program, where she leads the program’s work on health, law, and equality around the globe. John Collins (@JCollinsIDPU) is Executive Director of the LSE’s International Drug Policy Unit (IDPU). The LSE's United States Centre (@LSE_US) is a hub for global expertise, analysis and commentary on America. Our mission is to promote policy-relevant and internationally-oriented scholarship to meet the growing demand for fresh analysis and critical debate on the United States. The International Drug Policy Unit (IDPU) is a cross-regional and multidisciplinary project, designed to establish a global centre for excellence in the study of international drug policy.

Speaker(s): Professor Stephen M. Walt Professor Stephen M. Walt | Since its victory in the Cold War, U.S. foreign policy has been largely a failure. Neither Republicans nor Democrats seem able to manage world affairs as successfully as they once did. Donald Trump took office pledging to fix the problem and “make America great again,” but his actions as president have done nothing to make Americans or the world either safer or more prosperous. What would a more realistic and successful foreign policy look like, and what needs to change in order to implement it? Stephen M. Walt (@stephenWalt) is the Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He previously taught at Princeton University and the University of Chicago, where he served as Master of the Social Science Collegiate Division and Deputy Dean of Social Sciences. He has been a Resident Associate of the Carnegie Endowment for Peace and a Guest Scholar at the Brookings Institution, and he has also served as a consultant for the Institute of Defense Analyses, the Center for Naval Analyses, and the National Defense University. He presently serves on the editorial boards of Foreign Policy, Security Studies, International Relations, and Journal of Cold War Studies, and he also serves as Co-Editor of the Cornell Studies in Security Affairs, published by Cornell University Press. Additionally, he was elected as a Fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in May 2005. Professor Walt is the author of The Origins of Alliances (1987), which received the 1988 Edgar S. Furniss National Security Book Award. He is also the author of Revolution and War (1996), Taming American Power: The Global Response to U.S. Primacy (2005), and, with co-author J.J. Mearsheimer, The Israel Lobby (2007). His latest book is The Hell of Good Intentions. Peter Trubowitz (@ptrubowitz) is Professor of International Relations and Director of the US Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science and Associate Fellow at Chatham House. The LSE's United States Centre (@LSE_US) is a hub for global expertise, analysis and commentary on America. Our mission is to promote policy-relevant and internationally-oriented scholarship to meet the growing demand for fresh analysis and critical debate on the United States. Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEUSForeignPol This event is part of the LSE US Centre's Phelan Family Lecture series. Video The recording of the Facebook Live of this event is available to watch at Can America Still Have a Successful Foreign Policy? Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.

Speaker(s): Dr Robert Basedow, Professor DING Chun, Dr Yu Jie, Dr Thomas Sampson | The US-China trade conflict opens new opportunities for the EU to position itself. Should it align itself with the US in forcing China to open up its markets? Or should the EU seek to intensify its economic cooperation with China so as to gain a competitive advantage? How should the EU react to Chinese bilateral agreements with EU-members in the framework of its Silk Road initiative? These and other key trade issues between China and the European Union will be debated during this event, which marks the launch of the new LSE-Fudan Double Degree in the Global Political Economy of China and Europe. Robert Basedow is Assistant Professor in International Political Economy, European Institute, LSE. DING Chun is Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre for European Studies, Fudan University. YU Jie (@Yu_JieC) is Senior Research Fellow on China, Chatham House. Thomas Sampson is Associate Professor of Economics, LSE. Paul De Grauwe (@pdegrauwe) is John Paulson Chair in European Political Economy, European Institute, LSE. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector. Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEChina

Speaker(s): Peter Freeman | In this lecture Peter Freeman will argue that long-term, institutional investors should support mixed-use, master-planned developments because their social and commercial aims create value and reduce risk. Peter Freeman is co-founder of Argent, a UK-based property developer responsible for the redevelopment of King's Cross. Paul Cheshire is Emeritus Professor of Economic Geography at LSE. The Department of Geography and Environment (@LSEGeography) is a centre of international academic excellence in economic, urban and development geography, with particular specialisms in real estate economics and planning

Speaker(s): Dr Cara Nine, Yousif M Qasmiyeh, Dr Beth Watts | ‘Home’ means more than a roof over our heads. It can be crucial to our sense of ourselves and our well-being. So what might it mean to have a right to a home? And what is lost when we lose our home? We discuss the politics, philosophy, and poetry of home, exploring the fundamental connection between home and human well-being. Cara Nine is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University College Cork. Yousif M Qasmiyeh is Writer-in-Residence, Refugee Hosts, and Creative Encounters Editor, Migration and Society. Beth Watts (@BethWatts494) is Senior Research Fellow, Heriot-Watt University. Sarah Fine (@DrSJFine) is Fellow at the Forum for Philosophy and a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, KCL. Founded in 1996, the Forum for Philosophy (@forumphilosophy) is a non-profit organization that has gained widespread recognition for its work as initiator and sponsor of engaging and thoughtful events that facilitate wider participation in academic philosophy.

Speaker(s): Allison Schrager | An uncertain world requires us to manage risks we could never have imagined. But tools exist that can help. What we can learn from sex workers, studs, and surfers. Allison Schrager (@AllisonSchrager) is an economist, author and journalist who specializes in retirement and more exotic risks. Her new book is An Economist Walks Into A Brothel. Dimitri Vayanos is Professor of Finance at the London School of Economics, where he also directs the Financial Markets Group and the Paul Woolley Centre for the Study of Capital Market Dysfunctionality. The Department of Economics at LSE (@LSEEcon) is one of the largest economics departments in the world. Its size ensures that all areas of economics are strongly represented in both research and teaching. The Centre For Macroeconomics (@CFMUK) is a research centre that brings together a group of world class experts to carry out pioneering research on the global economic crisis and help design policies to alleviate it. The FMG (@FMG_LSE) is a leading centre in Europe for policy research into financial markets.

Speaker(s): Charles Moore | Charles Moore will speak about the third and final in his series of biographies of Margaret Thatcher, focusing on her last period in office. How did Margaret Thatcher change and divide Britain? How did her model of combative female leadership help shape the way we live now? How did the woman who won the Cold War and three general elections in succession find herself pushed out by her own MPs? Charles Moore’s full account, based on unique access to Margaret Thatcher herself, her papers and her closest associates, tells the story of her last period in office, her combative retirement and the controversy that surrounded her even in death. It includes the fall of the Berlin Wall, which she had fought for, and the rise of the modern EU, which she feared. It lays bare her growing quarrels with colleagues and reveals the truth about her political assassination. Charles Moore is a journalist and former editor of the Daily Telegraph. His latest book is Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography, Volume Three: Herself Alone. Tony Travers is Professor in LSE's Department of Government and Associate Dean of the LSE School of Public Policy. The Department of Government (@LSEGovernment) is home to some of the most internationally respected experts in politics and government; producing influential research that has a global impact on policy, and delivering world-class teaching to our students.

Speaker(s): Clive Lewis, Deborah Mattinson | With the Brexit deadline fast approaching, a leading politician and a prominent pollster discuss what Labour can and should do now. Clive Lewis (@labourlewis) is Labour MP for Norwich South and Shadow Minister for the Treasury. Deborah Mattinson (@debmattinson) is a founding partner of Britain Thinks. Robin Archer is the Director of the Ralph Miliband Programme. The Ralph Miliband Programme (@rmilibandlse) is one of LSE's most prestigious lecture series and seeks to advance Ralph Miliband's spirit of free social inquiry. Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEBrexit

Speaker(s): Naomi Eisenstadt, Carey Oppenheim, Ryan Shorthouse, Matthew Taylor | What do children need from parents, how is poverty a barrier to meeting needs, and what has Government done – and should do – about it? Naomi Eisenstadt and Carey Oppenheim explore the radical changes in public attitudes and public policy concerning parents and parenting. Drawing on research and their extensive experience of working at senior levels of government, the authors of this new book, Parents, Poverty and the State: 20 Years of Evolving Family Policy, challenge expectations about what parenting policy on its own can deliver. Matthew Taylor (@RSAMatthew) has been Chief Executive of the RSA since November 2006. In July 2017 Matthew published the report ‘Good Work’; an independent review into modern employment, commissioned by the UK Prime Minister. Matthew’s previous roles include Chief Adviser on Political Strategy to the Prime Minister, and Chief Executive of the Institute for Public PolicyResearch (IPPR), the UK’s leading left of centre think tank. Matthew is aregular media performer, having presented several Radio Four documentaries, andis a panellist on the programme Moral Maze. He is Senior Editor of the Thames & Hudson Big Ideas series. Ryan Shorthouse (@RyanShorthouse) is the Founder and Chief Executive of Bright Blue. He founded the organisation in 2010 and finally became the full-time Chief Executive at the start of 2014. Ryan’s research focuses on education and social policy. Many of his policy ideas have been adopted by the UK Government over the past decade. He appears regularly in the national press and broadcast media. John Hills is Chair of CASE John Hills is the 'co-founder and former co-Director of the International Inequalities Institute at LSE. This event is hosted with the support of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and held as part of the launch of the new III research theme Economies of Global Care, led by Professor Beverley Skeggs. The International Inequalities Institute (@LSEInequalities) at LSE brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead cutting-edge research focused on understanding why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

Speaker(s): Ed Miliband, James Murray, Farhana Yamin | Can climate activism – from Extinction Rebellion to the school climate strikes – bring about the radical change in government and business that is needed to stop runaway global warming? The Grantham Research Institute hosts a debate about what works in climate politics, and what role street protests can play. Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) is a former leader of the Labour Party and Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. He is MP for Doncaster North and an alumnus of LSE. James Murray (@James_BG) is Founder and Editor-in-Chief of BusinessGreen. Farhana Yamin (@farhanaclimate), international lawyer and environmental activist. Robert Falkner is Research Director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, LSE. The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment (@GRI_LSE) was established by the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2008 to create a world-leading centre for policy-relevant research and training on climate change and the environment, bringing together international expertise on economics, finance, geography, the environment, international development and political economy. Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEClimateProtest This event forms part of the “Shape the World” series, held in the run up to the LSE Festival, a week-long series of events taking place from Monday 2 to Saturday 7 March 2020, free to attend and open to all, exploring how social sciences can make the world a better place. The full programme will be available online from January 2020.

Speaker(s): Professor Margaret MacMillan | The Great War of 1914-18 left a shattered Europe and a changed world. Despite a widespread longing for peace and for a new international order, the world was to have a second catastrophic war 20 years later. The peacemakers of 1919 are often blamed for creating the conditions which sent some European nations down the road towards dictatorship and led Europe and the world towards the Second World War. This public lecture will ask why moving from war to peace can be so difficult and examine the particular challenges faced by the peacemakers in 1919. It will ask whether the accepted view, that the peace settlements made then doomed Europe and the world to another war, is a fair one. It will also suggest ways we might learn from the past as we face a turbulent and uncertain present. Margaret MacMillan is Professor of History at the University of Toronto and Emeritus Professor of the University of Oxford. LSE's Department of Law (@LSELaw) is one of the world’s top law schools. The Department ranked first for research outputs in the UK’s most recent Research Excellence Framework and has consistently been among the top 10 departments to study Law in the world according to the QS World University rankings. Our staff play a major role in helping to shape policy debates and in the education of current and future lawyers and legal scholars from around the world. Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEMakingPeace This event forms part of the “Shape the World” series, held in the run up to the LSE Festival, a week-long series of events taking place from Monday 2 to Saturday 7 March 2020, free to attend and open to all, exploring how social sciences can make the world a better place. The full programme will be available online from January 2020.