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Political Theory Institute

"The unexamined life is not worth living."
–Socrates

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Welcome to PTI

The mission of the Political Theory Institute (PTI) is to encourage the serious study of the great questions of political theory and to bring the insights of political theorists to bear on current issues and events.
Mission Statement

Spring 2025 Events

All events are 5:30-7:00 pm ET (except as noted).

February 13: “The Future of Progressivism” featuring Congressman Ro Khanna and Ruy Teixeira, AEI. Kerwin 301.

February 24: “The Future of Conservatism” featuring Megan McArdle of The Washington Post and Joshua Mitchell, Georgetown University. Kerwin 301.

March 20: Ian Shapiro, Yale University, on “Angry Populist Politics: Why it is Happening and What to do About it.” Kerwin 301.

March 28: Roosevelt Montas, Columbia University, on “Rescuing Socrates: How the Great Books Changed My Life and Why They Matter for a New Generation.” Time TBD.

April 10: Nathan Tarcov, University of Chicago emeritus, on “Machiavelli, Poet and Lover.” Kerwin 301.

American University School of Public Affairs

Watch Previous PTI Events

Videos in this playlist

To play a specific video, use the playlist icon in the player or view each video on YouTube.

  1. American University School of Public Affairs

    Cornel West and Robert George Talk About the Purpose of a Liberal Education

  2. American University School of Public Affairs

    PTI - The Future of Progressivism with Ro Khanna and Ruy Teixeira

  3. American University School of Public Affairs

    PTI - A Common Justice? Comparing Western, Indian, and Chinese Traditions.

  4. American University School of Public Affairs

    PTI - Why Liberalism Needs Resentment with Michelle Schwarze

  5. American University School of Public Affairs

    Lincoln Scholars Lecture: What Should We Do? A Theory of Civic Life with Peter Levine

  6. American University School of Public Affairs

    Can the Constitution Unify Americans?

  7. American University School of Public Affairs

    The Political Theory Institute Presents: Aristotle's Advice for America

  8. American University School of Public Affairs

    Academic Freedom and Liberal Education: A Discussion of Lara Schwartz's "Try To Love The Questions."

  9. American University School of Public Affairs

    The Political Theory Institute Presents: Reading, Really Reading, the Gettysburg Address.

  10. American University School of Public Affairs

    "A Web of Our Own Making"

  11. American University School of Public Affairs

    "Plutarch's Education for Citizenship"

  12. American University School of Public Affairs

    “Lincoln's Lyceum Address: Democratic Theory for Citizens.”

  13. American University School of Public Affairs

    "Self Made: Creating Our Identities from Da Vinci to the Kardashians" featuring Tara Isabella Burton

  14. American University School of Public Affairs

    "Sovereign of a Free People: Abraham Lincoln on Respecting Election Results" featuring Jim Read

  15. American University School of Public Affairs

    PTI - A Constitution Day Lecture feat. Johnathan O'Neill

  16. American University School of Public Affairs

    David Bromwich on "Disorder & Doctrine in America"

  17. American University School of Public Affairs

    Teresa Bejan on “Tolerance and Mere Civility”

  18. American University School of Public Affairs

    Eve Fairbanks on “Racial Reconciliation: What Can the United States Learn from South Africa?”

  19. American University School of Public Affairs

    John McWhorter on “Anti-Racism as Practiced Today: A Dissent” with Alan Levine

  20. American University School of Public Affairs

    2022 Lincoln Scholars Lecture: “Why You Shouldn’t Want to Rule the World w/ Zena Hitz

  21. American University School of Public Affairs

    "Lessons from Walden: Thoreau & the Crisis of American Democracy" w/ Robert Pepperman Taylor

  22. American University School of Public Affairs

    Political Theory Institute's The Idea of Decline in Western History

  23. American University School of Public Affairs

    The Political Theory Institute Presents: "Is Patroitism Worth Preserving"

  24. American University School of Public Affairs

    When is Dialogue Damaging? Nietzsche on the Conditions of Creating New Moralities

  25. American University School of Public Affairs

    Catching Up with Ralph Ellison: The Blackness of Blackness

  26. American University School of Public Affairs

    The Crush of Democracy: Tocqueville and the Egalitarian Mind

  27. American University School of Public Affairs

    What is Identity Politics, and Does it Undermine our Liberal Polity?

  28. American University School of Public Affairs

    Why We are Restless: On the Modern Quest for Contentment

  29. American University School of Public Affairs

    Populism, Polarization, and National Identity w/ Francis Fukuyama

  30. American University School of Public Affairs

    What Can We Learn from Political History?: Strauss and Aron on Thucydides

  31. American University School of Public Affairs

    The Political and Constitutional Thought of Alexander Hamilton

  32. American University School of Public Affairs

    Progressivism and the Successor Ideology w/ Author Wesley Yang

  33. American University School of Public Affairs

    What Went Wrong with Modernity? w/ Rémi Brague

  34. American University School of Public Affairs

    Democratizing the Great Books w/ Roosevelt Montas

  35. American University School of Public Affairs

    PTI: The Life and Work of Gertrude Himmelfarb

  36. American University School of Public Affairs

    PTI Event: After the Backlash: Immigration, Populism, and Liberal Nationalism

  37. American University School of Public Affairs

    What is the National Interest? w/ Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster

  38. American University School of Public Affairs

    Fashion, Identity, and Freedom of Expression w/ Gwenda-lin Grewal

  39. American University School of Public Affairs

    Does the Center Have a Future in the United States?” w/ William Galston, Brookings Institution

  40. American University School of Public Affairs

    Do the Humanities Have a Future? The Liberal Arts Between Technocracy and Radicalism”

  41. American University School of Public Affairs

    "Does Conservatism Have a Future in the United States?" w/ Patrick Deneen

  42. American University School of Public Affairs

    Free Speech on Campus

  43. American University School of Public Affairs

    Facebook Live: Immigration, What Should U.S. Policy Be?

  44. American University School of Public Affairs

    Facebook Live: Lincoln Scholar Lecture with Danielle Allen

  45. American University School of Public Affairs

    PTI Webinar: Athens’ Plague and Ours

  46. American University School of Public Affairs

    Does Socialism Have a Future in the United States? w/ Bhaskar Sunkara

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Politics and the Humanities is a podcast hosted by Tom Merrill (SPA Government) and Sarah Marsh (CAS Literature) on books, ideas, and liberal education.

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Jonathan Rauch's Top Ten Reasons Not to Silence Speech

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Professors Link Relevance of Civil War to Political Debate Today

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