Wednesdays February 21 – March 20, 2024, 12:30 Noon Eastern & 9:30 Pacific
Dr. James L. West
In a historical moment when democracies around the world are under unprecedented stress, it might be instructive to reconsider the classic case of democratic collapse – the Weimar Republic.
The origins of this catastrophe were buried deeply in a national culture which German elites lauded as their Sonderweg their exceptionalist past distinctly different from that of the western democracies. This alternative culture was classically enshrined in the music of Richard Wagner and the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche.
From late nineteenth century on these illiberal forces in Germany challenged and ultimately destroyed a nascent democratic movement, and emerged in the most malignant form of dictatorship, Nazi fascism. Given the historical experience we might reflect on how democracies survive or succumb when faced with aggressive challenges from retrogressive anti-democratic movements.
Below is the link to register for this series. You only have to register once to receive the information to join via Zoom in meeting format, which allows participants to see and hear each other and interact with Dr. West:
Week 1, February 21, 2024 Modernity and the Peculiarities of German History
Week 2, February 28, 2024 The Music of Richard Wagner: The Ring of the Nibelungen
Week 3, March 6, 2024 The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche – The Birth Tragedy and Zarathustra
Week 4, March 13, 2024 The Weimar Republic and the Philosophy of Martin Heidegger
Week 5, March 20, 2024 The Rise of Fascism and the SS State
The Speaker
He most recently addressed SFWAF audiences on history of the Ukraine-Russia conflict via the 6 part web series entitled: “Russia-Ukraine: Forward to the Past” in February – March, 2023. Dr West was a professor of history and humanities at Middlebury College (1995-2011), and professor of history at Trinity College, Hartford, Conn. (1971-95)
During his academic career, he was the recipient of several prestigious US government grants to conduct and publish research in and on the Soviet Union which resulted in Between Tsar and People (1991) and Merchant Moscow (1991), Princeton University Press and republished in Russia in 2008which he edited.
In addition to Russian history, West has taught courses on the interplay of culture, society, intellectual thought and politics in Russia and Central Europe. He spoke at SFWAF’s first symposium “A Window on Russia” in 2006 and at our 2018 symposium “Values, Myths and Interests: American Foreign Policy in an Unstable World” on “Up Off Our Knees: The Search for a Usable Past for Russia’s Resurgence.”
