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Wesson Lectures

People queuing up for Wesson Lectures

Each year, the Center brings to Stanford a notable scholar to deliver a set of lectures pertaining to problems in democratic theory and practice. These lectures are endowed by the late Robert Wesson, a political scientist and Hoover Institute Fellow who studied Soviet society. Dr. Wesson hoped that these lectures would help students, scholars and community members think through important public issues related to democratic governance, such as the role of money in elections, the obligations of representatives to their constituents, and the place of discussion and debate in democratic politics.

This lecture series is one public aspect of the Center that seeks to address social and moral questions broadly in research and teaching, and to motivate our students to take these questions up as engaged citizens. Over the years, we have assembled an outstanding range of thinkers to address the problems and challenges of democracy and today the Wesson lectures are one of the most prestigious lecture series at Stanford University.

Past Events

Alan Krueger / Why is Universal Basic Income So Controversial? - Lecture
Date
Wednesday, March 13, 2019, 5:30pm - 7:00pm
Location:
Cubberley Auditorium
Tim Wu / The Curse of Bigness Revisited - LECTURE
Date
Tuesday, February 20, 2018, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Location:
Cubberley Auditorium
Barney Frank / To Govern is to Choose: Policing the Globe Versus Improving the Quality of Our Lives
Date
Monday, February 8, 2016, 5:30pm - 7:30pm
Location:
CEMEX Auditorium
Date
Friday, January 23, 2015, 1:15pm - 2:45pm
Location:
Landau Economics Building, Room 134A
Date
Thursday, January 22, 2015, 5:30pm - 7:00pm
Location:
Cubberley Auditorium
Baogang He: The Deliberative Turn in Chinese Political Development
Date
Tuesday, November 5, 2013, 5:30pm - 7:00pm
Location:
Black Community Services Center
Baogang He: The Origin and Persistence of Confucian Deliberation in China
Date
Monday, November 4, 2013, 5:30pm - 7:00pm
Location:
BLACK COMMUNITY SERVICES CENTER
Wesson Seminar Discussion: Elizabeth Anderson (U. Michigan)
Date
Friday, May 10, 2013, 12:00pm - 2:00pm
Location:
Black Community Service Center
Henry and Monique Brandon Family Community Room
Wesson Lecture Discussion Seminar: Russ Feingold (The Honorable Russ Feingold, U.S. Senate, Wisconsin)
Date
Tuesday, February 28, 2012, 10:00am
Location:
Tresidder Student Union, Cypress Lounge, Stanford, CA 94305, USA