"Political Theory and the End of Communism" is the theme of this year's Castle Lectures in Ethics, Politics and Economics, which will be presented by Princeton University professor Stephen Holmes, who is widely known for his work in democratic and constitutional theory and in state building after communism.
Each of the three lectures in the Castle Lectures series will take up a different facet of the subject "Political Theory and the End of Communism." Holmes will present the first talk, titled "Rights," on Monday, Oct. 12 , at 4 p.m. in Rm. 211 of Linsly-Chittenden Hall,
63 High St. The lecture will be followed by a reception at 5:30 p.m. Both the talk and the reception are free and open to the public.
The series will continue at 4 p.m. on Monday,
Oct. 19, with a lecture titled "Markets." This talk will be held in Rm. 127 of the Law School, 127 Wall St.; a reception will follow in the faculty lounge. Again, both the talk and reception are free and open to the public.
Holmes' third and final lecture, "Democracy," will be presented on Monday, Feb. 22. Information about the time and place of that talk will be published in a future issue of the Yale Bulletin & Calendar.
"Each year Yale's Castle Lecture Series brings to campus a prominent scholar who can speak to moral and political questions of major public concern," says Ian Shapiro, director of the program in ethics, politics and economics, which sponsors the lecture series. "They are intended to be interdisciplinary in scope and practical in focus.
"Stephen Holmes exemplifies the spirit which this lecture series was created to honor, by bringing together ethics and political theory and applying them to contemporary problems," notes Shapiro. "Holmes has spent much of the past five years in Russia and Eastern Europe. As a result he offers a unique combination of disciplined political theory and practical knowledge of the post-communist world that is struggling to come into being."
Holmes is the author of "Passion and Constraint: On the Theory of Liberal Democracy" and "Benjamin Constant and the Making of Modern Liberalism." He is the editor-in-chief of the East European Constitutional Review; has received a Fulbright Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship; and was a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study, the Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin and the Collegium in Budapest. Holmes received his doctorate in political science from Yale.
The Castle Lectures were endowed by John K. Castle to honor his ancestor the Reverend James Pierpont, one of Yale's founders. Past Castle lecturers include Abba Eban, Lester Thurow, Paul Tsongas, Sissela Bok and Michael Walzer. Castle Lectures are published in book form by the Yale University Press.
For more information, please contact Beth Weinberger at 432-4284 or beth.weinberger@yale.edu.