Chautauqua Lecture Series
10:45 a.m. EDT Monday–Friday, Amphitheater
Ideas and opinions are exchanged in an open, challenging atmosphere, and Chautauqua’s knowledgeable audiences have the opportunity to participate in question-and-answer sessions at the conclusion of the lectures.
Week One • June 21–28, 2025
Themes of Transformation: Forces Shaping Our Tomorrow
We live in a state of flux. Transformation is constant and unavoidable, and in this anthology week we resist the comfort of stasis to confront the trends, discoveries and challenges that are molding our future landscape. We’ll consider our own role in the changes around us: Are we catalysts or mere reactionaries? Through insightful, interdisciplinary case studies, Chautauqua will bring together social scientists, economists, changemakers and futurists to examine the impact of transformation on us, our communities and our world.
Week Two • June 28–July 5, 2025
Comedy Now: A Week Curated with Lewis Black
In Partnership with the National Comedy Center
Longtime friend of Chautauqua and National Comedy Center Advisory Board Member Lewis Black, the celebrated comedian known for his trademark acerbic style, helps curate a laugh-inducing and thought-provoking week dedicated to the craft and practice of comedy. We’ll consider how comedy genres, styles and content have evolved to meet modern tastes and sensibilities, and the comedian’s role in defending free speech. The sharpest voices across comedy generations come together at Chautauqua to help us explore these critical questions and others — if we can hear them over the laughter.
Week Three • July 5–12, 2025
Art in Action: Building Community Through the Arts
Chautauqua has long offered a cross-fertilization of art forms, bringing together art makers and art lovers in community — and increasingly it serves as an incubator for new, exciting work, providing a window into the process of creative experimentation and excellence. What are the dual roles and responsibilities of the artist and the audience, and what do works of art tell us about cultural, political, and social ideas and/or ideals? This week aims to connect impactful artistic experiences with a deeper understanding of artistic meaning and process from the makers themselves.
Week Four • July 12–19, 2025
The Future of the American Experiment
A Week in Partnership with American Enterprise Institute and Brookings Institution
Chautauqua brings two of America’s most highly regarded think tanks together on its historic lecture platform for a series of discussions on the issues driving the national discourse. What is the state of our democratic republic today? What is its immediate and long-term future? How can Americans find common ground on our most urgent challenges following a bruising national election and continued partisan division? AEI and Brookings experts show the way, in the Chautauqua tradition of sharing diverse and divergent perspectives in smart, good-faith conversation.
Week Five • July 19–26, 2025
Innovation in Capitalism: How to Meet 21st-Century Challenges?
In light of world-shaking events that define recent history — such as Big Tech’s emergence as the dominant industry, global conflicts, financial collapses and a deadly pandemic — this week we put our finger on the pulse of the global economy, and especially the American capitalist system. Our expert lecturers will us their best assessment of the state of play today, what the next 75 years hold, and how America and all of us can be best positioned to continue to succeed and lead in the 21st century.
Week Six • July 26–August 2, 2025
The Global Rise of Authoritarianism
In its 2021 Freedom in the World assessment, the nonprofit Freedom House noted a sharp acceleration the previous year in a global decline of democracy, an effect of what it characterized as decades-long trend of rising authoritarianism. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that a median of 31% of respondents across 24 different nations are supportive of military rule or an authoritarian leader. In this week, we travel across the globe to nations where authoritarian regimes hold or are gaining power to understand: How? Why?
Week Seven • August 2–9, 2025
Kwame Alexander and Friends: The Power of One
Honoring a shared mission to change the world through the power of storytelling, award-winning author, poet, producer and educator Kwame Alexander returns to the Amphitheater stage to lead a series of conversations on finding one’s passions, seizing opportunities, and, ultimately, changing the world. As President John F. Kennedy said, “One person can make a difference, and everyone should try.” The individuals featured this week have all seized their big breaks and improved lives through their work. Kwame’s 2023 Amphitheater lecture quickly established a connection between the author and the Chautauqua community, leading to his current role as the Michael I. Rudell Artistic Director of Literary Arts and inaugural Writer in Residence — that shared love will be evident throughout this inspiring week at Chautauqua.
Week Eight • August 9–16, 2025
The Middle East: The Gulf States’ Emerging Influence
Building on a decades-long legacy of thoughtful and informative programming focused on the Middle East, Chautauqua in this week focuses specifically on the increasingly influential states that border the Persian Gulf, including members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Iran and Iraq. We’ll seek to understand the histories, demographies and economies of the Gulf states, how they are ruled or governed, and their relationships to each other and the broader Middle East — especially in the context of ongoing conflicts including Israel-Palestine.
Week Nine • August 16–24, 2025
Past Informs Present: How to Harness History
We know the saying “those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it” — how does what we know of the past influence the way we draft our own histories for the future? If history is a story, what do those stories mean, and how can those stories be edited or reinterpreted to serve different purposes, even purposes at odds? As we consider history as science, as art, as philosophy. How do fields including politics, industry and faith impact how we interpret history?