Tuesday, November 18, 2025 in the Library Gallery, come hear Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins present "Dark Times:  The Uses and Abuses of History in an Authoritarian Era."

Until Recently, the History profession has expressed skepticism about using history to understand contemporary events. Fear of political bias, anachronism, and simply bad historical comparisons were behind such skepticism. However, Brexit, COVID-19, and the current political turn toward authoritarianism have all led to an explosion of historical works attempting to make sense of the confusion that defines our present moment. This lecture explains the origins of the recent turn to the present, while looking at its promises and perils for the field.