Events

Past Event

Benjamin Nathans - Fighting Authoritarianism in History: The Case of Soviet Union Dissidents

October 22, 2025
11:45 AM - 1:00 PM
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Allan Rosenfield Building (Room 532), Columbia University, 722 West 168th Street, New York

Event Description

Threats to protestors. Clamp-downs on academic speech. Throwing critics in prison. It happened before, and so did a movement opposing it. Beginning in the 1960s, Soviet dissidents organized an improbable movement that involved everything from banned public demonstrations to the circulation of underground texts. This talk will explore the history of Soviet dissidents and its implications for the future. 

Event Speaker

Benjamin Nathans, Alan Charles Kors Endowed Term Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania. 

Event Information

Open to Columbia University ID holders. Please email [email protected] with any questions. 

Hosted by the Center for the History and Ethics of Public Health at Columbia University.