Twice annually, the Potomac Center hosts Friday afternoon symposia in Washington, DC. Each symposium addresses a focused topic and consists of talks by three or four scholars, each from a different discipline, and a lengthy discussion period. A local scholar chairs each symposium, inviting the speakers from the U.S. and abroad. In all cases, the aim is to bring forward the core methods and assumptions of the represented disciplines and to explore how these might be productively hybridized. Scholars at any institution in the Washington-Baltimore area may propose symposia to the advisory board, which works with the director to plan events each spring for the following academic year.
No symposia have been scheduled in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years, while the director is on leave in Europe.
Symposia to Date
The Cultural Politics of Breakdown and Repair, April 6, 2018
Global Media, Global Identities?, April 7, 2017
The Rise of Donald Trump in Historical Perspective, December 5, 2016
The Status of Facts, May 6, 2016
The End of Sovereignty?, October 9, 2015
What Was Antihumanism?, April 10, 2015
Modernity’s Discontents, October 24, 2014
Sustainable Modernities, April 4, 2014
War and Race, September 27, 2013
Modernity and Chance, April 5, 2013
Styles and Cultures of the Corporation, November 9, 2012
You can also see a list of all speakers to date and learn more about the related graduate student workshops.