Lecture Programs

Anna Lappé is the executive director of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, a strategic alliance of philanthropic foundations working for food system transformation around the world. Before joining the Global Alliance in July 2023, Lappé had worked for more than 25 years as an internationally renowned expert on food systems and a respected advocate for sustainability and justice along the food chain. She has conducted…

Tucked away from view behind respectable facades, alleys were indispensable elements in American cities during the last half of the nineteenth century. The “impolite” realities of the industrial movement were hidden from Victorian society. Jamestown had 5 alleys - what are their stories? Learn about them on the Hidden Alleys tour. Participants will meet at the Fenton History Center at 10:00 a.m. The Fenton History Center conducts…

SPEAKER:Heather Ann Thompson, Ph.D.Pulitzer Prize-winning Author and Historian at the University of Michigan TOPIC:Fear and Fury is a historical work by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Heather Ann Thompson. It investigates the 1984 subway shooting in New York City and analyzes its profound implications for American race relations, politics, and democracy. Venue located on Chautauqua Institution grounds; a gate pass is required.

Priya Parker opens Week Nine of the 2026 Chautauqua Lecture Series and the theme of “The Importance of Gathering” by helping us take a deeper look at how anyone can create collective meaning in modern life, one gathering at a time. She is a facilitator, strategic adviser, acclaimed author of The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why it Matters, and the host of The Art of Gathering Digital Course. She writes and teaches on Group Life,…

Ivan Pongracic, Jr. is the William E. Hibbs/Ludwig von Mises Professor of Economics at Hillsdale College, where he has been teaching since 2000. He came to truly appreciate the importance of free markets to human liberty and prosperity because of growing up in communist Yugoslavia, where he spent the first fourteen years of his life. He was involved with various classical liberal and conservative institutions, such as the Foundation for Economic…

Lecture Description:Join us for an interactive presentation the combines science with comic interludes. Allison presents recent scientific findings about the importance of play while also demonstrating laughter yoga and improv games. Up until recently, there was very little scientific research about play and laughter. One of the surprising discoveries is that nearly all other mammals play, and many display laughter. We’ll explore various…

Visionary American pianist and scholar Lara Downes is joined by fellow American scholar and linguist John McWhorter for a musical-conversation to discuss the role of American music as a joyful noise, even in the hardest times — the songs that have chased our cares away even in times of hardship, crisis and wartime, to remind us of the importance of “harmonizing together.” This program is part of Downes’ series,…

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University professor and director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University. The Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, journalist, cultural critic and institution builder has produced and hosted an array of documentary films and published numerous books. Gates joins the Chautauqua Lecture Series during this week on “The…

Learn the stories about veterans buried in Lake View Cemetery. Six veterans will be highlighted whose stories need to be heard. Participants will meet outside the Lake View Cemetery office on the corner of Buffalo Street and Lakeview Avenue at 10:00 a.m. The Fenton History Center conducts historic walking tours from June to August. The cost is $8 for members and $12 for non-members. Participants can pre-register online, at the Fenton, or by phone…