Lecture Programs

The 2026 Chautauqua Institution season runs from June 27 to August 30. Chautauqua Institution is your one-stop vacation experience destination. Looking for a family-friendly concert in a one-of-a-kind open-air amphitheater? We have dozens of shows, all summer long. Seeking to enjoy a signature cocktail or tasty bite with a view of Chautauqua Lake? The porch at the Athenaeum Hotel or the lakeside bar at 3 Taps are ready to greet you. Want to take…

Learn about the foundation of Jamestown’s industries on this walking tour. Beginning at the Fenton History Center and progressing through the pioneer period to the early 1900s, and never leaving the area around Brooklyn Square. Participants will meet at the Fenton History Center 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…

Join New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Wendy Corsi Staub, who grew up in nearby Dunkirk, for an evening celebrating her beloved mystery series set in Lily Dale. Wendy will be in conversation with Dr. Lauren Thibodeau, a registered Medium living right here in Lily Dale — someone Wendy interviewed extensively while researching and writing her books. Together they will explore how this very real community inspired the setting,…

Good Neighbor Bookstore presents a conversation with historian, Tad Stoermer. This free event will be a discussion, with time for a brief Q&A, immediately followed by a signing of his book, A Resistance History of the United States. Books will be available to purchase at the event or you can pre-order your copy here: https://goodneighborbooks.com/book/9781586424367 Book Description Revisit the Salem Witch Trials, the Underground Railroad, and…

Two of America’s most respected television journalists help launch Chautauqua’s 2026 Summer Assembly and a week on “Icons and Instigators: Women Who Change the World” with a conversation based on their careers, and in particular new books by each that lift up and celebrate the strength, stories and bonds of women today as well as throughout American history. Norah O’Donnell is an Emmy Award-winning “60…

Peter Schweizer is the co-founder and President of the Government Accountability Institute, which was formed to fight and expose cronyism and corruption in government. He is the author of eight New York Times bestsellers, including five #1 best sellers “The Invisible Coup,” “Blood Money,” “Red Handed,” “Profiles in Corruption,” and “Secret Empires”. Advocates For Balance at Chautauqua,…

As we celebrate the women who were “icons and instigators,” there are many women’s stories that remain to be told. Sara Fitzgerald, an award-winning biographer and former Washington Post editor, shares the stories of the little-known women whose lives she has studied: the top woman in the Republican Party of the 1960s, the secret American love of the poet T. S. Eliot and the women who challenged sex discrimination at American…

Alyse Nelson is president and CEO of Vital Voices Global Partnership. As the co-founder, she has been with the organization for more than 28 years, also serving as vice president and senior director of programs before assuming her current role in 2009. Under Nelson’s leadership, Vital Voices has directly served nearly 50,000 women leaders across 188 countries. Several of these leaders will join Nelson as part of a panel on Vital…

Continuing a weeklong celebration of “Icons and Instigators: Women Who Change History,” Chautauqua welcomes two Olympic gold medalists for a conversation on the state of women’s sports, and the outlook for emerging generations of women and girls in amateur and professional athletics. Kerri Walsh Jennings is a five-time Olympian, three-time gold medalist, and one of the most accomplished athletes in beach volleyball history. A…