Lecture Programs

From the beginning Jamestown residents had faith. It took a few years for it to manifest itself into the form of wood and stone. Learn about the history of the many houses of worship and visit a number of the churches in Jamestown. Participants will meet at the Jamestown Free Methodist Church, 515 E. 7th Street, Jamestown, at 10:00 a.m. The Fenton History Center conducts historic walking tours from June to August. The cost is $8 for members and…

SPEAKER:Jim RasenbergerAuthor and Journalist TOPIC:In creating the Declaration of Independence in 1776, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams collaborated in what Jefferson later called “a perfect coincidence” of thought and action. Exactly fifty years later, on July 4, 1826, they died within hours of each other. Author Jim Rasenberger will explore the meaning of these two coincidences and the remarkable fifty-year relationship between…

Nancy Youssef is a staff writer at The Atlantic. Before that, she was a longtime national security correspondent for The Wall Street Journal and also worked at BuzzFeed News and The Daily Beast. Youssef spent much of her career at McClatchy Newspapers where she served as national security correspondent and Middle East bureau chief based in Cairo covering the Middle East and the Islamic world. Prior to that she was McClatchy’s chief Pentagon…

Josh Kraushaar is a Washington political analyst with a track record on knowing election trends before they become conventional wisdom. Author of Axis weekly Sunday Sneak Preview newsletter. A political analyst FoxNews, Josh is also the editor-in-chief of the Jewish Insider. Advocates For Balance at Chautauqua, Inc. is not affiliated with Chautauqua Institution.

Have you ever pondered if famed political leaders were primarily chosen by historical events and therefore primarily driven by their contexts, or do such leaders possess unique characteristics that would drive them to seize glory and power and to leave their mark on history in any era? Why are some leaders called “the Great” by popular acclaim (Alexander, Genghis, Peter, Catherine, Fredrick) and why have some become archetypes of…

Robert Chatterton Dickson is an international affairs consultant based in London. Until June 2026 he was a senior member of the British Diplomatic Service. His 36-year career combined leadership in complex and dangerous environments with London-based appointments at the heart of U.K. foreign policy and national security. His remarks as part of Chautauqua’s probe into “Global Power and Our Evolving International Order” will…

Miles Yu is a senior fellow and director of the China Center at Hudson Institute. He is also a professor of East Asia and military and naval history at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Yu specializes in Chinese military and strategic culture, U.S. and Chinese military and diplomatic history, and U.S. policy toward China. He joins Chautauqua’s weeklong exploration of “Global Power and Our Evolving International…

Robert Kagan is the Stephen & Barbara Friedman Senior Fellow with the Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology in the Foreign Policy program at Brookings, and a contributing writer for The Atlantic. Until recently, he also served as a contributing columnist at The Washington Post. Kagen served in the State Department from 1984 to 1988 as a member of the policy planning staff, as principal speechwriter for Secretary of…

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…