The Jodidi Lecture is among the most prominent lecture series of the Weatherhead Center and is one of the most distinguished at the University. Established in 1955, the lecture series provides for the “delivery of lectures by eminent and well-qualified persons…for the promotion of tolerance, understanding and good will among nations, and the peace of the world.”
Visit the Weatherhead Center YouTube channel to view videos from the Samuel L. and Elizabeth Jodidi Lecture Series and more. All Jodidi Lecture Series videos can be found in its lecture series playlist.
2023 November
"How Can Universities Address the Crisis in Democracy?”
Dame Louise Richardson
President, Carnegie Corporation of New York
Melani Cammett
Director of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs; Clarence Dillon Professor of International Affairs at Harvard University
Related Links
2023 March
“Helping Bend the Arc at the Hinges of History: A Conversation with Larry Brilliant”
Larry Brilliant
Epidemiologist, technologist, philanthropist, and author
Erez Manela
Acting Director of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs; professor of history at Harvard University
Related Links
- Transcript of Jodidi Lecture delivered by Larry Brilliant and Erez Manela
- Harvard Gazette: "Speaking from Experience On What Makes a Global Killer"
2019
"Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nadia Murad in Conversation with Jennifer Leaning"
Nadia Murad
2018 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and founder of Nadia's Initiative
Jennifer Leaning
Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Cosponsored by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University
Related Links
- Transcript of Jodidi Lecture delivered by Nadia Murad and Jennifer Leaning
- Harvard Gazette, "Nadia Murad: The Making of an Activist"
- Nadia's Initiative
- Nadia Murad's book, The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight against the Islamic State
- Nadia Murad's 2015 statement to the UN Security Council
2018 November
"Democracy’s Crisis: On the Political Contradictions of Financialized Capitalism"
Nancy Fraser
Henry A. & Louise Loeb Professor of Political & Social Science at the New School for Social Research
Related Links:
2018 March
"Insidious Threats to Academic Freedom in the US and Abroad"
Craig Calhoun
Advisory Committee; President, Berggruen Institute
Michael Ignatieff
Advisory Committee; President, Central European University
Related Links:
- Transcript of Jodidi Lecture delivered by Craig Calhoun and Michael Ignatieff
- Harvard Gazette, "The Pressures on Academic Freedom"
2015
“The Cosmopolitan Ethic in a Fragmented World”
His Highness the Aga Khan
Cosponsored by the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Islamic Studies Program
Related Links:
- Transcript of Introduction by Professor Ali Asani
- Transcript of Jodidi Lecture delivered by His Highness the Aga Khan
- Transcript of Conversation with Professor Diana L. Eck
In the Media:
- The Harvard Gazette, "A Call to Build on Differences"
- The Huffington Post, "Aga Khan: We Can Achieve A More Cooperative World If We Understand Our Differences, Not Erase Them"
- The Huffington Post, "Aga Khan at Harvard: Islam and the Cosmopolitan Ethic in a Fragmented World"
- Cambridge Chronicle, "Muslim Leader Calls for Embracing Diversity at Harvard Speech"
- Harvard Magazine, "The Harvard Remarks of the Aga Khan"
2013
"Israel and Palestine: From Iconic Conflict to Iconic Solution or, Is It Time for New Paradigms?"
Avraham Burg
Israeli Author, Political Leader, and Activist; Former Speaker of the Knesset; Chairman, Jewish Agency for Israel.
2011
“Islam and Peace-Building in West Africa”
Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III
Sultan of Sokoto, Nigeria
Related Links:
"Exploring Islam in Nigeria: Panel discussion precedes visit by Sultan of Sokoto," Harvard Gazette article.
2010
“Individual Rights—Universal Peace”
Thorbjørn Jagland
Chairman, Norwegian Nobel Committee; Secretary General, European Council
Related Links:
"The Harvard Foundation Honors Jagland," Harvard Gazette article.
2008
“The Future of Peacekeeping”
Jean-Marie Guéhenno
United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations
(Delivered at the Center's annual conference in Talloires, France.)
2008
“Ireland and the EU: Promoting Peace and Prosperity at Home and Abroad”
Bertie Ahern
Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland
Transcript (HTML)
2005
“Zambia & Africa in the 21st Century”
Levy Mwanawasa
President of the Republic of Zambia
2004
“The Geneva Initiative: A Realistic Utopia Creating a Window of Opportunity in a Wall of
Separation”
Amram Mitzna
Member of the Israeli Knesset and Labor Party candidate for Israeli Prime Minister
2003
“Facing the Challenges of Development in Peru”
Beatriz Merino
President of the Council of Ministers of Peru
2002
“International Terrorism: What International Criminal Law Can Do”
Richard J. Goldstone
Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa
1994
“India’s Approach to Economic Policy Reform”
P.V. Narasimha Rao
Prime Minister of India
1987
“Democracy in India”
Rajiv Gandhi
Prime Minister of India
1986
“The Role of Non-violent Action in National Security”
Corazón Aquino
President of the Philippines
1986
“The Prospects for Peace in the Middle East”
Abba Eban
Former Israeli Foreign Minister
1985
“The United Nations’ Potential in Shaping Tomorrow’s World”
Javier Pérez de Cuellar
United Nations Secretary-General
1983
“Third World Debt and Global Recovery”
A.W. Clausen
Former Head, World Bank
1981
“Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey”
V.S. Naipaul
Novelist; 2001 Nobel Prize in Literature
1980
“Equity and Security: The Challenges to American Foreign Policy”
Zbigniew Brzezinski
US National Security Advisor
1980
“The Revolutions in Southeast Asia”
Prince Norodom Sihanouk
Former Chief of State, Cambodia
1978
René Levesque
Premier, Québec
1973
“Has the Atlantic Alliance a Future?”
Raymond Aron
Professor of Sociology of Modern Civilization, Collège de France
1968
Lee Kuan Yew
Prime Minister of Singapore
1968
Andreas Papandreou
Minister, First Ministry of State, Greece
1964
“Democracy in Germany”
Fritz Erler
Leader, Social Democratic Party, Germany
1958
Geoffrey Barraclough
Stevenson Research Professor, University of London