Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago
Read Solzhenitsyn's searing & deep indictment of the Communist project for its 50th anniversary.
In the fifth week of Political Studies, fellows will focus on revolution and tyranny—and what becomes of statesmanship in times of crisis and upheaval.
The first section, led by Dr. Flagg Taylor, examines the distinctive tyranny that dominated much of the twentieth century: totalitarianism. Through the writings of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Hannah Arendt, and Václav Havel, fellows will study the nature of “ideological tyranny” and its effort to control not only politics but conscience itself. Their reflections open broader questions about justice, moral courage, and the limits of human freedom under oppressive regimes.
The second section, led by Matthew Continetti, turns to revolution and its critics. Political scientist Samuel P. Huntington defined conservatism as the defense of inherited institutions against radical challenge. Conservatives, in this view, emerge amid upheaval to explain why the structures that give life direction and meaning are worth preserving. Fellows will trace this response across three revolutions: the American, through the Federalist effort to secure liberty by constitutional design; the French, through the critiques of Edmund Burke and Joseph de Maistre; and the Russian, through Winston Churchill’s warnings about Bolshevism and the rise of twentieth-century anti-Communist conservatism. Through close reading and discussion, fellows will consider what conservatism reveals about the enduring tension between renewal and preservation in political life.
Prof. Taylor on Women of the Gulag
This course is part of our residential Political Studies Program. Fellows participate in morning seminars and meet prominent men and women in public life over afternoon and evening sessions. Up to 32 fellows will be selected.
Faculty
Matthew Continetti
Matthew Continetti is the director of domestic policy studies and the inaugural Patrick and Charlene Neal Chair in American Prosperity at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where his work is focused on American political thought and history, with a particular focus on the development of the Republican Party and the American conservative movement in the 20th century.
Matthew Continetti
Matthew Continetti is the director of domestic policy studies and the inaugural Patrick and Charlene Neal Chair in American Prosperity at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where his work is focused on American political thought and history, with a particular focus on the development of the Republican Party and the American conservative movement in the 20th century.
A prominent journalist, analyst, author, and intellectual historian of the right, Mr. Continetti was the founding editor and the editor in chief of The Washington Free Beacon. Previously, he was opinion editor at The Weekly Standard.
Mr. Continetti is the author of three books, including, most recently, The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism (Basic Books, 2022).
He has a B.A. in history from Columbia University.
Flagg Taylor
Flagg Taylor is the Executive Director of the Center for Civics, Culture, & Society, at Miami University. His research specialty is in the history of political thought and American government, especially the question of executive power. He is Chair of the Academic Council of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.
Flagg Taylor
Flagg Taylor is the Executive Director of the Center for Civics, Culture, & Society, at Miami University. His research specialty is in the history of political thought and American government, especially the question of executive power. He is Chair of the Academic Council of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.
He is the co-author of The Contested Removal Power, 1789-2010, author of numerous articles, and editor of The Great Lie: Classic and Recent Appraisals of Ideology and Totalitarianism and The Long Night of the Watchman: Essays by Václav Benda, 1977–1989. He holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. in political science from Fordham University and a B.A. from Kenyon College.
Preview the Syllabus by Week/Session
Totalitarianism & Dissent
Session I
Syllabus in development.
Session II
Session III
Session IV
Session V
Conservatism & Revolution
Session I
Syllabus in development.
