About this Event
📍 Location: Exact address given in confirmation email
🧠 Lecture: "Ancient Athens and the Invention of Politics"
🎤 Speaker: Sydney Mitsunaga-Whitten
Once upon a time, believe it or not, the world was not political. Power belonged to god-kings who ruled with ultimate authority, leaving no room for collective decision-making or public opinion.
In this engaging lecture, Professor Sydney Mitsunaga-Whitten will explore how the ancient Greeks broke with this model of rulership and invented a new way of living together: the “polis.” Emphasizing human equality, openness, uncertainty, and debate, the polis gave birth to what we now call “politics.”
We’ll trace how this experiment in shared power emerged, why it was so radical, and how the struggle to sustain truly political life has never really ended. From ancient Athens to our world today, the questions raised by the polis remain urgent and unresolved.
Sydney Mitsunaga-Whitten is a Professor at Occidental College, where she teaches comparative literature, language, and philosophy with a focus on ancient Greek and modern Irish traditions. Her work centers on how literature and genre can disrupt social life and invite us to become braver, kinder, and more attentive human beings.
Get a drink, connect, and learn at Lectures on Tap! 🙌
Agenda
7:30 PM – Doors open: find a seat (open seating!), order food & drinks, and expect a bar line—arriving early is key. Attendees are welcome to come as early as 6:00 PM.
7:55 PM – Host introduction
8:00 PM – Lecture begins
8:45 PM – Audience Q&A
9:00 PM – Have 1:1 time with the speaker, mingle with fellow guests, and order another round
9:30 PM – Wrap up.
Event venue & nearby stays
Hollywood, Hollywood, Los Angeles, United States
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