Annual Mansfield Lecture
Our premier yearly lecture, the Annual Mansfield Lecture features speakers who can bring discussion of critical topics to an audience from across Montana and the world. Recordings of Mansfield Lectures since 2021 are available via the Mansfield Center YouTube channel.
2024 - Leadership Lessons From The 1960s: A Front-Row Seat To History
World-renowned presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning bestselling author Doris Kearns Goodwin shares powerful insights from her latest #1 New York Times bestseller, An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s. Drawing from her own front-row White House experiences and those of her husband, Richard Goodwin, she provides a captivating look at one of America’s most transformative decades. Goodwin reveals intimate examples and keen analysis of iconic figures—John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr.—demonstrating how they influenced and navigated change.
Drawing poignant parallels between the turbulent 1960s and our own complex time, Goodwin offers timeless lessons that illustrate how public sentiment can be galvanized to drive progress, even in the face of great challenges.
Goodwin is noted for her ability to bring historical figures and events to life through compelling narratives and to put today’s news into historical context. Through her masterful storytelling, the audience gains fresh perspectives on historical events and the leaders who shaped them.
2023 - American Democracy and the Rule of Law: A Conversation with Congresswoman Liz Cheney and Marc Racicot
Congresswoman Liz Cheney sat down for a fireside chat with former Montana Governor and Mansfield Board Chair Marc Racicot. The Vice Chair of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, Cheney discussed “American Democracy and the Rule of Law”.
This event was not available virtually.
2022 - Fostering Freedom at Home and Abroad: A Conversation with Condoleezza Rice and Michael McFaul
"We are safest, most secure, and most prosperous when our values and our interests are inextricably linked." – Condoleezza Rice
Join two American patriots in a conversation on the hard work of creating and sustaining democracy, with topics ranging from the importance of engaging rural America to Russian aggression in Ukraine. Moderated by UM President Seth Bodnar.
2021 - A Conversation with Anthony Fauci
The Mansfield Center is honored to have hosted Dr. Anthony Fauci for the 2021 Mansfield Lecture. In a conversation and public Q&A, Dr. Fauci addressed such questions as: Where are we with Covid-19? How transformational is a vaccine and what challenges are there for distributing vaccines in the U.S. and around the world? When will we "get back to normal," and what will "normal" be like in the coming months and years? As we look to the future, what are the main lessons we should learn from this pandemic? The lecture also featured Dr. Marshall Bloom, Associate Director for Science Management for Rocky Mountain Laboratories, and was moderated by Dr. Robert Saldin, Director of the Mansfield Center's Ethics and Public Affairs Program and a Professor of Political Science. Read more about the lecture here.
2020 - Rebuilding America With Nicholas Kristof
The 2020 Mansfield Lecture was given by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nicholas Kristof. His lecture was titled "Rebuilding America,” and provided an in-depth look at how economic and social upheaval has prevented millions from achieving the American dream and how people are working together to rebuild upward mobility. Read more about the event in this article.
This event was not available virtually.