Join us for a conversation with Nathan Perl-Rosenthal and Dan Edesltein reflecting on what defines, propels, and ends modern revolutions. Experts on the concept of revolution and its past iterations around the world, Perl-Rosenthal and Edelstein will discuss the eighteenth-century Age of Revolutions, what revolution means today, and how revolutions relate to democracy.
Open to the public.
Panelists
Nathan Perl-Rosenthal is professor of history, French and Italian and law at the University of Southern California and is currently a visiting fellow at Harvard University. He is, most recently, the author of The Age of Revolutions and the Generations Who Made It (Basic Books, 2024) and The Long Revolution (Basic Books, 2026), which explores the evolving meaning attached to the American Revolution over time.
Dan Edelstein is the William H. Bonsall Professor of French and, by courtesy, of History and of Political Science at Stanford University, where he is also the faculty director of the Stanford Introductory Studies program. He is the author, most recently, of the award-winning The Revolution to Come: A History of an Idea from Thucydides to Lenin (Princeton University Press, 2025) and On the Spirit of Rights (Chicago, 2019).
Dan Edelstein is the William H. Bonsall Professor of French and, by courtesy, of History and of Political Science at Stanford University, where he is also the faculty director of the Stanford Introductory Studies program. He is the author, most recently, of the award-winning The Revolution to Come: A History of an Idea from Thucydides to Lenin (Princeton University Press, 2025) and On the Spirit of Rights (Chicago, 2019).
The Democracy Initiative aims to foster a campuswide call for public service and responsible citizenship. The signature event series “Democracy Talks” offers accessible and engaging opportunities for all students and members of the Notre Dame community to better understand current events and pressing policy issues. These talks are often in partnership with campus centers and institutes and elevate experts from the Notre Dame faculty as well as practitioners and policymakers.
Originally published at strategicframework.nd.edu.