The University of Iowa Lecture Committee presents:

Ruth Ben-Ghiat
"Strongmen: Why People Follow Them and How They can be Defeated"

Date: Thursday, Oct. 3
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Main Lounge, Iowa Memorial Union
Tickets: Free and open to the public.

For the last two decades, authoritarian movements have attained considerable strength, and far right leaders have ascended to power across the globe. Ruth Ben-Ghiat is Professor of History and Italian Studies at New York University and a leading expert on fascism, the appeal of strongmen, and their use of propaganda. At her presentation she will lay out the "playbook" authoritarian leaders from Mussolini to Putin to Trump have followed to gain power, to wield it, and to evade accountability for their actions. Dr. Ben-Ghiat will bring to bear her deep historical knowledge to explore current threats to democracy in the United States and how to fight against them.