Week Eight: August 9–16, 2025

Every summer Chautauqua Institution welcomes over 100,000 visitors, to celebrate community and prioritize personal growth. Many travel here to relax, renew and recharge on the shores of Chautauqua Lake. Join us and see for yourself why Chautauqua was, and continues to be, a cherished destination. Keep scrolling to explore Week Eight’s Theme: The Middle East: The Gulf States’ Emerging Influence.

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Chautauqua Lecture Series

The Middle East: The Gulf States’ Emerging Influence

Building on a decades-long legacy of thoughtful and informative programming focused on the Middle East, Chautauqua in this week focuses specifically on the increasingly influential states that border the Persian Gulf, including members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Iran and Iraq. We’ll seek to understand the histories, demographies and economies of the Gulf states, how they are ruled or governed, and their relationships to each other and the broader Middle East — especially in the context of ongoing conflicts including Israel-Palestine.

On Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, Robin Wright returns to Chautauqua, where the contributing writer and columnist for The New Yorker and Distinguished Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars will discuss oil, security, and the evolving Middle East order.

Confirmed Lectures

Nasr_Vali_CLS_081225

August 12 @ 10:45 am Week Eight (August 9–16)

Vali R. Nasr

Amphitheater | CHQ Assembly

$30 View Details
Vali R. Nasr
Vali R. Nasr
Tuesday, August 12th 2025 @ 10:45 am
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Vali R. Nasr

Vali R. Nasr is the Majid Khadduri Professor of International Affairs and Middle East Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Between 2012 and 2019 he served as dean of SAIS, and between 2009 and 2011 as senior adviser to Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Nasr, who has previously contributed to Chautauqua Institution’s Middle East Update and Chautauqua Lecture Series, returns for a week on “The Middle East: The Gulf States’ Emerging Influence.” He’ll discuss the state of play in the Gulf States, and the role the United States is playing in the rapidly-changing map of the Middle East.

Nasr has advised world leaders and major corporations, and is the author of several books, including Iran’s Grand Strategy: A Political History; How Sanctions Work, Iran and the Impact of Economic Warfare; The Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat; The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam will Shape the Future; and Democracy in Iran. He has also written articles in scholarly journals, and commentary in The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. He is a member of Global Board of Trustees of Asia Society, the recipient of Carnegie Scholar Award, and the Frank Guggenheim, and MacArthur Foundation research fellowships. He was selected as Henry Alfred Kissinger Resident Scholar at Library of Congress for 2024-2025.

He received his Bachelor of Arts from Tufts University in international relations; his master’s from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in international economics and Middle East studies; and his Ph.D. from MIT in political science.

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Wright_Robin_CLS_081325

August 13 @ 10:45 am Week Eight (August 9–16)

Robin Wright

Amphitheater | CHQ Assembly

$30 View Details
Robin Wright
Robin Wright
Wednesday, August 13th 2025 @ 10:45 am
Amphitheater & 
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Robin Wright

Robin Wright is a contributing writer and columnist for The New Yorker, which she has written for since 1988. A distinguished fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, she is a former correspondent for The Washington Post, CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, and the Sunday Times of London, and has reported from more than 140 countries. A frequent Chautauqua contributor, Wright returns to the Amphitheater stage for a week on “The Middle East: The Gulf States’ Emerging Influence,” to discuss oil, security, and the evolving Middle East order.

Wright received the U.N. Correspondents Association Gold Medal for international coverage, and the Overseas Press Club Award for the “best reporting in any medium requiring exceptional courage and initia¬tive,” for her coverage of African wars. The American Academy of Diplomacy named her journalist of the year for “distinguished reporting and analysis of international affairs.” She also won the National Press Club Award for diplomatic reporting and has been the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation grant. Her first piece on Iran won the National Magazine Award for best reporting.

Wright is the author of several books, including The Last Great Revolution: Turmoil and Transformation in Iran, Sacred Rage: The Wrath of Militant Islam, and Dreams and Shadows: The Future of the Middle East, which was selected by The New York Times and The Washington Post as one of the most notable books of 2008. Her book, Rock the Casbah: Rage and Rebellion Across the Islamic World, was selected as the best book on international affairs by the Overseas Press Club.

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Mirgani_Suzi_CLS_081425

August 14 @ 10:45 am Week Eight (August 9–16)

Suzi Mirgani

Amphitheater | CHQ Assembly

$30 View Details
Suzi Mirgani
Suzi Mirgani
Thursday, August 14th 2025 @ 10:45 am
Amphitheater & 
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Suzi Mirgani

Suzi Mirgani is editor and assistant director for publications at Georgetown University in Qatar’s Center for International and Regional Studies, where her research lies at the intersection of politics and popular culture. She joins the Chautauqua Lecture Series in a week exploring “The Middle East: The Gulf States’ Emerging Influences” to discuss art, culture and identity in the region, and her work as both a scholar and an artist in this field.

Mirgani is the author of Target Markets: International Terrorism Meets Global Capitalism in the Mall; editor of both Informal Politics in the Middle East, and Art and Cultural Production in the Gulf Cooperation Council; and co-editor of Bullets and Bulletins: Media and Politics in the Wake of the Arab Uprisings, and Food Security in the Middle East. Recent publications include “Peeking behind the Curtain: Gulf Filmmakers Imagine the Lives of Female Migrant Domestic Workers in the Arabian Peninsula,” in Reorienting the Middle East: Film and Digital Media Where the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, and Indian Ocean Meet and “Consumer Citizenship: National Identity and Museum Merchandise in Qatar” in Middle East Journal.

Mirgani served as book review editor for the Journal of Arabian Studies from 2015 to 2022, and she publishes short stories and poetry, some of which have appeared in Mizna; International Feminist Journal of Politics; and Journeys Home: An Anthology of Contemporary African Diasporic Experience.

As a complement to her academic work, Mirgani is an award-winning filmmaker whose works include “Kamala Ishag: States of Oneness,” “Virtual Voice,” “Al-Sit,” “Caravan” and “Hind’s Dream.” She holds degrees in media studies and museum studies from University College London Qatar, and her Ph.D. in communication and media studies from Eastern Mediterranean University.

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Interfaith Lecture Series

Compassionate, Merciful: Describing the Nature of God

All but one chapter of the Qur’an opens with the phrase that describes the nature of God as the Most Compassionate and the Most Merciful. The Talmud refers to God as “The Merciful One,” and the Christian scriptures share the notion that “God is love.” But is that all that God is? How do we make sense of other descriptions of God, including instances of God’s jealousy, wrath, or judgment? At the same time, God is also ineffable, incapable of fully being understood or described in human language. Why does it matter how we describe God? And can the description of God allow us to better understand human nature? This week, we will hear from scholars and practitioners from different faith and spiritual traditions on how they describe the nature of God and what that means for our understanding of the world and perhaps even ourselves.

Confirmed Lectures

Jackson_Drew_interfaith_08-15-25

August 15 @ 2:00 pm Week Eight (August 9–16)

Drew Jackson

Hall of Philosophy | CHQ Assembly

$19.00 View Details
Drew Jackson
Drew Jackson
Friday, August 15th 2025 @ 2:00 pm
Hall of Philosophy & 
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Drew Jackson

Drew Jackson is a poet, speaker, and public theologian. He is the author of God Speaks Through Wombs: Poems on God’s Unexpected Coming, which was a finalist for the Christian Book Award, and Touch the Earth: Poems on The Way. His work has appeared in Oneing from the Center for Action and Contemplation, The Isolation Journals with Suleika Jaouad, Christianity Today, Made for Pax, The Journal from the Centre for Public Christianity, Fathom Magazine, and other publications. Drew was a contributing artist on Jon Batiste’s Grammy-nominated album World Music Radio and also appeared in the award-winning documentary American Symphony on Netflix. Drew is also a co-host of the Everything Belongs podcast from the Center for Action and Contemplation.
Drew received his B.A. in Political Science from the Univ. of Chicago and his M.A. in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary. He currently works as the Managing Director of Mission Integration for the Center for Action and Contemplation, and lives in Brooklyn, NY with his wife and daughters.

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Weekly Chaplain

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The Rev. Dr. J. Peter Holmes

The Rev. Dr. J. Peter Holmes has served since 2001 as the Minister of the Congregation of the historic Yorkminster Park Baptist Church in the heart of Toronto. During this time the congregation has grown into an increasingly diverse and multi-cultural family. While the church has a long history of excellence in music, liturgy and preaching, it has also become a community centre for culture and the arts as well as many missional endeavours focussed on relieving food insecurity, providing shelter and offering housing for those who are homeless and support for refugees.

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Explore Performing and Visual Arts

The arts can sometimes bridge differences and illuminate perspectives as no other method can. Artistic expressions at Chautauqua — including professional and pre-professional offerings in classical and contemporary music, theater, opera, dance, visual arts and literary arts — aim to inspire, educate, entertain and engage a diverse and growing audience.

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Places to Stay

If you love the events you see in Week Eight, ensure you have accommodations. Space on the ground is limited, and accommodations go fast find reservations at the Hotel or Private Accommodations. 

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Dining & Shopping

Make your Chautauqua experience memorable! Share a delicious meal at one of our many restaurants. Or take piece of Chautauqua home with you from our unique shops.

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