SPEAKING
Compelling historical insight into the critical issues of our current moment.
COLIN WOODARD is one of the most respected authorities on North American regionalism, the sociology of United States nationhood, and how our colonial past shapes and explains the present. Compelling, dynamic and thought provoking, he offers a fascinating look at where America has come from, how we ended up as we are, and how we might shape our future. His American Nations transformed the way many Americans think about their country’s origins, divisions, and vulnerabilities and his research at Salve Regina University’s Nationhood Lab has transformed the policy debate, work he shares in Nations Apart His riveting talks give unparalleled insights into where America has been, how we got where we are, and how to navigate the path ahead.
A skilled public speaker, Colin has provided keynote presentations at hundreds of conferences, meetings, literary festivals, and other events across North America and around the world.
He’s spoken at some of the U.S.’s most prestigious venues, including the U.S. Senate, the Smithsonian, the Chautauqua Institution, the Boston Athenaeum, the National Academies, Colonial Williamsburg, the American Enterprise Institute, National Defense University, and the Department of the Treasury; at marquee annual conferences convened by the Council on Foundations, the Governing Institute, the national SeaGrant Program, the HR Policy Association, the Financial Planners Association, the Camden Conference, the Council of State Governments, the National Conference of State Legislators and the Q Ideas Festival; at Harvard, Iowa State, Tufts, Miami University of Ohio, Bowdoin, Kenyon, Simpson, Colby, and Bates Colleges, Brigham Young University, Ohio University, the University of Massachusetts, the University of South Carolina, Tokyo University, the University of Belgrade, University of Warsaw and other higher education institutions; and at international gatherings like German Marshall Fund’s Atlantic Dialogues in Marakesh, the Milken Global Conference in Beverly Hills, the State of the Unions conference in Brussels, and the Asahi World Forum in Tokyo.
Colin Woodard engages audiences on a wide range of engaging topics, including:
- The authoritarian threat to the U.S., how we got here, and how to save the republic
- North America’s regional cultures and their origins and effects on U.S life, politics, society, and stability.
- The epic struggle to create a U.S. national myth and its implications for the survival of the US.
- The battle between individual liberty and the common good and what the data says about where the balance point lies, for health, safety, economics, and democracy.
- The geography of health in the U.S. and how culture drives outcomes
- The surprising story and remarkable legacy of Blackbeard and the Golden Age pirates
- The backstory of Maine, its people, and its unique postcolonial culture
- A defense of liberal arts education and its vital role in scientific discovery and civic health
“Colin presented a lecture on his book The Republic of Pirates to a large museum crowd and held them spellbound with stories about the ‘real’ pirates of the Caribbean. He adeptly fielded wide-ranging questions and offered primary source anecdotes with humor and acumen.”
Trish Balderson, Events Director, Museums at Colonial Williamsburg
COLIN WOODARD is a New York Times bestselling author, historian and award-winning journalist. He is the author of seven books that have been translated into a dozen foreign languages and inspired an NBC television drama. He is currently Director of Nationhood Lab at the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Affairs at Salve Regina University. As State and National Affairs Writer at Maine's Portland Press Herald, he won a 2012 George Polk Award and was a finalist for a 2016 Pulitzer Prize. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico, The Economist, Smithsonian and dozens of other major publications.