Endowed Elberg Lecture Series: Howard French in Conversation With Adam Hochschild

February 17, 2026

March 16, 2026 | 1230 - 2 PM | Geballe Room, 220 Stephens Hall
(*NOTE: Stephens Hall is next door to the IIS office in Philosophy Hall)

IIS is delighted to welcome the renowned author, journalist and professor Howard French on March 16 in conversation with journalist and UC Berkeley lecturer Adam Hochschild.

Howard W. French is a professor of journalism at Columbia University and a former New York Times bureau chief for Central America and the Caribbean, West and Central Africa, Japan and the Koreas, and China, based in Shanghai. The author of six books, including Born in Blackness, French lives in New York City.

Adam Hochschild is a prominent American author, journalist, and historian known for narrative non-fiction focusing on human rights, social justice, and overlooked historical atrocities. A Harvard graduate, he co-founded Mother Jones magazine and has written several acclaimed works.

The pair will discuss ideas presented in French's latest book, The Second Emancipation: Nkrumah, Pan-Africanism, and Global Blackness at High Tide. The book links decolonization in Africa and the U.S. civil rights movement.This event is cosponsored by the UC Berkeley Institute of European Studies, Center for African Studies, Journalism School, Department of African American Studies, and Department of History.

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Topics

Africa topic page, Comparative Politics topic page, Black Lives topic page, Human Rights topic page