On Tuesday, April 2, 2019 at 7:30 p.m., the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University will host Thomas Weber for a discussion titled “Becoming Hitler: Lessons of the Making of Demagogues Past & Present.” Part of the Open VISIONS Forum, this lecture is presented in collaboration with the Judaic Studies Program and Fairfield University’s College of Arts & Sciences, through the generosity of Bridgeport’s Congregation B’nai Israel and Merkaz, the Community High School for Judaic Studies.

In his talk, Thomas Weber will explore how Adolf Hitler – returning from World War I as an awkward loner with no clear political ideas – quickly transformed into a star propagandist of the nascent Nazi Party and became not only the party’s leader but a cunning, skillful political operator and man of ideas. Weber will argue that Hitler’s metamorphosis into fascist leader is the story of how demagogues are made when liberal democracy and globalism are in great crisis,  and when that crisis is translated into a yearning for strongmen and novel kinds of leaders.

Gavriel Rosenfeld, PhD, professor of history at Fairfield University, shares an interest in Germany’s Nazi past and has appeared on conference panels with Weber.  He said, "Professor Weber is one of the world's leading Hitler scholars. He has been an intrepid researcher who has brilliantly tapped previously unexamined archival sources and produced novel interpretations of Hitler's early political evolution, from the trenches of World War I to the beer halls of early postwar Munich."

A professor of history and international affairs at the University of Aberdeen, Thomas Weber was educated at Münster and Oxford. Weber previously held positions at Harvard University, the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago, and the University of Glasgow. He is the author of four books, most recently Becoming Hitler: The Making of a Nazi. His earlier books have won the Arthur Goodzeit Book Award of the New York Military Affairs Symposium for the best book on military history, the Duc d’Arenberg History Prize for the best book on European history and culture, a Golden Light Award, as well as an Infinity Award of the International Center of Photography in New York City. 

The Open VISIONS Forum discussion with Thomas Weber is generously sponsored by Cohen and Wolf Attorneys at Law, Moffly Media, the Delamar, and the Delamar Spa. Tickets are $20 and Quick Members are $15. For more information or to reserve your seat, visit www.quickcenter.com or call the box office at 203-254-4010 or toll free at 1-877-ARTS-396.