top of page
James Hankins
All Writings and Appearances


Why I'm Leaving Harvard
Compact, December 29, 2025 Two weeks ago I gave my last lecture at Harvard, where I have been a history professor for forty years. My four decades of experience at one of the world’s leading universities have given me a unique vantage point to trace the replacement of Western history by global history. This change is part of the reason why the younger generation finds itself in a state of moral and intellectual disorientation. My decision to retire was not a sudden one. I am


The Return of Western Civilization
Unherd, December 26, 2025 Prof. Hankins speaks with Freddie Sayers of Unherd about the precarious state of the Western tradition and the burgeoning resistance movement in classical education. Moving through a 2,500-year narrative arc from the ancient Greek invention of reason to the modern-day “cult of innovation,” he warns that elite institutions are suffering from a dangerous cultural amnesia. But, despite the degradation of the canon, he offers a defiant hope rooted in his


Have We Broken the Golden Thread?
Conversation with Michael Fontaine of Cornell University, Classical Wisdom, December 4, 2025 Have We Broken the Golden Thread? Why the West's Future Depends on Remembering Its Past The West’s greatest peril is forgetfulness, its loss of cultural memory. Without knowing where we came from, how can we know what to defend, or even what to value? In an age when history itself is contested ... when the past is either dismissed or distorted ... The Golden Thread reminds us why th


The Golden Thread on The Saad Truth
The Saad Truth, Oct. 20, 2025 On this episode of The Saad Truth with Gad Saad, Prof. Hankins discusses The Golden Thread , the deeper meaning of civilization and the West, the potential for cultural renewal, and his lifelong friendship with his coauthor Allen Guelzo. Prof. Guelzo continued the conversation with Gad Saad about The Golden Thread on December 2. The Saad Truth, Dec. 2, 2025


Topple Your Woke Idols: A Modest Proposal for Healthy American Assimilation
The American Mind , August 15, 2025 Andrew Beck argues that America needs to revive the ideal of assimilation if our country is to...


Could a World Remade by Tech Be Ruled by Virtue?
Law and Liberty , August 11, 2025 The ongoing clash of the titans, President Trump and Elon Musk, is bringing into high relief the...


Renaissance Humanism and the Modern Humanities
The Southeastern Consortium of Classical Educators, Thales College, August 2, 2025 In his plenary lecture at the Southeastern Consortium...


Classical Renewal by Research
First Things , June 23, 2025 The research pursued these days in university humanities departments does not, as a rule, enjoy high esteem...


Reform Higher Ed by Raising Standards
Law and Liberty , May 15, 2025 The first hundred days of the second Trump presidency have brought unprecedented challenges to the...
bottom of page