Stanley Hoffman’s Symposium

Center for European Studies honors founder’s eightieth birthday

By Amelia G. Mango

It’s not every octogenarian who gets to celebrate his eightieth birthday with a full day of panel discussions by some of the biggest names in contemporary political science. But for Stanley Hoffmann, founder of Harvard’s Center for European Studies and professor here since 1955, the fete in his honor on December 5th was just such an event. 

Hoffmann, born in pre-World War II Vienna, attended primary and secondary school in France before matriculating at the University of Paris, where he studied politics. After his years in Paris, Hoffmann moved to the United States and soon joined the faculty of Harvard, where he would remain for years to come. He founded the Center for European studies in 1968, and served as its chair from that year through 1994. He remains the co-chair of the Center for European Studies’ seminar on French Politics, Culture, and Society, and is also a member of its editorial board. 

On leave during the Fall 2008 semester, Hoffmann is nonetheless in-demand. His current projects include a book on Albert Camus and another on French political and social thought in both the old regime and the current one. Past publications include Gulliver Unbound, published in 2004, and Chaos and Violence, published in 2006. He has authored books on both French and American foreign policy, as well as global international relations, having co-authored and edited countless other studies and books.

The respect Hoffmann commands within the scholarly political science community is some indication of how much he has contributed to the field. Harvard Government Department chairwoman Nancy Rosenblum and CES Director David Blackbourn kicked off the symposium. Distinguished panelists included Robert Keohane and Michael Walzer, both of Princeton University, as well as Harvard’s own Christie McDonald and Bryan Hehir. They, along with other respected professors and researchers, held discussions on issues within international relations and politics in France and Europe, before the theme of the event turned to Hoffmann’s own achievements. 

There are countless reasons to celebrate one’s eightieth birthday, but certainly Hoffmann’s contributions to the study of political science on the topics of American foreign policy, international relations, and French political thought are more than sufficient to merit a scholarly symposium on the topics nearest Hoffmann’s own heart.