Photo: Mikael Wallerstedt
27 Sept 2022
On October 1, 2022 it is exactly 400 years since Johan Skytte, then vice-chancellor of Uppsala University, signed off a donation through which he founded the Johan Skytte Chair in Eloquence and Political Science. Today, the chair is the oldest, still surviving political science chair in the world.
To mark this occasion, the Johan Skytte Foundation â which manages the donation today, and Uppsala University are co-organizing a grand jubilee ceremony in the University Grand Auditorium.
To commemorate 400 years of political science research in Uppsala, we will revisit the big political issues that resonated society at the time of the chairâs founding as well as those that shape it today. To reflect on the significance of Johan Skytteâs donation, Professor Li Bennich-Björkman, the current and 21st holder of the Johan Skytte chair, will deliver a lecture entitiled: âThe talented Mr. Skytte â A Tale of Education, Eloquence and Modernityâ.
This will be followed by a panel discussion featuring the three most recent recipients of the Johan Skytte Prize, Peter J. Katzenstein, David D. Laitin and Robert E. Goodin. The prize, too, is funded through the Johan Skytte donation and is awarded annually to those who make the most significant contribution to political science. The title of the panel discussion, which will be moderated by Li Bennich-Björkman and Joakim Palme is âPolitical Science in Turbulent Times: A Conversation about Research and Its Frontiersâ.Â
The event will be held in the University Grand Auditorium on Saturday, October 1, betweeen 14:45 and 16:45. It is open to the general public and no preregistration is needed.
Michal Grahn