U.S. Representative Jim McGovern to Deliver 5th Annual Ellsberg Lecture at UMass Amherst on October 27th
5th Annual Ellsberg Lecture, with Congressman Jim McGovern.
Amherst, MA — On October 27, 2026, the Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Democracy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst will host the 5th Annual Ellsberg Lecture, featuring U.S. Representative Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts congressman since 1997 who is best known for championing the struggle to end hunger, protect human rights, and promote a more democratic and peaceful foreign policy.
The event is free and open to the public. Students, faculty, staff, and community members are warmly invited to attend. McGovern will deliver a public lecture titled “The Patriotism of Peace and Democracy,” followed by a question-and-answer session with the audience. The event will take place from 7:00–8:30 PM in the Campus Center Auditorium and is free and open to the public.
The lecture comes just days before the 2026 U.S. midterm elections, providing an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of democratic participation and the responsibilities of citizens and public officials at an enormously consequential moment in American civic life. McGovern will discuss the erosion of democracy in the United States along with his vision for achieving a more just world at home and abroad.
The Ellsberg Lecture is the key event of annual programming for the Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Democracy, a project inspired by the civic courage of Daniel Ellsberg who, in 1971, risked a life in prison by releasing the Pentagon Papers—a top secret history of the Vietnam War that exposed decades of government lies. In 2019 the UMass Amherst Special Collections & University Archives acquired Ellsberg’s papers. Each year, the Ellsberg Initiatives hosts lectures, webinars, workshops, performances, film screenings, and a yearly activist-in-residence. Our participants include scholars, journalists, activists, NGO leaders, lawyers, policymakers, whistleblowers, writers, actors, and filmmakers who examine urgent questions surrounding war and peace, social and environmental justice, and democratic rights.
About the Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Democracy
The mission of the Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Democracy is to promote public understanding, scholarship, and activism in support of compelling, democratic, and sustainable alternatives to militarism, authoritarianism, and environmental degradation. For more information, please visit our website: www.eipad.org