Timothy Snyder's Free Online Course 'Hitler and Stalin Today' Now Available

Historian Timothy Snyder, who moved from Yale to the University of Toronto in 2024, has made his course 'Hitler and Stalin Today' available for free online. The course consists of ten lectures that examine the Nazi and Soviet responses to the globalized world they shared, beginning with the colonial background that enabled totalitarianism. Snyder's analysis covers the ideologies as worldviews and practical politics, emphasizing their appeal and the policies of mass killing that defined the twentieth century. The course also explores dissident thought to draw connections between historical predicaments and contemporary issues, asking what lessons should be carried forward. Designed for anyone interested in the relationship between history and contemporary democracy, the lectures can be streamed on YouTube. This offering is part of Open Culture's collection of 1,700 free online courses from top universities. Snyder's move to Toronto was part of a trend of scholars studying authoritarianism leaving the U.S., as highlighted in related content on Open Culture.