#outlaw king (2018)

[bloodsakkar]

academic papers about black sails

Jones, Clint, "Black Sails as Philosophy: Pirates and Political Discourse"

Myrvang, Olav Kjetil, "Because I don’t want to be a pirate" - A Contextual Study of the Representation of Long John Silver in Treasure Island and Black Sails

Carcas, Leyres, “HETEROBAITING”: BLACK SAILS AND THE SUBVERSION OF QUEERBAITING TROPES

Schneider, Elisabeth, "RECLAIMING QUEERBAITING: A CALL TO ACTION"

Friedrich, Kathrin, "‘Evil Heroes’ in Black Sails – A Case Study: How Character Complexity and Nonverbal Actions Invite Positive Viewer Responses"

Razman, D. C. (2020) “Black Sails, Rainbow Flag: Examining Queer Representations in Film and Television” [click for pdf]

Srividhya Swaminathan, (2017) “The New Cinematic Piracy: Crossbones and Black Sails” (in ‘The Cinematic Eighteen Century: History, Culture, and Adaptation’ (2017, 1st ed.) edited by Srividhya Swaminathan and Steven W. Thomas)

Dirksen, S.J. (2019) “Constructing the Identity of the Popular Pirate: The Outlaw, Marginal Identities, and Utopia in Black Sails (2014-2017) and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (2013)”

Min-Chi Chen (2024) “Weaponizing Monstrosity: Starz’s Black Sails and the Power of Monstrous Narrative” (in Chapter 2 of ‘Monsters and Monstrosity in Media: Reflections on Vulnerability’, 23, 2024, edited by Yeojin Kim, Shane Carreon)

Jessica Walker “Civilization’s Monsters: The Doomed Queer Anti-Imperialism of Black Sails” (in ‘Pirates in History and Popular Culture’ (2018) edited by Antonio Sanna) [entire book in pdf]

“From Dogs to Kings” https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1332062/FULLTEXT01.pdf

[architectureforsuicides]

Outlaw King (David Mackenzie, 2018) Berwick Bridge / Old Bridge Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, North East (UK) Bridge over the River Tweed Type: arch bridge.

[pinesource]

OUTLAW KING (2018)

[medievalandfantasymelee]

Now that all of Chris Pine's characters have been eliminated, it's time to determine by popular vote...

[maryqos]

Florence Pugh as Elizabeth de Burgh

OUTLAW KING (2018) dir. David Mackenzie

[atzjieun]

Song Ji-eun (Kor: 송지은), known mononymously as Jieun, is a fictional Korean singer-songwriter. She made her debut on October 24, 2018 as a member of kpop group ATEEZ under KQ Entertainment as their main dancer, lead vocalist and lead rapper.

BACKSTAGE

admin | talks | shut up lai | asks

THE REAL

profile | visuals | trivia

iceberg | dorm tour | jiwoo playlist

— connections

family | in ateez | outside of ateez | dating history

jihong | seongji | yunji | shyz | jisan | ssongz | jiwoo | jiho

— messages

with sunwoo | during hiatus

THE DREAM

hair through the eras | part two

photocards | aniteez mascot

— eras

all to zero | zero to one | one to all | all to action | action to answer | fever pt.1 | fever pt.2 | fever pt.3 | fever epilogue | ep.1 movement | from the witness | ep.2 outlaw | ep.fin will | golden hour pt.1 | golden hour pt.2

— covers

mamma mia |

— music

mixtape: sophie

THE STORY

all written works

scenarios | variety content

THE WORLD

— social media

twt posts | insta posts | fromm

atinytwt | livestreams | edits

— articles

debut confirmation | hiatus announcement | king of masked singer |artist of the month

[grecoromanyaoi]

helloo since we're on the topic: top historical fiction (or adjacent) ? can be any time period I just really love your taste in shows/games/etc and am always on the lookout for history inspired media !

thank you!!! im rly glad im like. inspiring other ppl to engage w things im insane abt hudofajsdfdassfsad. anyways. i will probably expand that list bc i literally forgot every single thing i ever read. also i havent watched that many movies so far

ancient times: i havent really watched a lot of movies/series set in ancient times so far :(

rome HBO (2005-2007) (tv series) - OF COURSE. i personally think its one of the best series ever made. they combine political, miliatry history with the lives of every day people in an incredible way. they never let you once engage with the series through modern lenses. according to my teacher (a historian, archeologist & self described 'romaphile') its incredibly historically accurate, mostly the clothing, set designs, characterization, military practices, etc. except for the things they straight up made up, of course.

i really enjoyed gladiator (2000), i think its a masterpiece.

prince of egypt (1998) i guess?

all the asterix movies of course, all the animated ones and most of the live actions. but i wouldnt really call it historical fiction

ok i havent actually finished watching it for now but sebastiane (1976) - an erotic, x rated, gay interpretation of the martyrdom of st sebastian. its in latin also.

wait i cant believe i forgor about assassin's creed odyssey - so far the only one ive played. its so fun and incredibly immersive visually. especially pour moi who cries into the pillow about how ill never experience the ancient world. also you can b a faggot which is always fun. i have things to say about their portrayal of same-sex sexuality and slavery in classical greece but i get why they did that considering its supposed to like. appeal to a lot of people, and a more "historically accurate" portrayal (for example of pederasty or how common slavery was etc.) would b v difficult for a lot of their target audience. alas.

medieval and early modern era:

the name of the rose (1986) - my medieval history teacher literally showed us bits of this movie to teach us about monasteries and monks fhdosiasdjasd.

the borgias (2011-2013) - incredibly messy, lots of political intrigue, and so so fun to watch. about the history of the borgia family. filled to the brim with drama.

the three musketeers (1993) - my favorite adaptation, also coincidentally the one i grew up on. casting tim curry as richelieu was genius. he slays so hard.

i also like bbc's the musketeers (2014-2016) - a neat little series. very fun and entertaining to watch.

outlaw king (2018) - like i dont think most ppl heard of this movie. its about robert the bruce's fight to reclaim the throne of scotland. starring chris pine

vikings (2013-2020) - its fun. i havent watched the entire series tho. dont expect anything resembling historical accuracy

the northman (2022) - you will see something resembling historical accuracy

mihai viteazul (michael the brave) (1971) - a fun movie. very much romanian propaganda tho.

1670 (2023-) - such a fun series!!! incredible cast, shows respect to the actual history and the lives of historical people. really cute and funny.

caravaggio (1986) - a biopic about caravaggio.

wait i also forgor about pentiment - an intriguing, immersive, and incredibly beautiful video game! it has a lot of 'the name of the rose' vibes, with it being a medieval murder mystery taking place in a monastery. its incredibly touching and made me cry, and in the last few years i very rarely cry. also im 99% sure its an indie game? go support the creators!

vaguely-medieval/early modern fantasy:

mirror mirror (2012) - a retelling of snow white. a very fun movie imo, with incredible costume design. julia roberts plays the evil queen and she SLAYS. armie hammer is unfortunately in that movie.

stardust (2007) - one of my fave movies growing up. more modern-inspired but still.

the green knight (2021) - controversial i know but i actually loved this movie! i liked it both as a standalone movie but moreso as a 21st century adaptation to sir gawain and the green knight.

galavant (2015-2016) - !!!!!!! one of the most series ever! they manage to tackle such difficult concepts and conversations with a hilarious wit. so fun to watch. i listen to a lot of the songs still, and rewatch every once in a while.

disenchantment (2018-2023) - very fun to watch, especially the first season.

i also really liked the novel uprooted by naomi novik. its a polish-inspired fantasy.

modern era:

killers of the flower moon (2023) - of course. a masterpiece

aferim! (2015) - a romanian movie set in 19th century wallachia, about two officers, a father and son, who were sent by a nobleman to retrieve an escaped enslaved romani man. a lot of the people in the comments were calling the movie humorous and funny, maybe im missing smth (as im watching with subtitles n dont understand the original language) but it was a very difficult watch for me??

the handmaiden (2016) - need i say more

black sails (2014-2017) - a prequel to the famous novel 'treasure island'. not an easy series to watch. incredibly good.

the favourite (2018) - need i say more pt 2

the rabbi's cat (le chat du rabbin) (2011) - animated movie set in early 20th century algeria. a rabbi's cat learns to talk overnight.

the nice guys (2016) - a fun murder mystery set in the 1970s

o brother, where art thou (2000) - a retelling of the odyssey set in the southern us in the 1930s

victor/victoria (1982) - set in early 20th century paris. julie andrews pretends to be a man and takes on a job as a drag queen. extremely fun, extremely gay movie.

lady chatterley's lover (2022) - very much porn for moms but it was a nice watch imo

amulet (2020) - set in like. idk. sometime in the 20th century. this is a horror movie, deals a lot with misogyny, sa, and so on. i really like it, personally. a lot of people, mostly weird men, dont tho.

the great (2020-2023) - i have mixed feelings about this show. on the one hand, its really fun to watch. on the other hand, its basically ofmd for girls who have public mental breakdowns whenever someone claims corsets were oppressive. and theyre so weird about russians, jesus christ.

disses:

domina (2021-) - i just couldnt get into it, esp since i tried right after finishing rome hbo. it was kind of silly, and not in a good way. takes itself wayyyy to seriously.

i didnt like spartacus (2010-2013) - the dialogue was almost grotesque and the editing, especially the transitions, straight up killed me

damsel (2024) - holy fuck what a trainwreck of a movie. absolute waste of angela basset and robin wright. the only good thing were the costumes.

lancelot du lac (1974) - i just didnt like it at all. couldnt get into it. i guess it was way too french and artsy fartsy for me. a movie that was trying to say both too little and too much at the same time.

i didnt rly like bram stoker's dracula (1992) - i mean. it was a fine movie. it was definitely not the godfather. the movie itself was meh. the visuals tho? absolutely stunning

[scotianostra]

Blackness Castle.

Some pics of the inside of the castle from a visit in May.

This was the stronghold of one of Scotland’s most powerful families, the Crichtons, Blackness was never destined as a peaceful lordly residence; its enduring roles were those of garrison fortress and state prison.

Sir George Crichton handed over the Crichton lands, including Blackness Castle, to James II in 1453. His dispossessed heir, James Crichton, captured the castle and held it briefly against the King, who besieged and recaptured it the same year. Blackness became a royal fortress, as well as continuing to serve as a prison, and was put into the care of a keeper, who was often the Sheriff of Linlithgow. In the 17th century, this office became hereditary in the Livingstone family.

For many years during it’s history the castle also found use as a state prison, Outlander fans will know it has also been used for the scenes set in Fort William, most notably when Jamie Fraser picked up the scars on his back after punishment handed out by his arch enemy Black Jack Randall.

Blackness Castle is in the care of Historic Environment Scotlandit is £7 for adults to visit, there are regular buses for Blackness Road near the Tesco in Linlithgow,which itself is easy to get by bus or train.

Fans of the Outlander TV show will know the castle as  Captain Jack Randall’s headquarters,  Wentworth Prison , Fort William, but it was also in the movies Mary Queen of Scots (2018) and Outlaw King (2018) as well as in the BBC miniseries Ivanhoe (1997).

[supportingjatpcast]

Where to find the JATP Cast as of December 12, 2024

happy four years to this account! you know the drill. let's get silly with it and check up on where everyone is nowadays:

Madison Reyes- Julie Molina (@themadisonreyes on Instagram)

Julie and the Phantoms

The Bad Seed Returns

All Kinds of Love (available on all music streaming platforms)

Allie Mitchell Must Win (in preproduction)

Charlie Gillespie- Luke Patterson (@charles_gillespie on Instagram)

Julie and the Phantoms

The Class

Love You Anyway

Chevel Shepard: Good Boy (music video)

The Rest of Us

Madison Park: better w/o you (music video)

Conséquences (six episodes)

I Am the Night (pilot episode)

Speed Kills

Charmed 2018 (Pilot and Episode 2)

Naomi Sequeira: Pastries (music video)

2nd Generation (episodes 1-6)

The Next Step (season 5, episode 17)

Degrassi: Next Class (season 4, episodes 8 and 10)

The Outlaw League

Totally Killer

The Get Back Girl (postproduction)

Suze

Deltopia

Debbie Gibson: Love Don't Care (music video)

Shattered Ice (postproduction)

Soul's Road

Splitsville

Owen Patrick Joyner- Alex Mercer (@owenjoyner on Instagram and Twitter)

Julie and the Phantoms

Acapulco (season 2, episode 3)

Knight Squad

Henry Danger (season 5, episode 9)

Slime Cup (season 3, episodes 1-6)

The Thundermans (season 4, episode 15)

The Veil

It’s On

100 Things to Do Before High School

Nickelodeon’s Ho Ho Holiday Special

Something Here (postproduction)

Final Destination: Bloodlines (postproduction)

Jeremy Shada- Reggie Peters (@jeremyshada on Instagram)

Julie and the Phantoms

Interrupting Chicken (season 1, episode 3)

Dragons: The Nine Realms

Multiversus

Adventure Time: Distant Lands

Cookie Run Kingdom (English version)

Scars

Denton’s Death Date

Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion

Voltron: Legendary Defender

Adventure Time

Mr. Student Body President

Spiderman 2018 (season 2, episode 1)

Cheerleader Nightmare

Blooms Adventure Time TD

When Jeff Tried to Save the World

DreamWorks Voltron VR Chronicles

Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series

Gloria Talks Funny

Cartoon Network Live

Surfs Up 2: WaveMania

Adventure Time: Finn & Jake Investigations

Lego Dimensions

Badly Drawn Animals

Adventure Time: All’s Well That Rats Swell

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M

Adventure Time: Game Wizard

Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom

Adventure Time: Card Wars

Aliens in the House

Adventure Time: Ski Safari

Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I Don’t Know!

See Dad Run (season 2, episode 8)

Incredible Crew (season 1, episodes 1-18)

Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why’d You Steal Our Garbage?!!

Paranorman

Adventure Time: The Wand

F.3.A.R.

That’s What I Am

Batman: The Brave and the Bold (season 1, episode 18; season 2, episodes 6, 18, 19; season 3 episodes 1, 3)

Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey

Parenthood (season 1, episodes 4-5)

Healing Hands

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Chowder (season 2, episode 24)

FusionFall

Cold Case (season 5, episode 1)

The Loop (season 2, episode 4)

Lost (season 2, episode 12; season 3, episode 21)

Ghost Whisperer (season 2, episodes 21-22)

Shark (season 1, episode 16)

Southern Comfort

Nip/Tuck (season 4, episode 13)

Bambi 2: The Great Prince of the Forest

No Rules

ER (season 11, episode 6)

The Incredibles: When Danger Calls

Team America: World Police

Miracle Run

Good Girls Don’t… (season 1, episode 4)

My Neighbors the Yamadas

Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake (season 1 episodes 2,3,5,7,10)

Battle For A Free Video Game (Season 1, episode 6)

Cookie Run: Witch's Castle

Vintage (available on all music streaming platforms)

Ballerina (available on all music streaming platforms)

Mad Love (available on all music streaming platforms)

Midnight Promises (available on all music streaming platforms)

Jadah Marie- Flynn Taylor (@thejadahmarie on Instagram)

Julie and the Phantoms

Family Reunion (season 4, episodes 4-5)

Home Invasion (season 1, episodes 1-6)

Sarah Jeffery and Jadah Marie: Audrey’s Christmas Rewind

Descendants 3

Descendants 3: Good to Be Bad (music video)

Ready Player One

Mann and Wife

Blue Bloods (season 7, episode 8)

9-1-1 (season 7, episode 2)

Sacha Carlson- Nick (@sacha_carlson on Instagram)

Julie and the Phantoms

9-1-1 l: Lone Star (season 3, episode 14)

American Housewife (season 3, episodes 6-7)

A Christmas Story Live!

Everything I Ever Wanted

Sacha Carlson & The Light (check out his band!)

Savannah Lee May- Carrie Wilson (@savannahleemay on Instagram)

Julie and the Phantoms

A Cowgirl’s Song

The Secret Lives of Cheerleaders

Knight Squad

Cousins for Life (season 1, episode 12)

Bizaardvark (season 2, episode 20)

School of Rock (season 3, episode 6)

Dance Rivals

Booboo Stewart- Willie (@booboostewart.art on Instagram)

(look, i adore booboo. i do. but this man has 114 acting credits on IMDB, and there is no way that i am typing all of them out and including exactly what episodes of shows he’s in. and that's not even mentioning things where he is credited as a stunt performer or listed on a soundtrack. love you all, but i do actually have a life outside of stanning the jatp cast, so im just linking his imdb page here. happy searching babes!)

Carlos Ponce- Ray Molina (@poncecarlos1 on Instagram)

(Carlos has 54 acting credits, and many are in Spanish, a language that i do not speak. check out his IMDb page here.)

Sonny Bustamante- Carlos Molina

Julie and the Phantoms

7th & Union

Law & Order True Crime (season 1, episodes 3-5)

New Shoes

Heaven’s Flume

That Girl Lay Lay (season 1, episode 1)

Cheyenne Jackson- Caleb Covington (@MrCheyenneJackson on Instagram)

(Cheyenne has 71 acting credits. I'm not typing all that out, because I doubt that you want to read all of that and also I have a full time job that isn't JATP related. Check him out here!)

[rainagainstthewindowatnight]

hugs in television & film

veronica mars ( 2004 - 2007 ; 2019 ) / buffy, the vampire slayer ( 1997 - 2003 ) / grey’s anatomy ( 2005 - present ) / the vampire diaries ( 2009 - 2017 ) / independence day : resurgence ( 2016 ) / outlaw king ( 2018 ) / after we collided ( 2020 ) / all american (2018 - present ) / reign ( 2013 - 2017 )

[moviesmoodboards]

Outlaw King (2018) dir. David Mackenzie

Requested by @visenyasdragon

[passed-out-real]

Aaron Taylor-Johnson Top 10 Films

Ray Marcus- Nocturnal Animals (2016)

Tangerine- Bullet Train (2022)

Vronsky- Anna Karenina (2012)

Dave Lizewski/Kick-Ass- Kick-Ass (2010)

John- Nowhere Boy (2009)

Robbie- Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008)

James Douglas- Outlaw King (2018)

Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Ford Brody- Godzilla (2014)

Joe- Albert Nobbs (2011)

[asoiaf-fancasts]

Eddard Stark - Fancasts

Age: 08 - 36

18 - 20 [Tourney to End of

Rebellion]

26 - 27 [Greyjoys’s Rebellion]

Appearance: He has a long face with long brown hair. His beard is closely trimmed with grey starting come in making him look older. He has dark grey eyes. He is shorter than his brother and is allegedly plainer looking.

Character: Edmund Pevensie

Actor: Skander Keynes

Movie[s]: Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian & Voyage of the Dawn Threader

[He’s 13/14 - 16/17 during the first two movies so good for when he is being fostered by Jon Arryn. He is the perfect age for during the Tourney of Harrenhal in the last movie. He has brown hair, dark eyes but not grey. He wears medieval ish clothes/armour along with 1930’s/1940’s clothes.]

Character: Piero di Lorenzo de Medici

Actor: Louis Patridge

Show: Medici [2016] [Season 3]

[He was 15/16 during this season so good for Ned being fostered by Jon Arryn. He has a long ish face,brown hair, dark eyes but they aren’t grey. He wears 15th century Italian clothes.]

Character: Gilbert Blythe

Actor: Lucas Jade Zumann

Show: Anne with an E [2017]

[He is 17 - 19 during this show so good for just before the Tourney at Harrenhal and during Roberts Rebellion. He has a long ish face, brown eyes that are dark but not grey. He wears 18th century clothes so he is better for close ups.]

Character: King William

Actor: Sam Claflin

Movie: Snow White and the Huntsman [2012]

[He was 25/26 during this movie is the right age for him during Greyjoy’s Rebellion. He has a long ish face, long brown hair, a closely trimmed beard and his eyes are a dark grey/brown. He wears fantasy medieval clothes.]

Character: Gawain

Actor: Dev Patel

Movie: The Green Knight [2021]

[He was 30/31 during this movie so too young for him in the book timeline. He has a long face with long dark brown/black hair and his beard is relatively short. He has dark eyes but they’re not grey. He wears fantasy clothes.]

Character: Uthred of Bebbanburg

Actor: Alexander Dreymon

Show: The Last Kingdom [2015] [Season 4]

[He is too young for Ned during the books at the start of the series at 32 but is around the right age for Ned in season 4 at 36/37. He has a long face, long brown hair and has a somewhat closely trimmed beard. His hair from season 1 is more accurate to Ned though. He unfortunately has light eyes of the wrong colour. He wears Norse ish clothes.]

Character: Alfred

Actor: David Dawson

Show: The Last Kingdom [2015] [Season 2 & 3]

[He is too young for Ned in season 1 but is around the right age for him in season 2 and 3 at around 35-36. He has a long face, his has somewhat long brown hair and a closely trimmed bread that has grey in it that makes him look older than his age.His eyes are dark but not grey. He wears Saxon clothes.]

Character: Ross Poldark

Actor: Aiden Turner

Show: Poldark [2015] [Season 4 & 5]

[He is too young for Ned during the first book at 32 -34 in earlier seasons but is around the right age at 34/35 - 36 in the last two seasons. He has a long face, long dark brown hair and dark eyes but they’re not grey.He wears 18th century clothes.]

Character: Robert Bruce

Actor: Chris Pine

Movie: Outlaw King [2018]

[He is a couple years too old for book Ned at 37/38 but I think he’s still okay because Ned is said to look older with the grey in his beard. He has long hair but it’s more grey than brown and his eyes are light blue. He does face a long face with a brown and grey beard. He has a wife that looks like Catelyn but is too young for book Catelyn but has a daughter perfect for Arya.He wears 14th century clothes.]

[pinesource]

Chris Pine as Robert the Bruce and Florence Pugh as Elizabeth de Burgh in Outlaw King (2018)

[medievalandfantasymelee]

👑🌹The Queen of Love and Beauty🌹👑

Round 1 (3 of 6)

The Queen of Love and Beauty shall hold the honour of presenting unto the winner of the Tournament his Champion's Coronet.

Vote for the lady who, to you, best exemplifies feminine dignity, grace and loveliness

The six contenders with the most votes will advance.

Row 1 - Lucrezia Borgia [Holliday Grainger], The Borgias (2011-2013) - Giulia Farnese [Lotte Verbeek], The Borgias (2011-2013) - Elizabeth de Burgh [Florence Pugh], Outlaw King (2018)

Row 2 - Contessina de Bardi [Annabel Scholey], Medici (2016-2019) - Elizabeth Woodville [Rebecca Ferguson], The White Queen (2013) - Mary Boleyn [Charity Wakefield], Wolf Hall (2015-2024)

Row 3 - Anne Neville [Phoebe Fox], The Hollow Crown (2012-2016) - Kate Percy [Michelle Dockery], The Hollow Crown (2012-2016) - Margaret of Anjou [Sophie Okonedo], The Hollow Crown (2012-2016)

Row 4 - Eleanore of Aquitane [Katharine Hepburn], The Lion in Winter (1968) - Isabella of Valois [Emma Hamilton], RSC’s Richard II (2013) - Anne Boleyn [Genevieve Bujold], Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Ruth Ben-Ghiat at Lucid:

"Florida could start looking a lot like Hungary," noted New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg in Feb 2023., writing about Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's quest to restructure higher education in line with his far-right views. Although many GOP politicians have made pilgrimages to Budapest to proclaim their alignment with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's repressive policies, DeSantis has been arguably the most aggressive adopter of Hungarian-style restrictions on LGBTQ+ rights and attacks on higher education. The sad sight of all those books discarded by far-right New College employees in a dumpster for being politically “unacceptable” will stay with me a long time, not least because it is similar to what happened to books from public and private libraries during the right-wing Chilean military dictatorship, the Chinese Communist “Cultural Revolution,” and many other regimes.

As the Tampa Bay Times reported, 13,000 books were thrown into a dumpster as though they were trash or toxic waste. After images of the dumpster circulated, causing a public outcry, New College went into damage control mode. They made a preliminary decision to fire the dean of the college library for not following proper procedures, including justifications for each book selected for elimination. But the New College was just fine with having hundreds of other books discarded as part of a purge of the Gender and Diversity Center! As the GOP transforms into an autocratic entity allied with foreign far-right parties and governments, it's worth understanding how Orbán and other illiberal leaders target universities. They don't only shut down intellectual freedom and change the content of learning to reinforce their ideological agendas, but also seek to remake higher education institutions into places that reward intolerance, conformism, and other values and behaviors authoritarians require.

Authoritarian Visions of Education: Italy and Chile

The regime of Benito Mussolini (1925-1943) provided the template for right-wing authoritarian actions. Leftists, liberals, and anyone who spoke out against the Fascists were sent to prison or forced into exile. Since most universities were public, professors and researchers were civil servants and could be pressured through bureaucratic means. First came a 1931 loyalty oath to the King and Fascism, then a 1932 requirement to join the Fascist Party to apply for jobs or promotions. Student informers monitored their peers and their teachers, recording any critical remarks or anti-regime jokes, and new university student organizations inculcated Fascist values through extra-curricular activities. In the Cold War era, Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who seized power through a 1973 U.S.-backed coup, claimed that universities were hotbeds of Marxism and targeted them for "cleansing." By 1975 24,000 students, faculty, and staff had been dismissed (and thousands sent to prison), and philosophy and social science departments had been disbanded. [...]

Hungary, Model for the GOP and the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025

Today’s right-wing autocrats mostly come to power through elections and extinguish freedom slowly. Yet universities continue to be the targets of leaders who seek to eradicate free thinking and turn campuses into sites of informing, mistrust, and fear. Orbán had already started to drive the liberal Central European University out of Hungary when his 2018 re-election accelerated his crackdown on education. Much of this repression has centered on LGBTQ populations. A 2018 ban on gender studies preceded the 2020 end of legal recognition of transgender and intersex people. In 2021, a law outlawed any depiction or discussion of LGBTQ identities and sexual orientation, and some universities came under the authority of "public trusts" run by Orbán cronies. Like his fellow far-right strongmen, Orbán aims to discredit and dismantle all liberal and democratic models of education to produce a new authoritarian-friendly population. As someone who grew up under Communism, Orbán knows the power of political socialization. He also knows that universities have always been sites of resistance to authoritarianism (a theme of the resistance chapter of Strongmen).

[...] If some of this sounds familiar to readers in America, that's not surprising. DeSantis's maneuvers to remake New College as a model of far-right pedagogy take a page from Orbán's crusades. Increasingly, it's not just "make America Florida," as the DeSantis camp advocates, but "make America Hungary" —a goal fellow Orbán fan and former Fox host Tucker Carlson also supported. [...]

Watch for higher education professionals to be increasingly attacked as agents of the destruction of family, faith, and decency as GOP politicians compete to seem more extremist and authoritarian —which will bring them even further into line with autocrats such as Orbán. On that note, “anti-Judeo-Christian values” is now a category of offense for the authoritarian targeting site Professor Watchlist. Checking my page there to see what new outrage I have committed is one of my back-to-school rituals. Far from being “ivory towers” closed off from society, higher education institutions are often front-line targets of those who seek to destroy democracy. What happens on campus reflects, and often anticipates, transformations of societies as authoritarianism takes hold.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat takes a look at how authoritarians target universities in the war on dissent and free expression.