When the historian Timothy Snyder left Yale for the University of Toronto in 2024, he took with him the practice of occasionally putting his course lectures online, making them available to anyone who cares to learn from them. Above, you can watch ten lectures from his recent course Hitler and Stalin Today. In this course:Snyder examines the Nazi and Soviet responses to the new globalized world they shared. The course begins with the colonial background that made totalitarianism possible, and which remains an essential element of our politics now. Their ideologies are described as worldviews and as practical politics, with an emphasis on the reasons for their appeal. Attention to their policies of mass killing, essential events of twentieth-century history, instruct us about how “it” can happen here. The study of dissident thought helps us to see connections between historical predicaments and our own, and instructs us about possible reactions as individuals and as citizens. The course asks what we have learned from the twentieth century and what lessons we should carry forward.This course is for “anyone interested in understanding the relationship between history and contemporary democracy.” You can stream the lectures above, or watch them on YouTube.Hitler and Stalin Today will be added to our collection, 1,700 Free Online Courses from Top Universities.If you would like to support the mission of Open Culture, consider making a donation to our site. It’s hard to rely 100% on ads, and your contributions will help us continue providing the best free cultural and educational materials to learners everywhere. You can contribute through PayPal, Patreon, and Venmo (@openculture). Thanks!Related Content 20 Lessons from the 20th Century About How to Defend Democracy from Authoritarianism, According to Yale Historian Timothy SnyderThey Study Authoritarianism. And They’re Leaving the U.S.: Why Three Yale Professors Have Moved to U. TorontoThe Making of Modern Ukraine: A Free Online Course from Yale Professor Timothy SnyderActor John Lithgow Reads 20 Lessons on Tyranny, Penned by Historian Timothy Snyder