Ethan Green
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Research, debate & public speaking

Research & Speaking

Scholarly work on the long fall of republics; a debater's instinct for the open platform.

A marble bust of a bearded classical figure

Ethan's research takes the long view of political failure: the manner in which free institutions, once lost, are very seldom rebuilt as they were. The chief object of his attention has been Rome — not the founding myth nor the great wars, but the quieter erosion of senatorial life and civic habit that turned a republic into a court. The work has been recognised with awards, and a companion piece for the stage, Stilicho's Last Rite: Eulogy to Rome, extends the argument by other means.

A parallel project, presently in draft, considers the interplay of censorship and extremism in 1920s Germany. The Weimar Republic licenced, banned and tolerated speech in fits and starts; the consequences are still instructive.

Out of the seminar room he is a confirmed debater — a Debating Matters alumnus who founded his school's debating society as a sixteen-year-old, led his university's society at European level, and now sits on the national committee of the Speakeasy Group. He has been entrusted with judging the Debating Matters UK final at the House of Lords, and is a familiar face on the Battle of Ideas circuit.

Selected engagements

  1. Forthcoming

    Censorship and the rise of extremism in 1920s Germany

    A research paper, in progress, tracing how the regulation of speech in the Weimar period interacted with the emergence of mass-politics of the extremes.

  2. Ongoing

    The breakdown of Roman democracy

    Award-winning research and the basis of the play Stilicho's Last Rite: Eulogy to Rome (scriptwriter).

  3. Recent

    Judge, Debating Matters UK final, House of Lords

    Adjudicating sixth-form debaters in the national final of the competition that first launched his own debating career.

  4. Recent

    Guest lecturer, Philosophy Society, Southend High School for Boys

    A return to his alma mater on Socratic wisdom and intellectual humility.

  5. Standing

    Pharos Foundation — Head of Videography

    Producing visual essays and lectures for the Foundation.

  6. Standing

    National committee, Speakeasy Group

    Convening open-platform debates around the country.