Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

No livestream, however, the program will be recorded for future campus-only viewing.

The New Misogyny and the Rise of Violent Extremism

Cynthia Miller-Idris, professor in the School of Public Affairs and in the School of Education at the American University and founding director of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL)

What two things do most mass shooters, terrorists, or violent extremists have in common? Most of us know the first: they are almost always men or boys. But the second? They are almost always virulent misogynists, homophobes, or transphobes—even if they are also motivated by racism, antisemitism, or xenophobia. In dozens of incidents from North America to Norway to New Zealand, an increasing number of misogynist incel (involuntarily celibate) and male supremacist attackers have explicitly targeted and killed women, blaming feminism or sexual frustration with women as motivation for their attacks. Yet, despite all evidence, the bright red thread of misogyny running through these attacks is barely acknowledged by the media or even experts—and this failing leaves us powerless to stop the violence. Cynthia Miller-Idriss, a leading expert on extremism, will discuss this crucial oversight, revealing how an epidemic of misogyny—both online and off—and a patriarchal backlash are driving an exponential rise in mass and far-right violence. Miller-Idriss will also offer essential strategies that all of us can use to fight the rising tide of violence, beginning with recognizing the misogyny that pervades our everyday lives.

This program is presented by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues. In addition, this program was initiated by the Clarke Forum’s student project managers.

Photo credit: Elliott O’Donovan

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Dr. Cynthia Miller-Idriss is a professor in the School of Public Affairs and in the School of Education at the American University in Washington, DC, where she is also the founding director of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL). She is a Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation Entrepreneur and recently served as the inaugural creative lead for the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’s residency program on social cohesion in Berlin, Germany. Dr. Miller-Idriss regularly testifies before the U.S. Congress and briefs policy, security, education and intelligence agencies in the U.S., the United Nations, and other countries on trends in domestic violent extremism and strategies for prevention and disengagement. She is the author, co-author, or co-editor of seven books, including Man Up: The New Misogyny and the Rise of Violent Extremism (Princeton University Press, 2025), Hate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Right (Princeton University Press, 2022), and is currently at work on a new co-authored book (with Pasha Dashtgard) on evidence-based prevention of hate-fueled violence. Dr. Miller-Idriss writes frequently for mainstream audiences, as an opinion columnist for MSNBC and in other recent by-lines in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, The Washington Post, Politico, USA Today, The Boston Globe, and more.