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Mythologized as the era of the "good war" and the "Greatest Generation," the 1940s are frequently understood as a more heroic, uncomplicated time in American history. Yet just below the surface, a sense of dread, alienation, and the haunting specter of radical evil permeated American art and literature.
American Studies is pleased to present John Fabian Witt from Yale Law School as featured speaker on March 28, 2019, 6:00 pm at Butler Library, room 203.
Professor John Fabian Witt is the Allen H. Duffy Class of 1960, Professor of Law, Yale Law School. The lecture is free and open to the public but seating is limited.
The Center for American Studies is grateful for the support of the Jack Miller Center.
Professor Delbanco was awarded the 2019 Lukas Prize for his book, The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America’s Soul from the Revolution to the Civil War (Penguin Press). Judges for the prize wrote that the book "conjures echoes from the past that eerily resonate today: the splintering of the two major political parties, black protests of slavery and jails, and public discourse infused with insult and invective."
Established in 1998, the Lukas Prize Project honors the best in American nonfiction writing. Co-administered by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, and sponsored by the family of the late Mark Lynton, a historian and senior executive at the firm Hunter Douglas in the Netherlands, the Lukas Prize Project presents three awards annually.
In its Fall/Winter 2018 issue, the Columbia Newsletter writes that Freedom & Citizenship "has raised the bar in developing our next generation of high school students to become 'informed, responsible citizens.'" The newsletter is published by Columbia's Office of Government and Community Affairs to provide the university's neighbors with relevant news about the campus. It can be accessed as a pdf online.
Lynne Foote (CC '16) invites students to attend the Burleigh Society's annual concert on March 2, featuring the Fisk Jubilee Singers. The Society's first academic conference on March 3 will engage in a rethinking of the "American myth" and the significance of Ella Sheppard and Harry T. Burleigh for the second Gilded Age. For tickets visit
http://www.burleighsociety.com
Formerly Director of the Core Curriculum, Professor Montás has joined the Center's faculty to teach courses on American literature and culture. He will continue to be involved in the Freedom and Citizenship program and the Center's other civic engagement initiatives.
Benji De La Piedra (CC, American Studies, 2014) gave a public lecture at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies on the life of Herbert Denton Jr., a pioneering African American journalist at the Washington Post.
As a senior Benji wrote a thesis on Ralph Ellison which he expanded upon in Columbia's Oral History MA Program. His MA thesis, titled "That Something Else”:Botkin, Portelli and Ellison on Democratic Pluralism and the Dialogical Encounter studied the works of oral history writers B.A. Botkin, Alessandro Portelli, and Ralph Ellison. As both an undergraduate and graduate student Benji worked with the Freedom & Citizenship program run by American Studies, as both a Teaching Assistant to high school students and later as a graduate coordinator. He once referred to the Center for American Studies as his "true home on Columbia's campus."
Benji now lives in Little Rock where he is working on the oral history of both Herbert Denton Jr. and his father, Herbert Denton Sr., who was a lifelong public educator in Little Rock. A full video of Benji's talk can be found below or on the facebook page of the Central Arkansas Library System-Butler Center
On New Year's Eve, Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced her run for president in 2020, and the media went wild. Todd Gitlin shares his thoughts on the media's role in misdirecting focus. He argues that the focus should be on purposes rather than tactics and thinks journalists should "do some growing up."
In his latest opinion piece for The Atlantic, John McWhorter examines the effect of the latest wave of antiracism activism. He states, where antiracist progressives once looked to bondage, disenfranchisement, and torture, today they classify as equally traumatic the remark, the implication, the unwelcome question.
Center for American Studies Professor Andrew Delbanco has recently published a book, The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America's Soul from the Revolution to the Civil War via Penguin Random House.
In an article published by CNN, Rebecca Kobrin admonishes U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Lindsey Graham to understand the impact of the United States keeping its doors closed to Jewish refugees and denying them the opportunity to start anew and thrive in a new home, due to the country's perception of (Jewish) inferiority.
Andrew Delbanco discusses America's fugitive slave story of the 19th century and what it means for America today in New York Times Op-ed piece, published Nov. 2.
WATCH HERE
In 1943 and 1944 the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the military orders that forced over 120,000 Japanese Americans into American incarceration camps. It took almost 40 years to overturn the convictions of Fred Korematsu and others who violated the orders with the "smoking gun" evidence of governmental misconduct. In 2018 the Supreme Court repudiated its decision in Korematsu while approving President Trump's controversial travel ban.
The Alexander Hamilton Medal is the highest honor awarded to a member of the Columbia College community for distinguished service to the College and accomplishment in any field of endeavor. It is presented by the Columbia College Alumni Association; James J. Valentini, dean, Columbia College; and Lee C. Bollinger, president, Columbia University.
On November 6th, 2018, "The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America's Soul from the Revolution to the Civil War" will become available. Professor Delbanco is the Alexander Hamilton Professor of American Studies at Columbia University.