American Crossroads

Campus News | Tuesday, January 16, 2018

The Humanities Department at Columbus State will host the first American Crossroads symposium on Friday, February 2 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Columbus State Conference Center in WD.

This year’s symposium, Protest Art During the Great Depression, includes discussions about the visual and performing arts, literature, and music that in some way critically addressed the political, social, and economic climate of the 1930s. The symposium also considers broader questions of what constitutes protest in the arts or whether such works have renewed relevance given today’s political climate.

The symposium topic was inspired by the Columbus State Theatre Department’s spring musical production of “Cradle Will Rock,” written in 1936 as part of the New Deal Federal Theater Project.

The program features a morning and afternoon session with two speakers followed by a moderated discussion session with the audience and speakers. The morning session includes Columbus State theater professor Frank Barnhart, who will talk about the Federal Theater Project and the New Deal, and Ohio University Professor Emeritus Robert DeMott, who will talk about John Steinbeck and the literature of protest. During the afternoon, Ohio State University professor Beth Kattelman will talk about underground jazz clubs as sites of protest, and the Head of Exhibitions at the Columbus Museum of Art Drew Sawyer will talk about documentary photography as protest.

A continental breakfast and buffet lunch will be provided. Teachers can earn 7.5 hours for CEUs for a $25.00 registration fee. General admission is free and open to the public. To register for CEUs, visit the Humanities Symposium Series page.

To register for American Crossroads, please email Jennifer Nardone at: jnardone@cscc.edu

 

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