Wednesday, October 21 | The Chaim Kempner Author Series
Morris Dickstein | Dancing in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression
7:30 pm | Ina and Jack Kay Community Hall 
$10, Discounted Members/Seniors/Under 25 $8

The financial crisis of the 1930s produced some of the greatest culture in American history. This panel discussion featuring Morris Dickstein, author of Dancing in the Dark, Laura Katzman, professor of art history, and Philip Kennicott, culture critic of the Washington Post, and moderated by Murray Horwitz, will explore cultural expression during the Great Depression and ask: what can we learn from the artistic outpouring of the 1930s and the radical new order that made it possible? What's on the horizon for the arts in post-bailout America?

Morris Dickstein is a Distinguished Professor of English and Theatre at the CUNY Graduate Center and contributes regularly to various publications including The New York Times Book Review and The New Republic. 

Laura Katzman is Associate Professor of Art History at James Madison University and recently served as Senior Research Fellow at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. A scholar and curator of New Deal art, she is the co-author of Ben Shahn's New York: The Photography of Modern Times and Ben Shahn: The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti.

Philip Kennicott is architecture and culture critic of the Washington Post, which he joined in August, 1999. He has served as chief classical music critic for the Detroit News and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where he also worked for two years as an editorial writer.

Murray Horwitz served as Vice President of Cultural Programming at National Public Radio and is founding Director of the AFI Silver Theater and Cultural Center. Additionally, he has won numerous Tony and Peabody awards.

Supported by the Chaim Kempner Collection Library Fund, the Chaim Kempner Author Series brings authors of recently published books to the 16th Street J for the learning and enjoyment of the entire community.

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