American Studies Speaker to Examine
the Fifties
Dr. Morris Dickstein, Distinguished Professor of English
at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center, will discuss
his latest book, Leopards in the Temple, Thursday, Feb. 27
at 11:30 a.m. at Rider University in the Fine Arts Building, Room
309.
Dr. Dickstein’s presentation titled,
“Looking Back at the Fifties,” is sponsored by Rider’s
American Studies Speaker Program and supported by the University Theme
Program.
His new book, published by Harvard
University Press, takes a look at the ’50s era. According to
long-time friend Dr. John Sullivan, professor of English and
director of the American Studies department, Dickstein is witty and
highly informative. He last spoke at Rider seven years ago.
“Morris’ provocative cultural
history argues that the 1950s, usually stereotyped as a conservative
era, had a progressive energy that set the stage for the 60s and beyond,”
said Sullivan. “Film noir, rock and roll, the Beats, the civil
rights movement and writers such as Salinger, Mailer and Ellison were
part of a revolutionary counter-culture of that time that still endures.”
At CCNY, Dickstein is a senior
fellow of the Center for the Humanities, which he founded in 1993.
He has been awarded fellowships by the (ACLS), the National Endowment
for the Humanities, the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the Rockefeller
Foundation and the National Humanities Center. His other books include
Keats and His Poetry (1971), Gates of Eden: American Culture
in the Sixties (1977, 1997) and Double Agent: The Critic and
Society (1992). He teaches courses in English romantic poetry,
modern fiction, film studies, and American cultural history.
For more information, call Sullivan at (609) 895-5573.
