The Nation in The Birth of a Nation
Thursday, October 10, 2019 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm EDT/GMT-4Bard College Berlin Lecture Hall, Platanenstr. 98a, 13156 Berlin
Guest talk by Geoffrey Harpham (Duke University)
Reviled and dismissed as the most morally shameful major work of art produced in the United States for its treatment of race and racial violence, D. W. Griffith's 1915 film The Birth of a Nation can also be understood as an unintended reflection on the subject of the nation. Understood in this way, and partially detached from its creators and its historical moment, Griffith's film acquires a surprising new depth, suggestiveness, and pertinence.
Geoffrey Harpham is Senior Fellow at the Kenan Institute for Ethics, Duke University. From 2003-15, he was director of the National Humanities Center in the United States. He is the author of ten books and over one hundred scholarly articles. His most recent books are The Humanities and the Dream of America, and What Do You Think, Mr. Ramirez? The American Revolution in Education.
Introduction: Ewa Atanassow
Respondent: Aaron Tugendhaft
The talk kicks off the Lecture Series on Popular Sovereignty organized by Bard College Berlin and the Law and Society Institute at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin with the support of the American Social Science Research Council
Facebook page for the event series
Date & time: Thursday, October 10, from 7:30pm
Venue: Bard College Berlin Lecture Hall
Platanenstr. 98a, 13156 Berlin
Admission free
Email: [email protected]