America, America is an exhibition of photos by esteemed American photojournalists and street photographers such as Lewis Hine, Gordon Parks and Helen Levitt. They are all part of the Marin Karmitz collection and are on show at the Lumière Institute till 5 January. The forty works on display span the 20th century, starting chronologically with … Continue reading “America, America Photography Exhibition in Lyon”
2024 marks the centennial of the birth of James Baldwin, novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, civil-rights campaigner and social critic, as well as self-proclaimed American “Native Son”. Born in 1924 in Harlem, New York, Baldwin grew up in poverty, the eldest of nine children. Harlem was home to many black families who had moved from the … Continue reading “James Baldwin Centenary”
From September 26 to 29, 2024, the city of Vincennes is set to host the 11th edition of Festival America, a must-attend event for North American literature enthusiasts. This year, the festival distinguishes itself by broadening its horizons to include European voices, creating a true transatlantic dialogue. The festival’s program promises to be rich and … Continue reading “Festival America 2024: A Transatlantic Literary Dialogue”
On 15 July, Donald Trump announced his running mate for the 5 November presidential election: Senator J.D. Vance. The new Republican candidate for Vice-President is a conservative serving his first term in the Senate and a former critic of Trump. James David Vance grew up poor in the mid-west, in Ohio, although his family roots … Continue reading “U.S Election: J.D. Vance”
The two main candidates for the 2024 U.S. Presidential election will participate in a TV debate on 27 June, months earlier than in usual campaign years. Donald Trump and Joe Biden aren’t even officially the Republican and Democratic candidates yet: that will happen when their parties hold their national conventions, from 15 July for the … Continue reading “Biden and Trump Debate”
A new documentary, Girls State, looks at a social experiment where 500 girls from Missouri try to form a government, running for positions like Governor and Supreme Court Justices. It makes a fascinating contrast with the award-winning 2020 documentary by the same team following 1000 boys in Texas participating in the same national project. Both … Continue reading “If Girls Were in Charge”
You may not be familiar with her name but you must be familiar with her struggle: fighting inequalities, defending minorities and women… Shirley Chisholm, a trailblazer in politics, the first African American woman to run for president in the 1970s paved the way for the following generations thanks to her determination. Her willpower and desire to … Continue reading “Chisholm for President”
A new TV film shines the spotlight on a trailblazer in U.S. politics: Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and the first, and only, woman to run for the Presidential nomination. Regina King plays “Fighting Shirley”, who faced, and faced up to, obstacles all through … Continue reading “Shirley Chisholm the Woman Who Ran for President”
Netflix has released its own version of Poe’s famous Fall of the House of Usher in which gothic becomes horror in a modern-world setting with a whirlwind of characters and action. This is a perfect occasion for LLCER students to not only work on the short story itself but also compare it to the mini-series and … Continue reading “The Fall of the House of Usher TV Series”
Steven Spielberg’s 1985 film The Color Purple was extremely unusual for having an almost entirely African-American cast. (Alice Walker, whose 1982 novel it is based on, was the first ever African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.) The film is an enduring classic, and the musical-theatre version of the story is now hitting … Continue reading “The Color Purple Returns”
