Lecture on Occupy Movement by Columbia University Professor Todd Gitlin to be held Feb. 23

Posted: 02/01/2012

Columbia professor of Journalism and Sociology Todd Gitlin, who is a frequent commentator on American politics and culture, will lecture on “Occupy and the Future of American Politics,” at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23 at Roosevelt University, 430 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago.

Gitlin is the author of 14 books, including The Bulldozer and The Big Tent: Blind Republicans, Lame Democrats and the Recovery of American Ideals. Dealing with American culture and events that have potential to change American politics, his work has appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, The New Republic, and The Nation.. Gitlin has been quoted frequently in the press recently concerning the Occupy movement.

“What took so long to prompt something like Occupy Wall Street, given the degree of hurt there is?” Gitlin asked in a recent article published by the Harvard Gazette.

The lecture and Gitlin’s appearance coincide with a new undergraduate political science course called Occupy Everywhere, which is being held for the first time this semester on Roosevelt’s Chicago Campus. Offered at a time when American political scientists have been debating the impact that growing socio-economic inequalities are having on U.S. democracy, the course explores the Occupy movement and the political-economic order the movement is challenging through considerable literature review and research.

"Todd Gitlin has joined Irving Howe, Michael Walzer, Michael Harrington and Christopher Lasch in the ranks of our nation’s most brilliant, important and perceptive social critics,” according to E.J. Dionne, Jr., author of Why Americans Hate Politics and Stand Up and Fight Back. “Gitlin is fearless: He challenges the status quo and his own side.”

Sponsored by Roosevelt’s Department of Political Science and Public Administration, the event is free and open to the public. For more information on the lecture, contact David Faris at dfaris@roosevelt.edu. For more information about Roosevelt’s new political science class on the Occupy Movement, contact Laura Janota at 312-341-3511 or ljanota@roosevelt.edu.

Chicago 430 S. Michigan Ave.Chicago, IL 60605(312) 341-3500 Directions & Maps

Schaumburg 1400 N. Roosevelt Blvd.Schaumburg, IL 60173(847) 619-7300 Directions & Maps

Roosevelt Online http://www.roosevelt.edu/ruonline/