Erica J. Ryan Lecture Sets the Tone for Conference

Erica J. Ryan, Associate Professor at Rider University, will join us virtually as a part of this year's Spring Conference, delivering a lecture that is sure to be a critical piece of our conference offerings. The author of When the World Broke in Two: the Roaring Twenties and the Dawn of America’s Culture Wars (Praeger 2018), Ryan will set the historical context for Willa Cather's 1920 collection of short stories, Youth and the Bright Medusa, which celebrates its publication centenary this year. Ryan's book is a comprehensive history of America in the 1920s and presents the decade's most compelling controversies as precursors to today's social struggles. This highly readable history is available in our bookstore now.

JUNE 4, 2020—5:30 - 6:45 P.M. (CENTRAL)

Cather's collection is unique, in that some stories were written earlier in the 1910s, and others just before publication. In her invited lecture, "When the World Broke in Two: America on the Cusp of the 1920s," Ryan will situate Cather's novel within the time period of creation and publication, a period that foreshadowed the turmoils of the 1920s.

This program is free and open to the public, thanks to the generous support of Humanities Nebraska, as a part of our Spring Conference. 
To participate in this free humanities program, click here!

To join us for our full three-day Spring Conference line-up, please complete registration here!