Profs & Pints Baltimore: The Power of Protest Literature
Details
Profs and Pints Baltimore presents: “The Power of Protest Literature,” an exploration of plays, prose, and films as drivers of change, with Hunter Plummer, assistant teaching professor of English at Loyola University Maryland and scholar of American literature and queer theater.
[Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/baltimore-power-of-protest .]
We live in an era of renewed activism, with protests seeming to become everyday parts of life. In the eyes of many involved in such actions, to protest is to be American.
In the eyes of literature professor Hunter Plummer, a passion for protest is woven especially into the identity of the American writer. His American Literature survey course at Loyola University asks students to read both literature as protest and literature that is about protests. It also encourages students to view protests, in themselves, as “texts” to be studied. It regards America’s history and literature as a series of defiant acts and calls to action by and for marginalized communities, rather than as a vision of the country crafted by those in power.
Join Dr. Plummer at Baltimore’s Section 771 bar for a rich exploration of protest literature throughout our nation’s history.
We’ll look at works including Henry David Thoreau’s treatise on civil disobedience, Lorraine Hansberry’s lesser-known play about 1960s leftist politics, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, and Larry Kramer’s autobiographical remembrance of the AIDS epidemic’s tense early days, The Normal Heart. We’ll explore what these works can teach us, from offering practical protesting advice to instilling in us a belief that change is possible.
Dr. Plummer will discuss how all of these works demand their readers’ engagement in seeking change through political engagement and direct action. He’ll invite you to consider that reading about protest is one thing, thinking about protest is another, but actually protesting as the characters in these works do represents the only way to attain the justice that we hope for. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Bar doors open at 5 pm. The talk starts at 6:30.)
Image by Canva.