Thinking Through Election Overload: Patriotism and Country Music: Who Owns What?
Remember the Olympics? Just a few months ago, Americans from across the political spectrum came together in a three-week ritual of raucous flag waving, chanting, and cheering. But those good feelings barely survived the Closing Ceremonies. Also immediately after the Olympics, a wave of memes announced the “patriotism leaving my body.” In an election season marked by sharp division that sometimes feels like a flag waving competition, please join us for a conversation about belonging in a civil society, about how democracies work, about election division and about sports and patriotism.
Please join us for a conversation about country music, patriotism, and political divisions in the U.S. Country music has roots in rural working-class America and has often, but not always, been associated with beat-up pick-up trucks and conservative politics. In the last few years there has been a resurgence in the popularity of country music across the demographic and political spectrum. Might this signal new cultural common ground? Is there something to be learned from the past and the present of country music? Please join us for a conversation about music, patriotism and personal and national identity formation.
We’ll ask questions like:
Can country music help to bridge our cultural divides?
What is country music, today?
Why country music now?
What is the cultural significance of Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter”?
Does the surge in popularity suggest new thinking about patriotism?
This event will feature panelists Mark Clague (Music), Dean Hubbs (Women’s and Gender Studies, Music), Lydia Kelow-Bennett (Afroamerican and African Studies), and Moderator Matthew Countryman (Afroamerican and African Studies, Music).
Thursday, October 24 2024 5:30-7:00 PM
Lobby Thayer Academic Building
About the series: High Stakes Culture explores the ongoing “culture wars” and recent cultural flashpoints igniting across the country. Activists from all points of the political spectrum are turning to beloved cultural objects to stake a claim for their differing beliefs. The foundations of public education are being questioned as books are banned and Critical Race Theory is challenged. States are passing laws that attempt to ban or criminalize medical treatment for trans teens and children. And a landmark abortion ruling has spurred national conversations about reproductive justice.
High Stakes Culture is presented by the Institute for the Humanities and the Humanities Collaboratory to bring humanities perspectives to bear on compelling issues in the culture now. Join us as we ask: How and why does culture matter so much? What is at stake in the ways we understand culture and cultural conflict?