International Whitman Week, a celebration of the poet 200 years after his birth that will include a series of seminars, tours, and performances as well as a one-day symposium, will be held at venues in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and West Hills, New York, Walt Whitman’s birthplace, May 27 through June 1.
International Whitman Week, a celebration of the poet 200 years after his birth that will include a series of seminars, tours, and performances as well as a one-day symposium, will be held at venues in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and West Hills, New York, Walt Whitman’s birthplace, May 27 through June 1.
Walt Whitman, born May 31, 1819, was also a journalist and essayist. While his work resonated globally, most of his life was spent in the New York metropolitan area. Organized by NYU Liberal Studies Professor Karen Karbiener, president of the nonprofit Walt Whitman Initiative, International Whitman Week explores his life in the region as well as the impact of his writings.
For a complete schedule of sessions and locations, please visit:
http://waltwhitmaninitiative.org/international-whitman-week-2019/
Monday, May 27, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.: Welcome to Whitman’s New York!
Founders Hall at St. Francis College, 180 Remsen Street, Brooklyn
The day includes “Whitman and Brooklyn,” a lecture by Ian Maloney (St. Francis College), a Brooklyn Heights tour, with visits to some of Whitman’s Brooklyn residences and places of employment, as well as a reading of “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” on the Brooklyn Bridge, followed by a Fort Greene tour and a trip to 99 Ryerson Street, Whitman’s Brooklyn home when Leaves of Grass was published.
Lectures, Presentations, and Discussions (May 28-May 30):
Tuesday, May 28, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.: Leaves of Grass (1855)
NYU Center for the Humanities, 20 Cooper Square, 5th floor, Manhattan
Wednesday, May 29, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.: Whitman’s Journalism
NYU Center for the Humanities, 20 Cooper Square, 5th floor, Manhattan
Thursday, May 30, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.: Leaves of Grass (1860)
NYU Center for the Humanities, 20 Cooper Square, 5th floor, Manhattan
Thursday, May 30, 5:30-7:30 p.m.: The Body and the City
Grolier Club, 47 East 60th Street
5:30-6:30 p.m.: A lecture and question-and-answer session by the University of Iowa’s Ed Folsom: “This is the city…. And I am one of the citizens: Walt Whitman, the Body, and the City”
6:30-7:30 p.m.: Tours of “Poet of the Body: New York’s Walt Whitman” by co-curators, NYU’s Karen Karbiener and Susan Jaffe Tane, Whitman collector
Friday, May 31: Starting from Paumanok: Origins
Walt Whitman Birthplace, West Hills, New York
8:00 a.m.: Bus departure from NYU Center for the Humanities
9:30-8:30 p.m.: Day includes lectures by Jerome Loving (Texas A&M University) and David Reynolds (CUNY Graduate Center), tours of Whitman’s birthplace and a walk up Jayne’s Hill led by Karen Karbiener, a “Happy Birthday Walt Whitman” happy hour, and an interactive theatrical performance of “More or Less I Am” by Compagnia de’ Colombari.
9:00 p.m.: Departure from Whitman birthplace to NYU Center for the Humanities
(All “Starting from Paumanok” events free of charge; please contact Karen Karbiener for seating availability on chartered bus: kk55@nyu.edu).
Saturday, June 1, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.: “Walt Whitman and New York” Symposium
Grolier Club, 47 East 60th Street, Manhattan
The day includes presentations and questions-and-answer sessions by 12 international scholars, keynote lectures by Whitman scholars Betsy Erkkila (Northwestern University) and Ken Price (University of Nebraska, Lincoln), and a performance of Whitman song settings by the Dessoff Choirs.
International Whitman Week is free and open to the public, with seating on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, please contact Karen Karbiener: kk55@nyu.edu. For reservations for Grolier Club events (the May 30 evening lecture and exhibition tour and the June 1 symposium) please email mbrennan@grolierclub.org, specifying the number of seats needed.
International Whitman Week is supported by the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, Paumanok Vineyards, NYU’s Department of English, and NYU Liberal Studies.
For more about the Walt Whitman Initiative, please visit http://waltwhitmaninitiative.org/.
About Liberal Studies at NYU
Liberal Studies at NYU is recognized for its innovative, global liberal arts curriculum, experiential learning and small, seminar-style classes. It offers the best of both worlds: a small college experience nestled within a large urban research university. Liberal Studies has the second largest entering first year undergraduate class each year at NYU. Its classrooms are small, but its presence is large and far-reaching. For more, please visit liberalstudies.nyu.edu.