Standing on the Precipice: What’s Happening to America?
Fridays, Feb. 20, 27, Mar. 6, 13 | 1:00 – 3:30 p.m.
Fe Bland Forum Auditorium, S.B. City College, West Campus, 721 Cliff Drive, Santa Barbara
VISTAS member price: $50; non-member price $75
Presented by David Bisno with Randall Balmer
Three years ago, David asked VISTAS students “Why the Allure of Fascism?” Since then he has intrigued us with “Whose Land Is It, Anyway?” and “Two Peoples, One Land,” about the history of the Holy Land. This winter he is asking us: “Is our country at a precipice?” or “Have we already fallen from the precipice?” Joined by Dartmouth College Professor of Religion Randall Balmer, David will weave together Sinclair Lewis’s 1935 tale It Can’t Happen Here, Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet, and America’s embrace of authoritarianism. Some of us may be thrilled with developments in Washington; others of us may be in profound dismay. Do we understand il-liberal democracies? White Christian nationalism? Populist philosophies? Why is it happening here? Are we, the “elites,” the problem? Come join us for provocative, spirited presentations and discussions.