Obama's America: A Dream in Jeopardy, Prof. William Chafe, Duke University, North Carolina

Hosted by: AIIA Victoria

The event will start on: Tuesday, 19 October 2010 5:30 PM

And will end on: Tuesday, 19 October 2010 7:00 PM

At Dyason House

124 Jolimont Road East , Melbourne Victoria

03 9654 7271     events.vic@aiia.asn.au

Posted by: vic   

President Obama is under growing pressure politically as the mid-term Congressional elections threaten to punish the Democrats and bring into question his own prospects of re-election two years hence.
 
Expectations of his ability to transform the American scene seem unrealistically high after the euphoria of the 2008 presidential election, despite his partial yet vital success with health care reform.
 
The US today, as evidenced in the Tea Party movement, faces a worrying red-blue divide with Republicans and Democrats further apart on many key issues.  Yet it remains extraordinary that the US today boasts a black American as its President, and a second woman as its Secretary of State, after long battles for racial and gender equality that have only relatively recently been won.

To explore Mr Obama's prospects at this critical point, and to take the pulse of the US in historical context, we are pleased to welcome Prof. William Chafe, the Alice Mary Baldwin Professor of History at Duke University in North Carolina.

Prof. Chafe is the author of two books on the history of post-World War II America, a major new overview of 20th century America ('The Rise and Fall of the American Century'), a history of personality and politics in modern America ('Private Lives/Public Consequences'), and a biography of the liberal crusader Allard Lowenstein.

He is currently working on a revisionist overview of the Jim Crow era to be entitled 'Behind the Veil: African American Life During the Age of Segregation'.  The author of 12 books overall, Prof. Chafe has received the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, the Sidney Hillman book award and the Lillian Smith Award among other accolades.  Much of his professional scholarship reflects his long-term interest in issues of race and gender equality.

If you plan to attend this function, please advise us at least 1 day before the event.

Tickets payable at the door :

• Members                      $20
• Non-Members                $30
• Student Members            $10
• Student Non-Members    $15

Snacks and refreshments will be served.

Event flyer:  aiiav-2010-chafe-william-prof-19.10.10 (132.53 kB)