Belonging in America--Racial & Ethnic "Passing" in Fiction & Film

 

The Abram Matlofsky Memorial Program, funded by the Karma Foundation Join us for a dynamic conversation and light refreshments Monday, March 4, 7:30 p.m.  Not Quite White in Fiction and Film: Laura Z. Hobson's Gentleman's Agreement and Nella Larsen's Passing   Two acclaimed novels and their award-winning film adaptations offer a window onto racial and ethnic "passing" for Black and Jewish Americans and the struggle to belong in a white Christian society. Watch the films in advance! Excerpts will be shown during the program.     Gentleman's Agreement (1947) Director: Elia Kazan Streaming on Dailymotion here (available to rent on Amazon Video and other sites.)   Passing (2021) Director: Rebecca Hall Streaming on Netflix here   Join the discussion with our distinguished panelists.     Prof. Donavan L. Ramon Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Author of Striking Features: Psychoanalysis and Racial Passing Narratives   Prof. Rachel Gordan University of Florida Author of Postwar Stories: How Books Made Judaism American   Gene Seymour Noted Film, Jazz, and Cultural Critic (Moderator)   Register   Douglass Student Center, 100 George Street, New Brunswick Free and open to the public; Free parking   This program is presented in conjunction with an interdisciplinary symposium, Black Americans, Jewish Americans: Historical Intersections, Collisions, and Passings, and made possible by a grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities.   Donate Now Thank you for your support!   Your gift enables us to make a meaningful impact in the community, fostering engagement with Jewish identity, culture, and history.