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NANCY D. KATES

Nancy D. Kates produced and directed Regarding Susan Sontag, which premiered at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival and on HBO, to significant critical acclaim. Ms. Magazine named it one of 2014’s top ten feminist films, while The San Francisco Chronicle praised its “boldly evocative impressionist strokes that mirror the complexity of Sontag’s life and career.” It has since been shown in over 130 festivals in more than 35 countries, receiving a number of awards, including the FOCAL International Award for the best use of archival footage in an arts program.

Her previous film, Brother Outsider: the Life of Bayard Rustin, made with Bennett Singer, premiered in competition at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and as a special of the PBS series “POV.” It went on to win more than 25 awards worldwide, including the 2004 GLAAD Media Award.

Kates received her M.A. from Stanford’s documentary film program. Her master’s thesis, Their Own Vietnam, received the 1995 Student Academy Award in documentary. In 2014, Kates was honored to be included in the OUT 100, OUT Magazine’s annual list of the most intriguing LGBT Americans.

SEBASTIEN MORT

Sébastien Mort (PhD. Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle) is Associate Professor of American Studies at Université de Lorraine in France, a Fulbright scholar, and a former fellow of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. He defended a PhD dissertation on the role of conservative talk radio programs on post-Reagan conservatism from 1987 to 2010. His research focuses on political partisanship in the US media, and especially on the conservative resurgence of the late 20^th century, with particular emphasis on the communication and media strategy of the Republican Party and the conservative movement. 

His latest publications include:

- “Tailoring Dissent on the Airwaves: The Role of Conservative Talk Radio in the Right-wing Resurgence of 2010” in New Political Science: a Journal of Politics and Culture (2012)

- “Truth and Partisan Media in the USA: Reassessing Objectivity as Truth-Paradigm in the Post-Broadcast Era” in Revue Française d’Etudes Américaines (2013).

- “Ordinary Women and Conservative Talk Radio in the US: A Comparative Study of Women Callers on The Rush Limbaugh Show and The Laura Ingraham Show (2004-2010)”, European Journal for American Studies, (2015).

SONG CYCLE: PRAIRIE SONGS, REMEMBERING ANTONIA

Philip Baldwin                       Scott Miller                       Brent Edstrom

A little over a year ago, Guy Reynolds, director of the Cather Project, and Beth Burke, a project manager, wanted to expand the Cather Project beyond scholarly works and looked to the arts. “We’re looking at more creative adaptations of her work,” Reynolds said. “We’re trying to keep the legacy of Cather alive and vibrant by translating her work into different forms, using different media, different forms of artistic performance and expression.”

Prairie Songs: Remembering Ántonia is sponsored by the Cather Project, Charles Cather Fund, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

This song cycle is composed and performed by Brent Edstrom and features Scott Miller, tenor, and Philip Baldwin, violinist.  All three teach at Whitworth University, Spokane, Washington, in the Department of Music.  Edstrom is also the Washington State Music Teachers Composer of the Year.