SOF Digital Symposium: In the Shadow of FDR: The New Deal and Its Aftermath in Today’s Context
Join us during the week of April 12 for the SOF Digital Symposium: In the Shadow of FDR: The New Deal and its Aftermath in Today’s Context moderated by experts Jonathan Alter, journalist, historian, and documentary filmmaker; and Cynthia Koch, Historian in Residence and Director of History Programing for the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Foundation at Adams House, Harvard University.
Using preparatory materials as the foundation for discussion, over the course of three days Alter and Koch will examine the life and legacy of Franklin D. Roosevelt and his presidential tenure, especially timely given the similarities between the period during which he was president and now. They will delve into FDR’s childhood challenges and pre-presidential life; the economic landscape in which he found himself in office; how his New Deal policies during the Great Depression are reflected in President Biden’s plan to Build Back Better; and finally, the Second World War and the post-war architecture of peace he masterminded. Throughout the seminar, the moderators will help inform our understanding of today’s political landscape and understand the ways in which the New Deal has influenced the current administration’s plan for recovery from the devastation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. This symposium will contextualize and expand our understanding of the changes and threats to democracy that we face today.
The symposium sessions will be held:
Monday, April 12: 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. ET
Tuesday, April 13: 12:00 – 2:30 p.m. ET
Wednesday, April 14: 2:30 – 5:00 p.m. ET
Thursday, April 15: 12:00 – 2:30 p.m. ET
*If you are not currently a member of the Society of Fellows, and are interested in joining, please contact the SOF team at sof@aspeninstitute.org or 970-544-7980. Click here to learn more about the Society of Fellows.
The symposium fee is $350. Only those who have registered and paid will receive emails with the Zoom links to join and the preparatory materials.
Moderators:
Jonathan Alter is the author of three New York Times bestsellers, “The Defining Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope” (2006), a Times Notable Book of the year; “The Promise: President Obama, Year One” (2010); and “The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies (2013). His latest book is “His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life.” A former senior editor and columnist for Newsweek, Alter is political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, a columnist for The Daily Beast, and co-director of an HBO film that won the 2020 Emmy for Outstanding Historical Documentary.
Cynthia M. Koch is Historian in Residence and Director of History Programing for the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Foundation at Adams House, Harvard University. She was Director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York (1999-2011) and subsequently Senior Adviser to the Office of Presidential Libraries, National Archives, Washington, DC From 2013-2016 she was Public Historian in Residence at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY where she taught courses in public history and Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.