Breakout Sessions

Political protests influenced the lyrics and literature at the time of Scarsdale Adult School’s founding. Learn about and listen to American protest music from the 1930s to 1950s, including the works of Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Billie Holiday. Contextualize the music scene within the broader currents in and problems of American literary culture.

Eight-five years ago, émigré artists were fleeing Europe to settle in New York, the Federal Art Project sponsored by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) under the New Deal was underway, and new art museums and galleries were beginning to populate the city’s landscape. Explore the influence on the New York art scene of Fernand Léger, George Grosz, Pavel Tchelitchew, Hans Hofmann, and Salvador Dalí, and American artists Reginald Marsh, Edward Hopper, Jackson Pollock, Stuart Davis, and others. Step back in time to view scenes from and learn the origins of the now famous Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Downtown Gallery, the Julien Levy Gallery, and more. Vintage photographs illustrate the thoroughly researched narration of the city’s rich cultural history.

Something about gender is changing. From courtrooms to classrooms, discussions about transgender children seem to be everywhere. Why do some children have strong gender identities that differ from what others expect? What is fueling the current controversy? What should trans children be able to do? What can they really know about themselves? Explore the current political moment and the families and children it impacts. Audience questions about trans youth and their lives will help guide the discussion.