Dr. Michael Dawson: "Canadians Confront Sesame Street, 1969-1979"

7:00PM
BMH 101

Dr. Michael Dawson will deliver the lecture '“Not even the animals die:” Canadians Confront Sesame Street, 1969-1979' as part of the STU Public Lecture Series.

Everything has a history. Even Sesame Street. When this innovative children’s show first appeared on Canadian televisions it was greeted with overwhelming praise. But the honeymoon was short-lived. While the show remained popular throughout the 1970s, public assessments of its impact grew more critical and contested. This lecture will explore how Bert, Ernie, and Big Bird became lightning rods for public debates about educational priorities and a wide range of cultural concerns including Americanization, domestic television programming, multiculturalism, social mores, commercialism, and violence.

St. Thomas University’s 2024-25 Public Lecture Series is designed to enable STU faculty researchers to be able to present ideas and research results to a wide and diverse audience on issues of broad public interest.