Bruce Springsteen: His Life, Music, and Promise
Eric Alterman (Ph.D., Stanford) is a CUNY Distinguished Professor of English and Journalism at Brooklyn College. The author of eleven books, he has been a columnist for The Nation, The American Prospect, The Guardian, MSNBC and Rolling Stone, and a contributor to The New Yorker and The Atlantic. Professor Alterman has won the George Orwell Prize, the Stephen Crane Literary Award, and the Mirror Award for media criticism (twice). He is the author of It Ain’t No Sin to be Glad You’re Alive: The Promise of Bruce Springsteen, as well as many articles about Springsteen. Alterman has seen Bruce in concert over 200 times since 1977.
Overview
Bruce Springsteen’s songs are renowned for the way they tell a story. This course will tell a story, as well: of a young man from a dysfunctional family who grew up half-Irish, half-Italian, far from affluence of any kind. In fact, he once observed he didn’t even know anyone who had ever been on an airplane. Years later, he will become arguably the greatest performer in the history of rock n’ roll, a symbol of working-class America (while earning hundreds of millions of dollars), and a much sought-after endorser of presidential candidates. We will examine Springsteen’s music and his role in America’s cultural history and attempt to find, in his inspirational story, clues to what has made him the powerful and unique cultural force he has become.
Great lecturer. Knowledgeable, articulate, passionate about Springsteen.