The years between World War One and World War Two marked some of the most influential social, cultural and artistic developments in modern history. Curious Minds favourite Dr. Peter Harris will trace their emergence against a backdrop of political uncertainty and unrest, and the impact they had on three great world cities: Berlin, Paris, and New York City. As we explore Manhattan speakeasies and Weimar salons, Art Deco design houses and trailblazing science labs, we’ll survey the most notable people and movements of the “Roaring Twenties” and “The Dirty Thirties”-and the dramatic effect that each of them had on the course of the 20th century.
Led by Peter Harris, the former Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science of the University of Toronto. He previously helmed the popular Curious Minds series The Starchitects, Designing the World: The Global Starchitects and By Design: A History of Design Movements.
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Curious Minds Speaker Series sponsored by
The six weekly lectures in this series will start being available at the dates and times noted below. Once they are online, you can access each lecture at your leisure by clicking on links in your confirmation email, or by visiting your My Streams page. Once you start streaming the lecture, it will be available for 48 hours.
Join your fellow Curious Minds and Dr. Peter Harris for a live Q&A on Thursday August 20th at 11:00 a.m. To submit a question to the lecturer, email curiousminds@hotdocs.ca in advance of the scheduled Q&A.
Week 1: Nightmare Years in Berlin, années folles in Paris
In the early ‘20s, Berlin was gripped by civil wars, inflation, and a wildly decadent social scene, Paris played host to two colonies of US expats: the “Lost Generation”; and the black jazz musicians of Paris noir.
Lecture Released: Monday, May 18 - 12:00 PM
Live Q&A: Friday, May 22 – 10:30 AM
Week 2: New York in “The Unsettled Years”
New York City was the epicentre of Prohibition, the women’s rights movement, the Harlem Renaissance, and Nativist laws against immigrants. The era begins with a bang!
Lecture Released: Monday, May 25 – 12:00 PM
Live Q&A: Friday, May 29 – 10:30 AM
Week 3: New Science, New and Improved Technologies
The Twenties saw scientists shattering traditional theories both big and small. Many earlier inventions now became widely available: the telephone; the radio; the phonograph; and especially the automobile.
Lecture Released: Monday, June 1 – 12:00 PM
Live Q&A: Friday, June 5 – 10:30 AM
Week 4: Flappers
All over North America, the image of the newly emancipated female Flapper took hold, fuelled by prosperity, jazz and the lure of new dances like the Charleston in clubs and “speakeasies.”
Lecture Released: Monday, June 8 – 12:00 PM
Live Q&A: Friday, June 12 – 10:30 AM
Week 5: Out with the Old: “Modern” Design & Architecture
In Germany, the Bauhaus began its legendary run as a seminal centre of design. In Paris, art déco emerged as another new, sleek “machine-age” design. In New York, art déco became the fashionable style for new skyscrapers such as the Chrysler Building.
Lecture Released: Monday, June 15 – 12:00 PM
Live Q&A: Friday, June 19 – 10:30 AM
Week 6: The Roaring Stops
In New York City, the roaring prosperity of the Twenties is shattered by the Stockmarket Crash in 1929. The USA is ravaged by the Great Depression and the Dustbowl. It also throws Germany into depression, accelerating the rise of the Nazis. The 1937 Paris Exhibition highlights the ideological clash of Fascism and Communism, climaxing in the outbreak of World War II in 1939.
Lecture Released: Monday, June 22 – 12:00 PM
Live Q&A: Friday, June 26 – 10:30 AM