Albert Gallatin Lectures

In keeping with its academic mission, which is firmly rooted in the idea that knowledge and understanding grow through conversation and collaboration, the Gallatin School is pleased to present the Albert Gallatin Lectures at NYU. The series, which had its inaugural presentation in the spring of 2006, brings a variety of notable figures from the worlds of politics, the arts, business, and academia to the University to discuss contemporary issues with students, faculty, alumni, and members of the wider community.The lectures are made possible through the support of an anonymous donor. 

Dorothy Allison

"Writing for its Own Sake: How the Collapse of Print Publishing Will Shape the New World of Storytelling" 

Wednesday, February 9th 
6:30 PM
Jerry H. Labowitz Theatre for the Performing Arts
1 Washington Place

Dorothy Allison is an award-winning novelist and author of short stories, poetry, essays and performance pieces. Her novel Bastard Out of Carolina was a finalist for the 1992 National Book Award and the winner of the Ferro-Grumley Award for Lesbian and Gay Writing. Her subsequent novel, Cavedweller, was a New York Times bestseller and an American Library Association prizewinner. Both novels were later turned into films. Allison is a sought-after teacher, speaker and advocate for young writers from queer and marginalized backgrounds. In 2007, she was awarded the Robert Penn Warren Award for Fiction.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University.

Professor Gates is the author of twelve books, including The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of Afro-American Literary Criticism (Oxford, 1988), and winner of the 1989 American Book Award, Colored People: A Memoir (Knopf, 1994).

He is the author of In Search of Our Roots (Crown, 2009), which expands on interviews he conducted for his critically acclaimed multi-part PBS documentary series, “African American Lives 1 and 2.” Professor Gates has produced and hosted nine films for PBS and the BBC, including 1999’s “Wonders of the African World,” 2004’s “America Beyond the Color Line,” and 2009’s “Looking for Lincoln.” His most recent documentary is “Faces of America.”

An influential cultural critic, Professor Gates has written for Time magazine, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. He is the editor of several major anthologies, including The Norton Anthology of African American Literature (W.W. Norton, 1996). 

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. 

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was named one of TIME magazine’s “Heroes for the Planet” for his success in helping Riverkeeper lead the fight to restore the Hudson River. In 2009, he was named one of Rolling Stone’s “100 Agents of Change.”

Mr. Kennedy serves as senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, chief prosecuting attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper, and president of Waterkeeper Alliance. He is a clinical professor and supervising attorney at Pace University School of Law’s Environmental Litigation Clinic. Among Mr. Kennedy’s published books are the New York Times bestseller Crimes Against Nature (2004); The Riverkeepers (1997); and Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr: A Biography (1977). His articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and many other publications. Mr. Kennedy is a graduate of Harvard University. He received his law degree from the University of Virginia Law School.