Tuesday, October 18, 2016 - 6:00pm

World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut Street

"Presidential Politics: The Image Campaign of 1840"

Michael Leja’s work focuses on understanding visual artifacts in relation to contemporary cultural, social, political, and intellectual developments and in a historical context. In this Café, Leja will explore the presidential election of 1840, the first in which visual images played a significant role. Pictures of Whig candidate William Henry Harrison heroically leading troops into battle, shrewdly negotiating with Native American leaders, or welcoming visitors to his humble log cabin flooded the print media and spread onto dishes, teapots, lapel buttons, and handkerchiefs. The emphasis given pictures and the cunning use of them make Harrison’s case a starting point for practices now standard in the hyper-mediatized presidential campaigns of the 21st century and a timely topic for this election season.

Expert faculty from the University of Pennsylvania shed light on their research in the arts, humanities, and social sciences at the Penn Lightbulb Café. It's an evening of engaging, stimulating conversation, with a Q&A session following each talk.

Presented by Penn Arts and Sciences in partnership with the Office of University Communications, Penn Café events are free and open to the public, but RSVPs are encouraged. Contact Gina Bryan at 215-898-8721 or email at bryangm@upenn.edu.
Menu items are available for purchase. Happy Hour pricing from 4–6 p.m.

https://news.upenn.edu/sciencecafe