This lecture is part of a thematic series of events leading up to the October 31-November 2, 2012 conference, "A New Insurgency: The Port Huron Statement in Its Time and Ours." It is free and open to the public.

Abstract: The vision of the new left in its early years, as expressed in the Port Huron Statement of 1962 and elsewhere, pushed in numerous directions and took inspiration from diverse sources. Those sources of inspiration included experimental religion, existentialist thought, and solidarity with Third World revolutions. The early new left advocated a realignment of American politics along left/right lines. New left activists rallied to insurgencies by outsiders, but they also harbored ambitions to become part of a new, reformed American political leadership. Some of their hopes achieved realization while others were dashed.