Class Description
Proclaimed as “The Swinging City” by a Time Magazine cover story in April 1966, London had risen from post-war devastation and austerity to become the center of an artistic efflorescence and a global trendsetter in fashion and popular music. This course will treat such topics as the emergence of Carnaby Street and the King’s Road as centers of fashionable boutiques; the designs of Mary Quant and John Stephen; the rising prominence of such photographers as David Bailey and Terence Donovan, and such models as Jean Shrimpton and Twiggy; notable British artists of the 1960s, including Peter Blake, Richard Hamilton, and David Hockney; cinematic depictions of the era, including Michael Caine as Alfie and Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-up; the phenomenon of Beatlemania and the other great British bands of the era including the Rolling Stones, the Who, and the Kinks.
Frank Biletz received his PhD in history from the University of Chicago, with a primary specialization in modern British and Irish history. He is currently Adjunct Instructor in History at Loyola University Chicago and has been teaching seminars at the Newberry since 1994.
What to Expect
Format: In Person
Class Capacity: 28
Class Style: Mix of lecture and discussion; participation encouraged
Materials List
Required
- Shawn Levy, Ready Steady Go! The Smashing Rise and Giddy Fall of Swinging London. Broadway Books, 2002. ISBN: 9780767905886
- Additional Instructor-Distributed Materials
First Assignment
- For the first class meeting, participants should read Part One of Shawn Levy, Ready Steady Go! The Smashing Rise and Giddy Fall of Swinging London.
A Brief Syllabus
- Post War Doldrums
- A Revolution in Fashion and Design
- Beatlemania
- London Swings
- The “British Invasion”
- British Art and Cinema during the 1960s
- From Rubber Soul to Abbey Road
- From the 60s to the 70s
Cost and Registration
8 Sessions, $300 ($270 for Newberry members, seniors, and students). Learn about becoming a member.
We offer our classes at three different price options: Regular ($300), Community Supported ($280), and Sponsor ($320).Following the models of other institutions, we want to ensure that our classes are accessible to a wider audience while continuing to support our instructors. You may choose the price that best fits your situation when registering through Learning Stream.
To register multiple people for this class, please go through the course calendar in Learning Stream, our registration platform. When you select the course and register, you’ll be prompted to add another registrant.
Having trouble signing up? Take a look at our step-by-step guide to registration by clicking here.
RegisterThe views and opinions expressed in this class and/or by the instructor are not necessarily representative of the Newberry. We aim to ensure that in our classes, participants can have respectful disagreement to foster critical thinking. This is a space to challenge and expand our own worldviews to work towards better understanding and appreciating humanity.
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