Cost and Registration Information

Early Registration Price (January 8 at 9 am** – January 25 at 4 pm): $200
Regular Registration Price (January 25 at 4 pm – first day of class): $220

** Registration opens online at 9 am. Phone registration will be accepted starting at 10 am.

Members, seniors, and students get a 10% discount.

This seminar is full. Please call (312) 255-3700 to be added to the wait list.

Seminar Description

Bars have long been central to Chicago culture. From our first election—held in the Sauganash Tavern—to Gilded Age saloons, Prohibition-era speakeasies, and generations of ethnically-identified local bars, such venues have provided a “third place” where people create community and negotiate American identity. In this seminar, we will discuss how writers and filmmakers have represented Chicago not just as “the city that works,” but also as “the city that drinks.” Post-class field trips to bars that illustrate our readings will be planned.
Six sessions. E - $200, L - $220

Bill Savage has been teaching Newberry Library seminars since 1992. His scholarship focuses on Chicago literature, culture, history, and especially identity as it is created in public and semi-public spaces, such as ballparks and saloons.

Materials List

Required:

• George Ade, The Old-Time Saloon, University of Chicago Press, 2016. ISBN: 978-0226412306
• Durica and Savage, editors, Chicago by Day and Night: The Pleasure Seeker's Guide to the Paris of America, Northwestern University Press, 2013. ISBN: 978-0810129092

First Reading:

• There is no reading assignment for the first class.

This class is part of the Newberry’s Adult Education Seminars Program. Learn more about our registration procedures.