Glenn C. Altschuler, the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies and dean of the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions at Cornell University, discusses The Day the Music Died: The Conspiracy Against Rock ‘n’ Roll in the Late 1950s at 4:15 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 12, Keck Classroom (G52), Pettengill Hall. The public is invited to attend the talk, sponsored by the Department of History and the American cultural studies program, free of charge.

Altschuler is the author of All Shook Up: How Rock ‘n’ Roll Changed America (Oxford University Press, 2003). At Bates, he will examine the payola scandals as a “conspiracy” by Tin Pan Alley and their allies in the major record companies to kill rock ‘n’ roll, and follow with a discussion of how the climate created by critics of rock ‘n’ roll was responsible, directly or indirectly, for the removal from the scene of Elvis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens.

Altschuler’s areas of interest include American popular culture and the history of education in America. A former columnist for The New York Times “Education Life” section, he is currently a regular panelist on national and international affairs for the WCNY television program The Ivy Tower Half-Hour.

Altschuler is the author of several books, including The Hundred Most Notable Cornellians (Cornell University Press, 2003), co-authored with R. Laurence Moore and Isaac Kramnick; Rude Republic: Americans and Their Politics in the 19th Century (Princeton University Press, 2000), co-authored with Stuart M. Blumin; and Changing Channels: America in TV Guide (University of Illinois Press, 1992), co-authored with David I. Grossvogel. Calling Altschuler’s TV Guide book “one of the better highbrow studies of pop Americana,” Kirkus Reviews said, “by dishing up celebrity gossip on a scholarly platter, this deserves the guilty-pleasure-of-the-month award.”

Altschuler has lectured before university, alumni and professional audiences throughout the world. His yearlong course in “American Popular Culture” is among the most popular offerings of Cornell University. He received his bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude in history, from Brooklyn College and master’s and doctoral degrees in history from Cornell University.

Altschuler is the author of All Shook Up: How Rock ‘n’ Roll Changed America (Oxford University Press, 2003). At Bates, he will examine the payola scandals as a “conspiracy” by Tin Pan Alley and their allies in the major record companies to kill rock ‘n’ roll, and follow with a discussion of how the climate created by critics of rock ‘n’ roll was responsible, directly or indirectly, for the removal from the scene of Elvis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens.

Altschuler’s areas of interest include American popular culture and the history of education in America. A former columnist for the New York Times “Education Life” section, he is currently a regular panelist on national and international affairs for the WCNY television program The Ivy Tower Half-Hour.

Altschuler is the author of several books, including The Hundred Most Notable Cornellians (Cornell University Press, 2003), co-authored with R. Laurence Moore and Isaac Kramnick; Rude Republic: Americans and Their Politics in the 19th Century (Princeton University Press, 2000), co-authored with Stuart M. Blumin; and Changing Channels: America in TV Guide (University of Illinois Press, 1992), co-authored with David I. Grossvogel. Calling Altschuler’s TV Guide book “one of the better highbrow studies of pop Americana,” Kirkus Reviews said, “by dishing up celebrity gossip on a scholarly platter, this deserves the guilty-pleasure-of-the-month award.”

Altschuler has lectured before university, alumni and professional audiences throughout the world. His yearlong course in “American Popular Culture” is among the most popular offerings of Cornell University. He received a bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude in history, from Brooklyn College and master’s and doctoral degrees in history from Cornell University.

“Although for 14 months Americans have had ‘all Monica all the time,’” Altschuler said, few have examined what the events mean as a defining cultural moment revealing much about what constitutes private behavior and its relevance to the public arena.

Altschuler’s areas of interest include American popular culture and the history of education in America. The author of many scholarly articles, Altschuler has written several books, including the forthcoming Rude Republic: Americans and Their Politics in the 19th Century (Princeton University Press), co-authored with Stuart M. Blumin; and Changing Channels: America in TV Guide (University of Illinois Press, 1992), co-authored with David I. Grossvogel. Calling Altschuler’s TV Guide book “one of the better highbrow studies of pop Americana,” Kirkus Reviews said “by dishing up celebrity gossip on a scholarly platter, this deserves the guilty-pleasure-of the-month award.”

Altschuler’s other books include Better Than Second Best: Love and Work in the Life of Helen Magill (University of Illinois Press, 1990); Revivalism, Social Conscience and Community in the Burned-Over District: The Trial of Rhoda Bement (Cornell University, 1983), co-authored with Jan M. Saltzgaber; Race, Ethnicity, and Class in American Social Thought, 1865-1919 (American History Series, John Hope Franklin and A.S. Eisenstadt, editors, Harlan Davidson, Inc., 1982); and Andrew D. White: Educator, Historian, Diplomat (Cornell University Press, 1977).

Altschuler recently co-authored an article, “Endowing the Rich and Famous: Celebrity Speakers on Campus,” for The Chronicle of Higher Education. A forthcoming essay, “Professor Show Biz,” will appear in The New York Times.

Altschuler has lectured before university, alumni and professional audiences throughout the world, including Korea and Saudi Arabia. He received his bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude in history, from Brooklyn College and a master’s and doctoral degree in history from Cornell University.