The Clinton School Speaker Series has announced its December lineup. All Clinton School Speaker Series events are free and open to the public. Reserve your seats by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu or by calling (501) 683-5239.
The Economic Importance of Levees and an Update on the Historic 2019 Flood
Tuesday, December 3 at Noon (Sturgis Hall)
Bryan Day, Executive Director of the Port of Little Rock, and Col. Eric M. Noe, District Engineer and Commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Little Rock District will discuss the economic importance of levees and an update on the historic 2019 flood, including an update on port stream bank and dock repairs and the status of levees in the Little Rock District post-flood.
Panel Discussion with The Rep on It’s a Wonderful Life
Thursday, December 5 at Noon (Sturgis Hall)
Ring in the holidays with an entertaining spin on a familiar holiday favorite. Set in a 1940s radio station on Christmas Eve, enjoy a live radio version of Frank Capra’s classic 1946 film as the actors on stage transform into dozens of characters from Bedford Falls.
Faced with the threat of scandal and financial ruin, George Bailey experiences a crisis of faith and wishes he had never been born. Divine intervention arrives in the form of Clarence (Angel Second Class), who is on a mission to restore George’s will to live and earn his own wings in the process. Every life impacts countless others, whether we know it or not.
Join us for a discussion with the cast and crew.
Sarah Smarsh – “Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth”
Wednesday, December 11 at 6 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
*Book signing to follow
Smarsh was born a fifth-generation Kansas wheat farmer on her paternal side, the child of generations of teen mothers on her maternal side. In “Heartland” she introduces readers to a compelling cast of characters from her own family—grandmothers who act as second mothers, farmers who work themselves to the bone, builders who can’t afford their own homes, children who move from school to school.
Smarsh maps their lives against the destruction of the working class wrought by public policy: the demise of the family farm, the dismantling of public health care, the defunding of public schools, wages so stagnant that full-time laborers could no longer pay the bills. Readers will learn what Smarsh did: Working hard in this country probably won’t get you ahead after all.
The complex, often brilliant people of Smarsh’s story defy stereotypes amid a culture that embraces the term “white trash,” suggesting that some lives are of lesser value and even dispensable. Part memoir, part social analysis, part cultural commentary, “Heartland” is an uncompromising look at class, identity and the perils of economic hardship in a wealthy nation.
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