Thoreau at the Arrival of AI

An in-person film screening and panel discussion with Ken Burns documentarian Erik Ewers at Eckstein Hall: Room 246 Since the early industrial revolution in America, Thoreau’s words have proved prescient. On Monday, Nov. 9th at 7pm, a panel will discuss what we can continue to learn from his work and example. Centered around the recent Ken Burns documentary, filmmaker Erik Ewers will be joined by faculty of Marquette University and Thoreau College in a discussion of the film, its themes, and the role of humanistic inquiry in 21st century America. Following a screening of part of the documentary, the panel will discuss bringing Thoreau’s life and work to film, how his example continues to inspire and prompt deeper environmental and civic engagement, and what lessons from a past industrial revolution are urgently needed in the era of AI. Part of Marquette University’s AI Discernment Series “What Are We Building?” this event sits at the nexus of film, literature, technology and social movements. About “Ken Burns Presents: Henry David Thoreau, a film by Erik Ewers and Christopher Loren Ewers” Combining the richly textured archival documentary style of a classic Ken Burns production with the voices and new scholarship of some of the leading contemporary interpreters of Thoreau’s life and works, this new documentary reintroduces Thoreau to a new generation when his life and ideas are uniquely resonant. The film presents the local and global context of Thoreau’s time in fresh and engaging ways, including the expansion of industry, the struggle for the abolition of slavery, the rising role of women in political and cultural life, the evolution of attitudes towards spirituality and religion, and the dawning of ecological consciousness. Thoreau was deeply impacted by and engaged with all of these fields and the film traces the legacy of his ideas and example in the politics and culture of the 160 years since his death. About Erik Ewers Co-Director and editor Erik Ewers has worked with documentary filmmaker Ken Burns for more than 30 years, including nearly all of his single and multi-episodic films. He currently serves as co-director and editor of Ewers Brothers Productions, a preferred collaborative company in the co-creation of Ken’s films. About Thoreau College Inspired by the ideas and life of Henry David Thoreau and rooted in the rich landscape of the unglaciated Driftless Region of the upper Midwest, Thoreau College is a microcollege offering immersive semester programs and a summer field school for college-aged students in and around Viroqua, Wisconsin. Programs combine academic courses in environmental literature, bioregional ecology, local history, regenerative agriculture, and more with hands-on farm work, wilderness expeditions and solos, folk arts and crafts, and engaged community life. Click below to check out the documentary's trailer: Ken Burns Presents Henry David Thoreau