Fall 2025 Public Screening Series: Early Jameson | "Herbert’s Hippopotamus: Marcuse and Revolution in Paradise" (1997)

Fall 2025 Public Screening Series: Early Jameson Early Jameson: Film & Theory at the Limits of Culture

Screenings begin at 11:30 AM | Free and open to the public | RSVP @ tania.rispoli@duke.edu | Lunch starts at 11 AM

Hosted by the graduate seminar Early Jameson taught by Ranjana Khanna, this screening series invites the public to engage with film and video works that reflect, refract, and challenge key themes in the intellectual and political trajectory of Fredric Jameson-from Marxism and psychoanalysis to postmodernism, media, and utopia. Each screening will be followed by an informal discussion. Join us in exploring how Jameson's thinking continues to provoke new questions about ideology, cultural production, and the very possibility of critique today.

Herbert's Hippopotamus: Marcuse and Revolution in Paradise Directed by Paul Alexander Juutilainen This documentary traces philosopher Herbert Marcuse's years at UC San Diego, where his influence on students and local politics stirred controversy during the Vietnam era. Through archival footage and interviews, the film explores the conditions that shaped the Frankfurt School's most radical voice-and his impact on a generation of thinkers, including Fredric Jameson.