UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A cultural history scholar will discuss how feelings toward American culture changed in several European countries in the 1970s with the advent of Sesame Street on children’s television.
Helle Strandgaard Jensen, an assistant professor of contemporary cultural history at Aarhus University in Denmark, will present “Capitalist Kermit and his Chubby Cousin: Sesame Street and the 1970s Transatlantic Battle for Children’s TV” at 4:30 p.m. April 12 in Foster Auditorium in Paterno Library. The lecture is presented by the Department of History, the University Libraries, and the College of Communications Pockrass Lectureship at Penn State.
Strandgaard Jensen’s talk will focus on the reception and demarcation of Sesame Street in the United States, United Kingdom, Scandinavia and Germany. She will explore how norms, values and ambivalent feelings about American cultural production were negotiated in Europe in the 1970s.
Strandgaard Jensen is the author of the book “From Superman to Social Realism: Children’s Media and Scandinavian Childhood.” She recently published research articles on media consumption and media history. She earned her doctorate in history from the European University Institute in Italy.
The Pockrass Lectureship was named after Robert M. Pockrass, a member of Penn State’s journalism faculty from 1948 to 1977. Pockrass specialized in public opinion and popular culture. He served as the graduate officer and taught radio news writing.