Brown Bag Lecture with Dr. Steve Estes

During this presentation, Dr. Steve Estes explores cultural connections between California and Japan in the writings of the American Beat Generation. It focuses specifically on Gary Snyder and Jack Kerouac as they began their careers in the San Francisco Bay Area during the 1950s. Snyder’s friendship inspired Kerouac to write the novel Dharma Bums that introduced Zen Buddhism to American youth. In the late 1950s, Snyder traveled to Japan where he connected with like-minded Japanese and American young people. Through the Beats, a cultural exchange between Japan and California shaped the 1960s counterculture on both sides of the Pacific.