Note: If you are interested in attending this event in person, please RSVP here or select the "Register" button on this page. We will have light refreshments. If you prefer to attend virtually, register here.

The first Faculty Pub Night of the 2025-26 season features Glenn Gebhard, chair and professor of film and TV production (School of Film and Television). He will discuss his recent film, "Red Storm Rising: The Struggle for the American Communist Party."

About Faculty Pub Night

Students, staff, faculty, alumni, and members of the public are all invited to the 2025-26 series of Faculty Pub Night at the William H. Hannon Library. Eight LMU professors are selected annually to discuss their latest publication or project in a comfortable setting and format that welcomes diverse perspectives for an inclusive conversation aimed to educate the entire community. All Faculty Pub Nights are free and open to the public.

About the Author's Work

Much of the public has the attitude that the American Communist Party was a bad joke. Actually, although it was never a major political force, the CPUSA was once an important minor player in America's politics, labor movement, and cultural life. Under Earl Browder and William Z. Foster’s leadership, the Communists attempted to build a mass radical movement, and in the process achieved respectability previously unknown and now frequently forgotten. Earl Browder, who headed the organization during its most influential period, and William Z. Foster, his politburo colleague and ultimate nemesis over many years, were born into a world that had been, for nearly a century, undergoing the second most important leap forward in humanity’s two-million year history: the industrial revolution. This industrial revolution, and unregulated capitalism, produced more wealth more quickly than at any previous time. Disparity in wealth and power swelled the ranks of factory workers (the proletariat), shrunk the middle class dramatically, and elevated a small ruling elite of capitalists to levels of wealth undreamed of previously. This film explores a unique period in American politics, and how inner squabbling between important figures in a political movement can affect it’s influence and ultimate success.

Watch the trailer here

About the Author

Gebhard is an Emmy Award winning film and video producer/director of documentaries and narrative films. He is also a professor at Loyola Marymount University’s School of Film and Television in Los Angeles, California. Gebhard achieved Academy Award consideration for the short documentary film “Victims of Another War: The Aftermath of Parental Alienation”. Gebhard’s recent work includes a series of four documentaries called "Cuba at a Crossroads,” “Cuba: A Lifetime of Passion” for HD net, and “Cuba: The Forgotten Revolution,” co-produced by WTIU PBS in Bloomington, Indiana, and released by American Public Television to PBS nationwide. “Cuba: The Forgotten Revolution” won an Emmy for “best documentary” and streamed on Netflix, the History Channel, and ZDF, Germany. His latest film is “Red Storm Rising: The Struggle for the American Communist Party.” 

About the William H. Hannon Library

The William H. Hannon Library fosters excellence in academic achievement through an array of distinctive services that enable learners to feed their curiosity, experience new worlds, develop their ideas, inform their decision-making, and inspire others. More information can be found at http://library.lmu.edu

For more information about this event, contact the Outreach and Engagement team at the William H. Hannon library via email at library.outreach@lmu.edu or call 310-338-5234.