Vera List Center for Art and Politics, 1994 - 2000

Series 1, Professional life, spans the years 1964-2016. This series documents Karen Durbin’s work as a film critic, her teaching, and her committee service and memberships. Most of Durbin’s published writing present in this series is for Elle, Mirabella, Mademoiselle, or The New York Times. This series includes interview transcripts; recordings of some of these interviews can be found in Series 5. Durbin’s drafts and research reveal her research methods and references, including annotated articles on issues surrounding gender, sexuality, body positivity/acceptance, and self-help. The Professional life series also includes published writing and drafts from Durbin’s early career, such as writing produced as an intern for the Indianapolis Times, as well as syllabi and assignments pertaining to her teaching work at Columbia School of Journalism. The series includes a significant number of press passes to various events between the years 1975-2016, such as Sundance Film festival, Toronto Film Festival, and New York Film Festival.