The 2024 Liz Carpenter Lecture: A Screening of "Shaking It Up"

Plan II Honors proudly presents the 2024 Liz Carpenter Lecture: A Screening of Shaking It Up: The Life and Times of Liz Carpenter .

"Over her 89 years, Liz Carpenter was often front and center where history was unfolding, leaving her own indelible mark on some of the most vivid moments and movements that shaped the twentieth century. Journalist, vice-presidential advisor, White House official, author, humorist, political activist, and feminist leader—hers is the story of blazing professional trails while pushing forward an agenda for women’s rights, political engagement, and the environment that remains highly relevant today. This documentary film tells Liz’s story using archival film and still images, interviews from those who knew her, journalists who covered the history as it was made, and scholars who study this remarkable past".
Shaking It Up: The Life and Times of Liz Carpenter first premiered at SXSW in March 2024 and has since been featured in five additional film festivals around the country. Featuring figures such as Luci Johnson, Dan Rather, and Gloria Steinem, the film explores Liz Carpenter's incredible career as a journalist, advisor, and activist through those who worked closest with her.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring filmmaker Christy Carpenter and three esteemed members of the UT Austin faculty:

Professor Kathleen McElroy, School of Journalism and Media

Professor Lisa L. Moore, Archibald A. Hill Regents Professor in American and English Literature | Distinguished Service Professor | Chair of the Department of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies

Professor Mark Atwood Lawrence, Chair of the Department of History.

Reviews for Shaking It Up:

“Shaking It Up is a generous and very sympathetic introduction to a 20th-century political figure who deserves to be known outside of Texas and Washington…”

- The Chron

“It is one thing to read about Texas icon Liz Carpenter.

It is another thing altogether to watch her in glorious action… Liz Carpenter (1920-2010) had one of those unstoppable personalities — part LBJ, part Lady Bird. She mesmerized almost everyone around her, especially journalists, who knew that whatever Carpenter had in mind would likely lead to a hot story.”

- Austin American Statesman

"Christy Carpenter’s loving storytelling about her mother reinforces the lessons that can be taken from her mother’s career — making a difference can be made easier with flair and a bit of Austin’s weirdness."

- The Daily Texan

Host or Publisher Plan II Honors Program