Ken Burns

Walpole, New Hampshire, documentary filmmaker Ken Burns was the undergraduate commencement speaker at Brandeis University, where he received an honorary degree at the school’s graduation ceremony in May.

‘There’s only us. There is no them.’

‘Everywhere we are trapped by these old, tired, binary reactions, assumptions, and certainties,’ says documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, who offers advice to college graduates and looks at our current turmoil through the lens of history


Ken Burns, who lives and works just over the Connecticut River in Walpole, New Hampshire, has been making award-winning documentary films and miniseries for almost a half century. On May 19, Burns gave this commencement address at Brandeis University, where he received an honorary degree (doctor of creative arts). We not only found his words extraordinarily thought provoking but also appreciated his advice to college graduates - and, for that matter, the rest of us. We present it to readers of The Commons with the author's permission.

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