Victor Silverman Bio

Victor Silverman’s career has spanned history, politics, theater, writing, and film. His current film, Getting High, is a provocative, feature-length documentary about his family’s collision with drugs and alcohol set against a backdrop of our society’s bitter conflicts about the “War on Drugs.” Getting High is now in development. Professor Silverman co-directed, co-produced, and co-wrote the Emmy-winning film “Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria,” which aired on PBS in 2006. In addition to his filmmaking, he is associate professor of History at Pomona College, where he has chaired the program in American Studies. Often quoted in the press for his expertise in politics and history, Professor Silverman is the author of many books and articles including: On the Road Histories: California; Los Angeles Times Front Page; and Imagining Internationalism. He currently consults with the international labor movement on sustainable development policy at the United Nations. His scholarly work encompasses a diversity of topics including international politics, labor, Jewish, queer, and environmental history. He earned his Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Berkeley in 1990 and has taught at universities in the US and China.

Silverman is a former public service and dramatic program producer and writer for KPFA-FM Radio, Berkeley. He also has extensive experience and training in theater. Silverman studied theater and dance at Bard College and continued his training at Epic West and the studio of the Blake Street Hawkeyes in California. He has authored several plays and screenplays, including a stage adaptation of Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl,” which he directed. He wrote the script Out of the Shadow, a feature film on the life of immigrant writer Rose Cohen, currently in development with Northwest Passage Productions. He also has been an actor, dancer, union organizer, construction laborer, and plumber.