Western Oklahoma State College will host a special advanced screening and community conversation of Ken Burns’ film The Dust Bowl on Thursday, Oct. 4 at 6:30 p.m. in the Herschal H. Crow Fine Arts Center. The event is free and open to public. Seating is limited and reservations are recommended. Call 405-841-9212 to reserve a seat. A reception of heavy hor dourves will be held before the film at 5:30 p.m.

The Dust Bowl premieres on PBS on Nov. 18 and 19 at 8 p.m. (ET) “The film chronicles the worst man-made ecological disaster in American history, in which the frenzied wheat boom of the “Great Plow-Up,” followed by a decade-long drought during the 1930s nearly swept away the breadbasket of the nation. Vivid interviews with twenty-six survivors of those hard times, combined with dramatic photographs and seldom seen movie footage, bring to life stories of incredible human suffering and equally incredible human perseverance. It is also a morality tale about our relationship to the land that sustains us—a lesson we ignore at our peril.” (PBS website)

The advanced screening is presented by the OETA Oklahoma Network, The Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts, the Oklahoma Conservation Commission and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.