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All That Jazz: Federal Cultural Exchanges And Jazz Diplomacy, 1956-1964, James Vaughn

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis examines federally funded jazz tours as an expression of international cultural exchanges during the Cold War, specifically from 1956 to 1964. This thesis argues that the use of cultural exchanges represented one outgrowth of an expanded federal government after World War II. Furthermore, cultural exchanges were an expression of “soft power” during the Cold War, or power expressed by the nation through cultural means instead of the projection of military power. The division between public and private spheres in American life was often blurred. As the government’s influence grew, the American National Theater and Academy (ANTA) blended theses …