American Popular Culture Commons^™

Chicago: A Movie Musical Mockery Of The Media's Razzle Dazzle Image Of Murder., Emily Sulock

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

This thesis closely examines the adaptation of Rob Marshall’s 2002 movie musical Chicago, specifically how the music and choreography support the mocking tone against the media and criminal justice system. With a storyline that has lasted almost a century, its themes still relate to our society today as it exposes the corrupt industries that hold an unhealthy amount of power over public opinion. By breaking down musical numbers, “Both Reached for the Gun” and “Razzle Dazzle,” I argue that Marshall’s unique concept connects to a modern generation immune to over-publicized and infamous murder trials.

A Postmodern Sense Of Nostalgia: Demonstrating Through A Textual Analysis Of Twin Peaks How Cult Membership Can Be Inculcated., Nicholas G. Albanese

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

This paper explores a “cult” following in television, by looking at various aspects of the program Twin Peaks. It seeks to answer the questions of how a television show that aired for only two seasons over two decades ago was and still is able to garner such a loyal fandom, and is there some primary factor for developing this cult status? In order to answer these questions, aspects of media studies such as narrative complexity, authorship and the cult status of a show, as well as elements from the show itself, such as postmodernism and manufactured nostalgia must be teased …

Dalton, Callie Lou, B. 1965 (Fa 576), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 576. "The Handmade Paper Doll: A Study in Tradition," a paper written by Callie Lou Dalton for a Western Kentucky University folk studies class.

Browning, Jimmy D. (Fa 157), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 157. This collection includes cassette tapes of interviews with eight women used as research for Jimmy D. Browning’s paper “A Tie That Binds: Contemporary Funeral Foodways In A Rural, Central Kentucky Community.” Two copies of the paper are also included in the collection.

Nelson, James S. (Fa 161), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 161. This collection contains a master’s thesis entitled “Hillbilly Music and Early Live Radio Programming In Bowling Green and Glasgow, Kentucky: Country Music as a Local Phenomenon,” written by James Nelson in January 1994 for the department of Modern Languages and Intercultural Studies at Western Kentucky University. Also included is a cassette tape of old-time music from south central Kentucky entitled “Railroad Through the Smoky Mountains,” by Jim Bowles, as well as an obituary for Jonell F. Simunick.

Walking Box Ranch Custodianship Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending July 10, 2012, Margaret N. Rees

Walking Box Ranch

• UNLV provides stewardship of Walking Box Ranch (WBR) by providing a caretaker who oversees the property, facilitating use of the property by researchers and educators, developing a use and research policy for the property, and coordinating these activities with BLM and in accordance with TNC restrictions.
• UNLV currently addresses security issues for the property through the presence of the caretaker and two Metro Officers who reside on the property in two recreational vehicles.
• UNLV continues to work with BLM and Condit, supplying content for interpretation at the future Walking Box Ranch museum.
• BLM visited the ranch on July 5 to …

Jackson, Michelle Margie (Fa 159), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 159. This collection contains a paper entitled “Moonshining,” written by Michelle Jackson as a part of a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University in the spring of 1994. Also included is a cassette tape of an interview with Jerry Rhoton, sheriff of Clay County, Tennessee, as well as his informant data sheet and four photos of him.

Negrocity: An Interview With Greg Tate, Camille Goodison

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Eclectic Book Club (Mss 407), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 407. Minute book, yearbooks, and financial data of the Eclectic Book Club, a women's literary club in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The Triumph Of The Passenger Ship - An Exhibition Of The Norman H. Morse Ocean Liner Collection, Osher Map Library

Osher Map Library Exhibition Catalogs

Triumph of the Passenger Ship: Highlights from the Norman H. Morse Ocean Liner Collection, 1870-2010.

May 15, 2012 to August 23, 2012

The experience of life aboard the great vessels that plied the Atlantic, from the introduction of steam to the rise of air travel, is presented through this selection of materials from the Morse Collection of ocean liner ephemera.

Movie And Television Fathers: A Positive Reflection Of Positive Changes, George J. Mcgowan

Master of Liberal Studies Theses

Certain films and television programs depicting fathers have both enduring popularity and have reflected the advances in the institution of fatherhood. This has happened because of a symbiosis that has delivered positive results: popular films and television shows that earn money for producers and advertisers have depicted fathers who have changed to reflect the popular example. These depictions have contributed in their way to mending the family dynamic, specifically related to the father’s essential role in the family. Such family-oriented films and television shows have effectively showed fathers (and men that would become fathers) that they could be much more …

Barefoot, Jeffrey Allen (Fa 78), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 78. “The Middle Bridge Ghost” interpretive paper and videotaped interviews executed for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University.

Gipson, Kenneth Todd (Fa 80), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 80. “Occupational Folklore of Monument Makers.” Interviews with Carroll Monument Company employees regarding their occupation and related stories. Includes one summary and one transcript.

"Playing Superhero": Agency And The Role Of The Teenaged Superhero, Jessica R. Saunders

Theses & Honors Papers

The discussion of agency within Young Adult Literature is an extensive topic that includes various criteria, such as power in various types of relationships and social ideologies. In the media form of graphic novels, the concept of agency is taken to a separate level because the primary teenagers depicted in graphic novels are titled as superheroes with abilities that surpass the norm. The role of being a teenaged superhero becomes conditional, depending on whether the teenager demands agency in the form of controlling his/her abilities or are assigned the role by their adult prototypes and society. The texts that this …

Poynter, Shawn (Fa 184), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 184. Paper titled “The Usage and Importance of the Rule of Thirds in Newspaper Photography” written by Shawn Poynter for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University. The collection looks at the usage of the “rule of thirds” as it appears in the Park City Daily News. The “rule of thirds” refers to a photograph guideline that requires subjects to be in either one of the sides, top or bottom third of the frame. The collection contains analysis, graphs, tables and newspaper …

Cold War Cultural Language Transference Into Modern Media: Fallout 3, Kyle Sitka

Undergraduate Research Conference

Video games are fun. The fictional environments and plots they generate are designed with solely this purpose: to entertain. Some try to accomplish this goal by creating environments that are novel to most gamers, but most get by with reusing plots, settings, and language from older games, movies, books or historical periods. One such game, Bethesda's Fallout 3, draws on the imagery, language, and structure of Cold War America to create a chilling, post apocalyptic Washington D.C., complete with anit-communist propaganda posters and giant, irradiated cockroaches. While entertaining in its own right, a basic knowledge of the Cold War …

Grider, Charles J., 1905-1987 (Mss 401), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscript Collection 401. Collection contains materials related to Charles J. Grider's part-time career as a music manager. Includes band advertisements, dance invitations, letters and telegrams from music corporations, lists of patrons underwriting for bands, and Grider's personal reminiscences of Bowling Green dances.

Walking Box Ranch Custodianship Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending April 10, 2012, Margaret N. Rees

Walking Box Ranch

• UNLV provides stewardship of Walking Box Ranch (WBR) by providing a caretaker who oversees the property, facilitating use of the property by researchers and educators, developing a use and research policy for the property, and coordinating these activities with BLM and in accordance with TNC restrictions.
• UNLV currently addresses security issues for the property through the presence of the caretaker and two Metro Officers who reside on the property in two recreational vehicles.
• UNLV continues to work with BLM and Condit, supplying content for interpretation at the future Walking Box Ranch museum.
• BLM and UNLV visited the ranch on February …

From The Caped Crusader To The Dark Knight: An Application Of Robert Ray's Official And Outlaw Hero Framework To Batman, Daniel Cetina '12

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.

Red Chairs And Green Monsters: The Evolution Of Fan Culture In Boston Baseball, Kristina Mclane '12

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.