American Studies Commons^™

“The Jews Love Numbers”: Steven L. Anderson, Christian Conspiracists, And The Spiritual Dimensions Of Holocaust Denial, Matthew H. Brittingham

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

From his pulpit at Faithful Word Baptist Church (Independent Fundamental Baptist) in Tempe, AZ, fundamentalist preacher Steven L. Anderson launches screeds against Catholics, LGBTQ people, evolutionary scientists, politicians, and anyone else who doesn't share his political, social, or theological views. Anderson publishes clips of his sermons on YouTube, where he has amassed a notable following. Teaming up with Paul Wittenberger of Framing the World, a small-time film company, Anderson produced a film about the connections between Christianity, Judaism, and Israel, entitled Marching to Zion (2015), which was laced with antisemitic stereotypes. Anderson followed Marching to Zion with an almost 40-minute …

Rose-Colored Genocide: Hollywood, Harmonizing Narratives, And The Cinematic Legacy Of Anne Frank’S Diary In The United States, Nora Nunn

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Drawing from literary and cultural studies, this paper situates U.S. adaptations of Anne Frank’s diary in the 1950s within a lineage of other films about historical genocide, including Schindler’s List, Hotel Rwanda, and The Killing Fields. Analysis of these narrative adaptations matters because it helps us better understand the danger of what critic Dominick LaCapra calls “harmonizing narratives,” or stories that provide the viewer with an “unwarranted sense of spiritual uplift” (14). Tracing the metamorphosis of Frank’s own diary from play to film adaptation, this article builds on existing scholarship to focus on how, in the wake …

The Fast Fashion Fad, Megan Wu

Pop Culture Intersections

New companies with mission statements to use solely recycled materials have started to pop-up all over the world. Even well established brands such as Nike or Adidas have started to create lines of products made with recycled materials. However, despite these efforts, I sadly believe that fast fashion will continue to dominate the fashion industry in the years to come due to two factors. Most consumers remain uneducated about the negative impacts that fast fashion has on the environment and mindlessly partake in society’s consumerist culture. Therefore, they fall subject to marketing schemes fast fashion companies employ. While some may …

Secure Digital Contact Tracing Methods Are Necessary For Slowing Down Covid-19, Rania Ansari

Pop Culture Intersections

This article covers the fears of digital contact tracing during the current pandemic. Citizens do have the right to be understandably uncertain about trusting the government because of past instances such as security breaches ranging from NSA security leaks to personal voter data exposure. The information provided in this paper should, additionally, make it easier for those who are worried about contact tracing and their rights to understand what is implied by the phrases “digital contact tracing” and “data privacy.” The novel coronavirus pandemic calls for urgent, necessary, and effective safety methods, including data analytics, surveillance, and Artificial Intelligence that …

Behind Social Media: A World Of Manipulation And Control, Spencer J. Keenan

Pop Culture Intersections

This article will be arguing that big players, mainly governments and large corporations, use user data, targeted advertising, and selective speech to manipulate users of popular social media platforms. They do this in order to achieve their agendas goals at the expense of the users. These goals may range from selling a certain good or service to swaying a certain percentage of voters to cast their ballots one way or another. Regardless of the outcome, people are being taken advantage of, with most not even knowing it. Users must look past the media in front of them to see their …

Seeking Sales In New Channels: The Effectiveness Of Influencer Marketing, Alanna Morgan

Pop Culture Intersections

This article investigates the effectiveness of influencer marketing industry. It closely examines the various types of social media influencers and the impact they can have on target audiences. Through their authentic connection with their followers, influencers create a strong sense of community with their fanbase. As a result, marketers then target specific influencers to promote products to their preferred audiences. If executed strategically, marketers have a higher chance of selling their products through influencers than they would through conventional internet advertisements. This article includes examples of both strong influencer-brand partnerships and weak ones in order to discuss how influencer marketing …

Star Wars: From Fantasy Film To Statement Showcase, Erica Pang

Pop Culture Intersections

This paper will examine the success of the Star Wars franchise by comparing two of its films: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) and Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015). During the nearly 40 year period in between each film’s release, there was significant socio-political change that had occurred. Therefore, in order to continue to appeal to its existing audience, as well as adopt new audiences, Star Wars had to deviate from the traditional characters and storylines of A New Hope and instead, focus on diversity and representation in The Force Awakens. Using socio-political and feminist approaches, I …

The Societal Influence Of The Nba, Kyle Kawashiri

Pop Culture Intersections

Based on recent events, there has been a lot of discussion about the racial issues in America. Many professional athletes have been vocal about these issues, but NBA players seem to be at the forefront of many of the conversations regarding social injustice in this country. This article will examine different factors that have influenced the popularity of the National Basketball Association, such as product distribution, online engagement, global outreach, and the choice to allow players to use their platforms. The article will then argue how these factors have allowed the NBA and its players to be leaders in the …

Why Playing Video Games Is In Your Best Interest, Adan Salazar

Pop Culture Intersections

This article explores the world of video games and their potential to benefit one's well being. For decades video games have persevered in pop culture and have provided entertainment for countless people. The overwhelming popularity of video games has also sparked debate on how they can affect an individual. From extended screen time hurting vision to violent content affecting actions many claims have been made against video games. The truth is there is far more evidence supporting video games as a benefit towards users. Enriching social practices, providing therapy and implementation into classrooms are just a few of the ways …

Defending K-Pop Idols Online: The Fanbase’S Underlying Issue Of Ignorance, Grace Gita Tantra

Pop Culture Intersections

This article covers how parasocial relationships and echo chambers promote ignorance within K-pop fandoms on social media platforms, specifically when it comes to cultural appropriation, racial stereotyping, and anti-Blackness. Despite the recent surge in education and accountability in other areas of pop culture, K-pop has created a unique space online when it comes to these dialogues. We will be exploring this through looking at the Korean wave, implications of parasocial relationships, and the divide in the common conversation online; these concepts will be applied to specific recent examples of K-pop controversies and the fans' responses.

A World Of Luxury, Tanvi Yeccaluri

Pop Culture Intersections

This article explores the history of luxury and the impacts of the growing consumerism in the United States. The change in consumption habits is touched on, with analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic stimulus check usage and trends. The debate of the importance of social status in the US and how our current society displays materialistic values in relation to the growing demand for luxury is a covered, and supported by numerous studies and research conducted over the past twenty years. There is an explanation of how society has become driven by the desire for luxury in order to increase social …

September 2020, Temple Shalom Synagogue Center

Newsletter Archive

Contents: Erev Rosh Hashanah Sacred Music Concert and Service; From the Rabbi; President's Message; Book Group; Community Notices

Amjambo Africa! (September 2020), Kathreen Harrison

Amjambo Africa!

In This Issue...

Indigo Arts Alliance.....................p.2

publisher’s editorial.....................p.4

registering to vote.......................p.4

French............................................p.5

Swahili...........................................p.6

Somali............................................p.7

School resource officers ..............p.8

U.S.-Canada border.....................p.8

News from Africa.........................p.9

Finance/buying a home.............p.10

Guest columns..............11/14/20/21

World market basket...........p.12/13

Héritier Nosso............................p.15

Community org. News........p.16/17

Kinyarwanda..............................p.18

portuguese .................................p.19

outdoor learning.......................p.23

bus Shelters................................p.23

Keepers Of Rhode Island's Heritage: Ann Olyphant, Thomas Hornsby, And Stephen Gould, Marian Desrosiers

Faculty and Staff - Articles & Papers

Mystery often surrounds artifacts from the 17th century later found in a family's attic. Historic preservation may be the result of caretakers holding onto the past without understanding the connections. The excitement is in finding the documents to put together the puzzle.

An Empire Among Empires: America's Relationship To "The Other" In The Historiography Of Empire, Lynne C. Goldhammer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper outlines two different threads in the historiography of empires regarding their treatment of “the other.” The first thread begins with the early Chinese empires, the Qin and Han, which used diplomacy and tributes as well as repression to incorporate “others” under their imperial umbrellas. This thread was then picked up and modified later by the Mongols and Mughals, both of which showed a fair amount of flexibility and openness towards cultural difference. The second thread begins with the Romans (the Republic and Empire), who were largely flexible and inclusive towards “others” until the late Empire, when Christianity took …

Knights Of The Round Table Mesa: A Brief Study In The Paintings And Books On The American West, Mitchell A. Gehman

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

This article investigates how printed material and visual arts helped create the image of the cowboy in American popular culture. This perception did much to influence the popular memory of the American West and had significant consequences for the development of American identity.

“The Friendly And Flowing Savage, Who Is He?”: Manifest Destiny, Native American Stereotypes, And How American Print Culture Closed The Western Frontier, 1865-1890, Emily Parrow

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

This article examines how 19th Century American print culture shaped white American perceptions of Amerindians. Between the close of the Civil War and the Wounded Knee Massacre, the American press, Indian captivity narratives, and fictional accounts reflect diverse white perspectives on and attitudes towards Native Americans’ past and future in a continental United States.

De La Atlántida Clásica A La Atlántida Precolombina: Un Viaje Del Corto Maltese, Isabel Bargalló Sánchez, Montserrat Bargalló Sánchez

Congreso internacional sobre iconografía precolombina, Barcelona, 2019. Actas.

Hugo Pratt fue un virtuoso de la plasmación de símbolos e ideas a través de unas viñetas inigualables y de unos guiones insuperables y perfectamente documentados. Su última novela gràfica, Mû, el misterio del continente perdido, es el viaje de Corto Maltese a tierras mesoamericanas, de su encuentro con Mû, con las colonias que quedaron después de su destrucción, con unas referencias al mundo de los antiguos mayas, pero también a otros pueblos de Mesoamérica, muy bien construidas. Con una simbología muy cuidada, eligiendo rigurosamente los referentes, nos acerca a una historia de Mû, de la Atlántida, de las teorías …

Xipe Tótec Y El Binomio Vida-Muerte En La Cosmovisión Mesoamericana, María Montserrat Camacho Ángeles

Congreso internacional sobre iconografía precolombina, Barcelona, 2019. Actas.

El principio básico de la cosmovisión de los pueblos mesoamericanos fue sin duda la observación de su entorno natural, para ellos las deidades o fuerzas sagradas habitan en el cielo, la tierra y el inframundo, lugares que en sí mismos contienen los opuestos complementarios: vida-muerte, entre muchos otros. Este artículo explica los elementos del binomio vida-muerte que caracterizan a Xipec Tótec, deidad mesoamericana de gran relevancia.

The Mesoamerican Cosmovision’s basic principle was, to be sure, the observation of the natural environment for those cultures, the gods or goddesses or sacred forces which live on the sky, earth and the underworld; …

Vida Y Sacrificio: Los Nueve Rituales Para La Luz La Vida Y El Maíz, Marina Valls I García

Congreso internacional sobre iconografía precolombina, Barcelona, 2019. Actas.

El Códice Borgia presenta uno de los rituales más complejos de toda la liturgia mesoamericana; el conocido como “los nueve rituales para la luz, la vida y el maíz”. El presente estudio es la primera entrega de una serie de artículos en los que se realiza una revisión crítica e interpretativa del ceremonial litúrgico, representado entre las páginas 29 y 42 del documento. Con el objetivo de una mejor comprensión de todo el imaginario reflejado, se plantea una aproximación interdisciplinar que permita apreciar la gran cantidad de figuras poéticas visuales y sutilezas que conforman el discurso religioso y artístico mesoamericano, …