American Studies Commons^™

“…You Lost Your Way On That River As You Would In A Desert…”: Spec Ops: The Line As A Post-Imperialist Adaptation And Response To Heart Of Darkness, Logan Grime

Honors Projects

As an adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the military shooter video game Spec Ops: The Line grapples with adapting the themes and the narrative of an imperialist work into a modern post-imperialist context. By swapping England in Africa for America in the Middle East, the game criticizes America’s conduct of war in the Middle East by showing its similarities to the novella’s imperialism. Furthermore, Spec Ops: The Line focuses on America’s imperialism by adapting Heart of Darkness to an interactive format. “The horror” of violent imperialist action is placed upon the player as Spec Ops: The Line …

William Hope Hodgson And The Rise Of The Weird: Possibilities Of The Dark By Timothy S. Murphy, Timothy R. Granger

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.

Full Issue Vol. 1 2026

The Penguin Review

No abstract provided.

Why Do We Romanticize “Old World” Europe?, Dalton D. Conden

The Penguin Review

“Old World” Europe feels timeless—but that feeling is constructed. What we’re drawn to isn’t just age, it’s preservation.

The Global Rise Of "Aesthetic Culture", Dalton D. Conden

The Penguin Review

Aesthetic culture feels harmless—until you realize how much it edits out. What gets labeled as “Scandinavian,” “Japanese,” or “French” style is usually the most digestible version of something much more complicated. It’s culture without friction.

Should We Let Robots Take Our Jobs?: A.I And Our Future, Alycia Carrasco

The Penguin Review

I don’t take many liberties in the text below, but one thing I will assume is that whoever may be reading this piece does not own and will not inherit any large company, particularly any large tech company.

For the average person, generative AI and its rapid development can be confusing. Information is kept elusive by even the most transparent of AI companies.1 It can feel hopeless to even care about AI considering its trajectory is largely decided by the top executives at the most powerful tech companies (and the U.S. military).2 However, the metaphorical ship has already sailed, and …

Dreaming In Spires: My Oxford Term, Sulgi I. Kim

The Penguin Review

After ten hours on a plane and a one-hour drive from Heathrow Airport, nothing felt more exciting than seeing the Oxford sign for the first time. I remember my hands were shaking as I stepped into an entirely new experience. Leaving warm California for a place widely known for continuous rain and cold was something I never imagined I would be ready for. Yet Oxford gave the warmest welcome. Despite arriving in October, my first day in the city was sunny and surprisingly warm. As we approached Oxford, I could not help but stare out the window. I began to …

Dead Poets/Society: How A Great American Classic Reflects The Fatal Shortcomings Of American Schools, Sophia Shapiro

The Penguin Review

Rarely do the worlds of film and academia coalesce in ways that change public discourse of both entirely. Almost always, endeavors to join these two very dissident disciplines fall flat in one realm or the other. But, every so often, a special feature becomes cinematic royalty for the world of academia, and none stands out as a larger paragon than Dead Poets Society.

Are Super Pacs Dangerous To American Democracy?, Mason Lee Compton

The Penguin Review

In the 2024 election cycle, just ten individuals contributed over $1 billion to Super PACs: more money than millions of ordinary Americans donated collectively.1 Reports described this select group as “an unelected shadow cabinet,” capable of reshaping entire campaigns from behind the scenes through rapid ad buys, targeted messaging, and electoral pressure. None of this would have been possible before 2010, when the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision– combined with the D.C. Circuit’s ruling in SpeechNow.org v. FEC– dramatically dismantled long-standing campaign finance restrictions.2 3 These decisions opened the door for unlimited independent expenditures, giving rise …

On Being A "Flâneur" (& Why It Still Matters), Dalton D. Conden

The Penguin Review

The French word "flâneur" gets translated as a wanderer, but that never really captures it. It’s not just walking—it’s observing. Lingering. Letting a city reveal itself to you without needing to control it.

The Fall Of Saigon And Its Legacy In The United States, Logan J. Kemp

The Penguin Review

The topic of South Vietnam has always been one close to home. My mother and grandma were evacuated from Saigon before the country fell to North Vietnam in 1975. They hopped on a US military helicopter, taking multiple stops on ships and islands before eventually landing in Orange County, California. Because of the evacuation, my family members were forced to start a new life; however, it was better than being sent to a re-education camp. My Grandma had done some business with an American, and she could have lost her life if she had been sent to the camps. Tens …

Q&A: On Being A College Student In Ukraine, 2025, Katherine A. Watt, Heidi K. Smith

The Penguin Review

Nataliia is a nineteen year old university student in Kiev, Ukraine. Her country has been at war since 2014 when Russia first invaded Crimea, a region in the Southwest of Ukraine. Four years into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Nataliia agreed to sit with the Penguin Review for a Zoom interview to discuss the current state of affairs, the experience of being a student during a time of war, and her hope for the country's future.

Annual Archaeology Update: The Valley Of Kings, Sophia Shapiro

The Penguin Review

There can be no contest for the Review’s annual archaeological highlight for 2025. Exactly one hundred years after Egyptologists discovered the tomb of King Tutankhamun (King Tut) in the Valley of Kings, archaeologists discovered a series of steps buried by rockfall.

New Ways To Address The Plastic Problem, Andrew J. Hanna

The Penguin Review

Since 1950, the world has produced some 9.2 billion metric tonnes of plastic.1 Other sources place the total closer to ten billion metric tonnes Furthermore, nearly 500 million tonnes of new plastic are manufactured each year– a figure that's projected to increase to 1.2 billion tonnes by 2060.2 The environmental effects of all this plastic production and pollution are disturbing. Because most plastics are synthetic–meaning they contain "no molecules found in nature"– they can't decompose. Instead, they just break down into smaller and smaller pieces, becoming microplastics (less than five millimeters (5 million nanometers) across) and then nanoplastics (less than …

History Of Tarot, Sophia Shapiro

The Penguin Review

Believe it or not, this modern mystical favorite has a very different origin story! Tarot was originally a trump card game, Tarocchini, developed in 15th-century Italy.

The War On War: Desensitization's Effects On Society's Moral Fabric, Chelsea E. Johnson, Andrew J. Cudden

The Penguin Review

In an era of constant connectivity, violence is no longer distant or intermittent. Wars, political repression, mass shootings, and humanitarian crises now unfold in real time, shared instantly through twenty-four-hour news cycles and social media. Never before has global suffering been so visible. Yet this unprecedented access has failed to produce sustained moral urgency or collective responsibility. Instead, violence becomes increasingly utilised as fleeting content–viewed, shared, and then displaced by the next trending event. This paradox raises a pressing ethical question: how can a world more informed of suffering become so morally disengaged from it?

Fighting For The Story: How Identity Shapes The Israel–Hamas War, Ana Lilia Zavala

The Penguin Review

The war between the state of Israel and the militant group Hamas is often portrayed in strictly strategic or material terms, from rockets and tunnels to ground offensives and massive casualties. Yet what truly lies at the core of the conflict in the Gaza Strip is not merely a struggle over territory or security, but a struggle of identities, narratives, and legacies of harm. From my constructivist standpoint, I believe that actors act not just because of “national interests,” but because of how they understand their own identity, how they interpret the other, and how normative structures shape their choices. …

Present Day North Korea, Milo Fisher-Golton

The Penguin Review

The government of North Korea poses an extreme threat to the world while suppressing its citizens’ freedom, so why doesn't this topic get the attention it warrants in the United States? North Korea has been the cause of two major inhumane issues for some time now: as a nuclear threat to all other countries, and as a human rights suppressor to its own population under its communist dictator, Kim Jong Un. North Korea is at odds with its geographical neighbors, the United States, and other global powers. Their access to nuclear weapons– along with their alliances with Russia and China– …

Has Politics Always Been Like This?, Tyler Bernius

The Penguin Review

There are some things that I, even as someone relatively new to politics, know are not normal–the blatant disregard of the Constitution, the seemingly rapid collapse of checks and balances, and the twisting and extending of presidential powers, to name a few. What is not clear to me, however, is whether people's reactions, attitudes, and interactions towards politics have always been this way. Growing up, I imagined politicians were respectable people who worked in the best interests of our country and who, even when disagreements did arise, settled problems with structured deliberation. I assumed voters looked at politics with logic …

Faculty Mentor's Note | Editor's Note, Aaron Richardson, Sophia Shapiro

The Penguin Review

No abstract provided.