American Studies Commons^™

Atlantic Practices: Minding The Gap Between Literature And History, Elizabeth Dillon

Elizabeth Maddock Dillon

No abstract provided.

Fear Of Formalism: Kant, Twain, And Cultural Studies In American Literature, Elizabeth Maddock Dillon

Elizabeth Maddock Dillon

No abstract provided.

Myriad Mirrors: Doppelgangers And Doubling In The Vampire Diaries, Kimberley Mcmahon-Coleman

Kimberley McMahon-Coleman

Mirroring is of fundamental importance in Gothic literature and filmic texts generally, and is a prevalent trope in the CW network teen drama, The Vampire Diaries. The television series is itself a “doubling” in that it is an adaptation of a series of novels by L.J. Smith, creating a situation wherein the same central characters inhabit the parallel townships of the novels’ Fells Church and television’s Mystic Falls, and thus have histories which are, at times, contradictory. The television version also explicitly explores the concept of the doppelganger, and thus the idea of reflection, even as it manipulates the historical …

Cold War Playboys: Models Of Masculinity In The Literature Of Playboy, Taylor Joy Mitchell

Taylor Joy Mitchell

"Cold War Playboys: Models of Masculinity in the Literature of Playboy" emphasizes the literary voices that emerged in response to the Cold War's redefinitions of space and sexuality and, thus, adds to the growing national discourse of Cold War literary and masculinity studies. I argue that the literature Playboy includes has always been a necessary feature to creating its masculinity model; however, that very literature often destabilizes the magazine's grand narrative because it presents readers with alternative models of masculinity. To make that argument, I presume five things: 1) masculinity, like femininity, is a construct; 2) the mid-century masculinity crisis …

Uncovering The Voice Of Asian American Youth In Young Adult Novels --Korean American Experiences, Ying-Bei Wang

Ying-bei Wang

In America, Young Adult fiction is a popular literature genre embraced by readers of all age. Its contents not only contain an educational purpose for its predominantly young readers but also offer a critical view of social and cultural issues. Most young adult novels narrate stories from the perspective of young protagonists, who are believed to be more candid and more likely to reveal their true experiences and thoughts. The young protagonists also feature a youthful innocence that could function as a powerful voice to criticize the corrupted adult world. This project seeks to understand the Asian American experiences by …

Katrina And Her Poets, John Gery

John R O Gery

No abstract provided.

Interview With Margot Weiss In Critical Lede Podcast, Margot Weiss

Margot Weiss

Podcast: Episode 130 - Interview with Margot Weiss We talk with Margot Weiss (Wesleyan) about BDSM, pleasure and neoliberalism in her new book Techniques of Pleasure: BDSM and the Circuits of Sexuality.

The Politics Media Equation:Exposing Two Faces Of Old Nexus Through Study Of General Elections,Wikileaks And Radia Tapes, Ratnesh Dwivedi Mr

Ratnesh Dwivedi

The important identity of a responsible media is playing an unbiased role in reporting a matter without giving unnecessary hype to attract the attention of the gullible public with the object of making money and money only.After reporting properly the media can educate the public to form their own opinion in the matters of public interest. Throughout the centuries, the world has never existed without information and communication, hence the inexhaustible essence of mass media. The government has the power to either make or reject whatever that will exist within its environment. It also determines how free the mass media …

Digital Collection Evaluation: Review Of A Digital Newspaper Collection Held By The Library Of Congress, The University Of Florida Library, And The University Of North Texas Library, James Gross

James Gross

Drexel University, Info 653, Assignment #3, Digital Collection Evaluation. Brief review of three repositories, each one housing a unique digital Newspaper Collection. Repositories reviewed include: The Library of Congress, Chronicling America, Historic American Newspapers; The University of Florida Digital Collections, Florida Digital Newspaper Library; and The University of North Texas Library, Portal to Texas History, Texas Digital Newspaper Program.

“Margot Weiss Talks Bdsm And Sexuality.” Interview By Yasmin Nair In Windy City Times., Margot Weiss

Margot Weiss

Margot Weiss' book, Techniques of Pleasure: BDSM and the Circuits of Sexuality ( Duke University Press, 2011 ) has become a fixture in several ongoing conversations about the BDSM community. It received the 2012 Ruth Benedict Book Prize and was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Awards.

Mapping An Unfinished Masterpiece: Mary Chesnut's Civil War Epic By Julia Stern (Book Review), Christina Triezenberg

Christina Triezenberg

No abstract provided.

Associate Editor, Brian Yothers

Brian Yothers

As of September 1, 2013, I will be associate editor of Leviathan: A Journal of Melville Studies (published by Johns Hopkins University Press).

The Not-So-Simple Saga Of Edward And Barack..., Michael I. Niman Ph.D.

Michael I Niman Ph.D.

It reads like a political thriller. An NSA spook, Edward Snowden, meets his conscience, blows the whistle on a massive secret attack on the Fourth Amendment, and is pursued globally by an obsessed president. Spice things up with a bit of character development cross-pollinated with a history lesson. First there’s Darth President. His administration has earned the distinction of invoking the Espionage Act of 1917 (a constitutionally questionable World War One relic) more than all other presidents in the previous 96 years combined—by a factor of two. The Obama administration has charged eight people under the act. All previous administrations …

Story Of An Intern, Ratnesh Dwivedi Mr

Ratnesh Dwivedi

“Story Of an Intern” tells you the story of an young boy who manages to get an internship in a global media giant. His struggles and amazements begins when he finds himself out of internship and struggles to get a foothold in media. In the way he analyzes the odds and evens of Indian media industry and media tycoons while most of the time finding himself rejected. His experiences while in search of a job carries him to different places and allows him to meet some interesting people who makes an imprint on his life and he finds himself falling …

Mass Media And Communication In Global Scenario, Ratnesh Dwivedi Mr

Ratnesh Dwivedi

The idea behind putting these research papers and research articles in this book is to give various aspects of communication, a platform where from readers may go through them at one go. The book deals with the research articles and papers dedicated to core areas of Journalism and Mass Communication. The papers and articles compiled in this book touches the need of students,academicians and researchers on most challenging areas and topics.In the collection of these papers author has discussed about Community Radio,FM Radio,Communication Science, Organizational Communication,Media Accounatbility,Language Discourse,Higher Education,Tevision Studies,Traditional and Digital Media,Disaster Management and Media,Wikileaks and Social Media,Terrorism and …

2012 Open Access Week Free Resource List, Rebel Cummings-Sauls

Rebel Cummings-Sauls

Provided here is a free list of open access resources. Feel free to use and distribute. If you do not find the resource you are looking for or have a suggestion for one that we should add, please contact the administrator with your suggestion.

Phoebe Snow: Odd, Rare And Sublime, Vincent L. Stephens

Vincent L Stephens

A draft from my work-in-progress essay collection on post-war American popular singing "Sound Love." The essay argues that Phoebe Snow is unique among her generation of singer-songwriters as she is more notable as an interpreter than as a writer. Her synthesis of elements from blues, jazz, pop, gospel and R&B defy category as does her artistry.

Alternative Atlantics: Anglo-American And German American Literary Transnationalism In The Eighteenth And Nineteenth Centuries, Brian Yothers

Brian Yothers

No abstract provided.

Critical Insights: Raymond Carver, James Plath

James Plath

Pynchon In Popular Magazines, John K. Young

John K. Young

Any devoted Pynchon reader knows that “The Secret Integration” originally appeared in The Saturday Evening Post and that portions of The Crying of Lot 49 were first serialized in Esquire and Cavalier. But few readers stop to ask what it meant for Pynchon, already a reclusive figure, to publish in these popular magazines during the mid-1960s, or how we might understand these texts today after taking into account their original sites of publication. “The Secret Integration” in the Post or the excerpt of Lot 49 in Esquire produce different meanings in these different contexts, meanings that disappear when reading the …

Journalism In A Pr World, Michael I. Niman Ph.D.

Michael I Niman Ph.D.

Mike Niman discusses the future of journalism in a PR-dominated communication environment. In particular, he examines the migration of talent from journalism to the PR industry, the collapse of mainstream journalism and the role of an emergent alternative media as American journalism goes through metamorphosis from what it was to what it could become. Journalism is a social good that should equip people to understand and resist spin. Niman argues that mainstream American journalism, rather than rising to this challenge, has transparently succumbed to serving as an arm of the corporate PR industry, thus laying the groundwork for its own …

Journalism In A Pr World, Michael I. Niman Ph.D.

Michael I Niman Ph.D.

Mike Niman discusses the future of journalism in a PR-dominated communication environment. In particular, he examines the migration of talent from journalism to the PR industry, the collapse of mainstream journalism and the role of an emergent alternative media as American journalism goes through metamorphosis from what it was to what it could become. Journalism is a social good that should equip people to understand and resist spin. Niman argues that mainstream American journalism, rather than rising to this challenge, has transparently succumbed to serving as an arm of the corporate PR industry, thus laying the groundwork for its own …

Review Of Alfred Bendixen (Ed) A Companion To The American Novel In Review 19, Brian Yothers

Brian Yothers

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Problem We All Live With: The Motivation And Ambition Behind Norman Rockwell’S Civil Rights Depictions, Kelly Richman

Kelly Richman

Using Norman Rockwell’s The Problem We All Live With (1964) a Civil Rights-era depiction of the integration of black and white students in 1960, I argue that Rockwell chose to portray Civil Rights themes in order to make an altruistic plea for equality. To demonstrate my claim, I have researched academic sources, journal articles that explore Rockwell’s views and painterly approach to race, and documents of important political events of the Civil Rights Movement. Through this research, I use textual evidence to conclude that Norman Rockwell was genuinely committed to promoting Civil Rights in his work.

Introduction To Eugene V. Debs: Citizen And Socialist, Nick Salvatore

Nick Salvatore

[Excerpt] This is a social biography of Eugene Victor Debs. It is a traditional biography in that it emphasizes this one individual's personal and public life as far as the evidence allows. But the book is also a piece of social history that assumes individuals do not stand outside the culture and society they grew in and from. I have stressed each aspect of Debs's story in order to present both the importance of the man and a more complete picture of the political and cultural struggles his society engaged in during his lifetime. Neither in his time nor in …

Introduction To Faith And The Historian: Catholic Perspectives, Nick Salvatore

Nick Salvatore

[Excerpt] What follows are the essays by eight historians touched by Catholicism on the meaning of that experience and its effect on their professional work. The essays are presented in broad chronological order, organized more by generational cohort than by specific date of birth. The essays are reflections, in some cases even meditations, and were never intended to conform to the structure and methodology of the historical article for a professional journal. Still, we have tried to shed some light on the inner processes that create that very work.

Introduction To The Pullman Strike And The Crisis Of The 1890’S, Richard Schneirov, Shelton Stromquist, Nick Salvatore

Nick Salvatore

The strike of Pullman carshop employees and the subsequent boycott that disrupted rail traffic throughout the territory west of Chicago in June-July 1894 marked the culmination of nearly two decades of the most severe and sustained labor conflict in American history. Yet until very recently little new scholarship has focused on the meaning of the Pullman strike and its historical context. By offering a close reading of contemporary perceptions of the strike and by examining the organizational and political continuities and discontinuities the Pullman conflict reveals, these essays resituate the strike in its historical context. They demonstrate that Pullman played …

Deeply Within: Catholicism, Faith And History, Nick Salvatore

Nick Salvatore

[Excerpt] In the decade I spent living with Gene Debs, I thought much about faith's relation to intellect, especially in the political realm. It was not just that a socialist in capitalist America needed faith but rather that Debs's very vision of America's promise was itself a profound act of faith. But with the exception of the last chapter, which I titled, "A Species of Purging," following a phrase in one of Debs's prison letters, overt discussion of any religious sensibility was largely sotto voce, echoes of a private dialogue with myself. Pleased as I was with the book when …

100 Law Reviews Now Publishing Through Bepress Digital Commons, Peter Goodwin

Peter J Goodwin

Over 100 law reviews and journals are now publishing and archiving through Digital Commons, marking a new milestone in the movement toward open-access legal scholarship.

“Human Relations Movement In View Of Interpersonal Relations With Emphasis On Mayo’S Work”, Ratnesh Dwivedi Mr

Ratnesh Dwivedi

Human relations movement refers to the researchers of organizational development who study the behavior of people in groups, in particular workplace groups. It originated in the 1930s' Hawthorne studies, which examined the effects of social relations, motivation and employee satisfaction on factory productivity. The movement viewed workers in terms of their psychology and fit with companies, rather than as interchangeable parts, and it resulted in the creation of the discipline of human resource management. An interpersonal relationship is an association between two or more people that may range in duration from brief to enduring. This association may be based on …