American Studies Commons^™

Resume Of Joel Drotts Juris Doctorate, Joel M. Drotts Esq.

Joel M. Drotts Esq.

This is the resume of the author Joel Drotts.

Keep Claiming Space!, Koritha Mitchell

Koritha Mitchell

Substantial foreword to the "Hands Up. Don't Shoot!" special issue of CLAJ.

The History Of Firearm Magazines And Magazine Prohibitions, David B. Kopel

David B Kopel

In recent years, the prohibition of firearms magazines has become an important topic of law and policy debate. This Article details the history of magazines and of magazine prohibition.

Because ten rounds is an oft-proposed figure for magazine bans, Part I of the Article provides the story of such magazines from the earliest sixteenth century onward. Although some people think that multi-shot guns did not appear until Samuel Colt invented the revolver in the 1830s, multi-shot guns predate Col. Colt by over two centuries.

Especially because the Supreme Court’s decision in District of Columbia v. Heller considers whether arms are …

Send In The Mouse, How American Politicians Used Walt Disney Productions To Safeguard The American Home Front In Wwii, Jordan M. Winters

Jordan M Winters

Despite the success of Disney’s first full length featured film Snow White in 1937 , the animator’s strike of the late 1930s and the war in Europe cutting of international profits, by 1941 the Walt Disney Company was near bankruptcy. Walt Disney was faced with the possibility of closing down his studio. However, the entrance of the United States into WWII and the rising threat of the spread of Nazism became the saving grace to the Walt Disney Studio. This essay explores the collaborations between Disney, businessman and politician Nelson Rockefeller, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the 1940s. Through …

La Ciudad Como Museo En Sí Misma: Una Propuesta De Dinamización Turística Del Patrimonio Cultural Urbano., Pablo Rosser, Seila Aixa Soler

pablo rosser

No abstract provided.

Black-Authored Lynching Drama’S Challenge To Theater History, Koritha Mitchell

Koritha Mitchell

This essay argues that U.S. theater history is incomplete without considering the theatricality of lynching. Thomas Dixon Jr. was as important as a playwright as the early stage realists William Gillette and William Moody. The essay also demonstrates that African Americans living at the height of mob violence understood that there was a "theater/lynching alliance" that created important parallels between "lynchcraft" and "stagecraft."

Shaping Presence: Ida B. Wells’ 1892 Testimony Of The ‘Untold Story’ At New York’S Lyric Hall, Anita August

Anita August

I will examine Wells’ 1892 testimony at Lyric Hall using an interdisciplinary reading from rhetorical theory, legal brief writing, anthropology, cognitive psychology, and historical criticism to illustrate how these bodies of knowledge discursively intersect and interact in articulating the shaping presence of the agent. I will distinguish my notion of a shaping presence in five ways in which it acts as a rhetorical framing of both the agent and her visual and verbal discourse.

Here, There, And In Between: Travel As Metaphor In Mixed Race Narratives Of The Harlem Renaissance, Colin Enriquez

Colin Enriquez

Created to comment on Antebellum and Reconstruction literature, the tragic mulatto concept is habitually applied to eras beyond the 19th century. After the turn of the century, the tragic mulatto has become an end rather than a means to questioning racist and abolitionist agendas. Rejecting the pathetic, selfish, and self-destructive traits inscribed by the tragic mulatto label, this dissertation uses geographic, cultural, and racial boundary crossing to theorize a rereading of the mixed race character of Harlem Renaissance literature. Focusing on instances of train, automobile, and boat travel, the study establishes a distinct relationship between the character, transportation, and technology …

No More Shame! Defeating The New Jim Crow With Antilynching Activism's Best Tools, Koritha Mitchell

Koritha Mitchell

This essay identifies similarities between racial violence of an earlier time period, lynching, and its most efficient form today, mass incarceration, suggesting that today’s racial violence be met with tools used by previous generations. I call for a critical demeanor of shamelessness that allows targeted communities and their allies to avoid taking on the shame that mainstream discourse encourages them to accept. People of color are incarcerated in staggering numbers, but not because they are disproportionately guilty of violent or even nonviolent crimes. Given the extreme racial disparities, being caught by the nation’s criminal (in)justice system is simply not a …

Engaging The Public: Introducing Students To Scholarly Publishing, Teresa Fishel

Teresa A. Fishel

No abstract provided.

Monkee Business: The Musical And Commercial Revolution Of The 1960s, Andrew T. Murphree

Andrew T Murphree

Very few bands in the history of American popular music possess a more captivating story of rapid ascension to commercial acclaim than that of The Monkees, an American rock band that was brought together in 1966 by executives at Screen Gems, a division of Columbia Pictures. Originally conceived for the purpose of a television show that followed the everyday life of four young musicians aspiring to become the next Beatles, their artificial construction as a band represented their primary purpose as a commercial venture as opposed to a traditional artistic endeavor. While The Monkees rose to success as a merchandising …

Leonard Cohen, Buddhist, Steven Marx

Steven Marx

No abstract provided.

Sun's In The Treetops, Jewell E. Florea, Lee J. Florea

Lee J Florea, PhD, P.G.

No abstract provided.

Love In Action: Noting Similarities Between Lynching Then & Anti-Lgbt Violence Now, Koritha Mitchell

Koritha Mitchell

The more I learn about the violence currently plaguing LGBT communities, the more it reminds me of the brutal practice of lynching, which has been the focus my research for the past 15 years. Ultimately, both forms of violence are designed to deny targeted groups recognition as citizens. Relying on my expertise regarding racial violence as well as the data on anti-LGBT attacks collected by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), this essay notes similarities between lynching at the last turn of the century and anti-LGBT violence today. The piece identifies five parallels: 1) the mundane quality of the …

City Of Syracuse Historic Resources Survey: Washington Square Neighborhood, Volume 2: Survey Forms, Samuel D. Gruber Dr., Bruce G. Harvey Dr.

Samuel D. Gruber Dr.

Historical overview and map analysis of the Washington Square Neighborhood of Syracuse, New York, originally the Village of Salina settled in the late 18th century. The survey also includes block by block descriptions and identification of sites eligible for local and or National Register historic designation.

City Of Syracuse Historic Resources Survey: Washington Square Neighborhood, Volume 1, Samuel D. Gruber Dr., Bruce G. Harvey Dr.

Samuel D. Gruber Dr.

Historical overview and map analysis of the Washington Square Neighborhood of Syracuse, New York, originally the Village of Salina settled in the late 18th century. The survey also includes block by block descriptions and identification of sites eligible for local and or National Register historic designation.

Balch Institute Microfilm Collection, James Gross

James Gross

This report lists the Balch Institute microfilm holdings held at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP), in the Albert M. Greenfeld Microfilm room. A microfilm survey,(unpublished), was previously conducted on the Balch Institute microfilm holdings, back in 2008. This report is an update. Additional data fields and some additional entries are included.

“Ahead Of The Lawmen”: Law And Morality In Disney Animated Films 1960–1998, Nehal A. Patel

Nehal A. Patel

This article examines the relationship between law and morality in a selection of animated Disney movies released between 1960 and 1998. The authors analyze all of the fully-animated, G-rated movies that grossed $100 million or more (adjusted for inflation) which shaped the childhood of lawyers practicing today. We find that the predominant representation of the relationship between law and morality is that they are at odds. Law most often is portrayed as having no relationship to morality or, even worse, as an obstacle to justice. These findings have implications for theories of law and morality, justice, and ethics. These findings …

Federal Prohibition Of Medical Marijuana In Pain Management: Undue, Unimportant, And Irrational, Michael L. Timm Jr.

Michael L. Timm Jr.

This paper provides a review of the historical right of the people of the United States to seek, and use, alternative medicinal treatment options in the realm of managing both the pain and symptoms associated with a variety of illnesses. The focus then turns to the right involved: a patient’s ability to employ medical marijuana instead of a commonly prescribed narcotic or mass-market non-steroidal anti-inflammatory analgesic (NSAIA) drug to manage pain and increase quality of life under the advice and consent of a treating physician. No one article has argued that there is a fundamental, important, or at least recognizable …

Jim Crow In The Soviet Union, Rebecca Gould

Rebecca Gould

No abstract provided.

A Useful Resource For Tracing Immigrants Who Entered The Us Through Ellis Island, James Gross

James Gross

Brief summary of a useful online search engine for locating relatives within the Ellis Island, Port of NY, online passenger list database. It is the Steve Morse search engine, called the “Ellis Island Gold Form".

Becoming More Adept At Using Some Resources From The Family Search Website, James Gross

James Gross

Brief discussion of the Knowles Collection. Maintained by a member of the LDS. It is a collection of six databases containing donated Jewish genealogical records.

Choosing The Correct Genealogy Software, James Gross

James Gross

Brief discussion of three genealogy programs, Ancestral Quest, Legacy Family Tree, and Rootsmagic, which are all gedcom enabled. All three are listed as being endorsed by and compatible with (Familysearch.org).

Family Gay: Relief Theory Applied To Instances Of Same-Sex Attraction In Family Guy, Natasha A. Magness

Natasha A Magness

No abstract provided.

Incarcerated Motherhood, Duchess Harris

Duchess Harris

This article explores how theories about race, gender, and the law are applied within the Clinic. In this article, we define and understand policies affecting incarcerated women from a theoretical perspective. Thereafter, we apply this theoretical knowledge within the practical context of these clients as a means of arriving at a more nuanced set of policy recommendations for incarcerated women who are mothers. Part I explains the unique gendered experience of incarcerated women. Part II explores legal theories of marginalization and oppression and how these theories are instructive in designing legal services for incarcerated women. Part III explains how the …

De (Re) Constructing Ideas Of Genius: Hip Hop, Knowledge, & Intelligence, Toby S. Jenkins

Toby S Jenkins

No abstract provided.

Belief And Performance, Morrison And Me, Koritha Mitchell

Koritha Mitchell

A chapter discussing the lessons I learned from Toni Morrison's THE BLUEST EYE that continue to guide me. The insights gained from that novel have informed my intellectual work and my ability to navigate the U.S. academy.

Queer Love And Urban Intimacies In Martial Law Manila, Robert Diaz

Robert Diaz

This article examines certain representations of Metropolitan Manila and the city’s queer intimacies during Martial Law. In particular, it analyzes Ishmael Bernal’s film Manila By Night (1980) and Jessica Hagedorn’s novel Dogeaters (1990). Released during a time when the Marcoses secured rule through an over-production of their “love team,” and by IMF supported justifications for molding a “beautiful and efficient” Manila, Manila By Night challenges disciplinary plans for the city and its populace through the presence of queer characters that unabashedly love the dirty, dysfunctional and impoverished city. In a similar vein, Dogeaters incorporates characters that practice queer love as …

When Black Meets White In The Heart Of Worship: A Case-Study Of Musical Changes In A Multiracial Church, Serge A. Volpe

Serge A Volpe

The Worldwide Church of God began as a denomination relying on certain Jewish practices and other Euro-centric distinctions to define its' identity. In the New York City area, African-American churchgoers exceeded that of whites; yet church liturgy retained its European-American flavor. When the denomination underwent transformation in the 1990s, many congregants were unable to accept changes, including new musical styles, and reacted in a manner inconsistent with what church leaders had hoped for. This thesis examines what some African-Americans experienced during this period when liturgy changed to include music representative of their culture. Interviews were conducted with African-American churchgoers from …

The Effects Of Mass Consumption On American Society, Jon Foster

Jon Foster

For a generation that doesn’t relate to the ‘eighties’, fondly remembers the ‘nineties’, and came of age in the two thousands, we often think of the sixties with a bit of nostalgia; reminiscing about Woodstock, and hippies, the nuclear family or maybe the Beatles. Unfortunately, much of this understanding is isolated within a bubble; wherein the sincere socioeconomic issues of the time, often become detached from their idealistic counterpart. To clarify, the causal relations that gave rise to what my generation remembers and typifies as the ‘sixties’, becomes distorted within the context of the rapidly changing times.