American Studies Commons^™

A Higher Synthesis: The Problem Of The Monument And A Radical Dr. King, A. E. Thibus

Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

This paper attempts to tackle state revisionism of monumental figures in American history through the case of Martin Luther King Jr., a radical who has been reimagined and whitewashed through conservative efforts for political purposes. I use examples of other historically revised prominent figures by the state to demonstrate the phenomenon. King's case can be connected to Derrick Bell and Critical Race Theory (CRT), an obscure legal study and fellow victim of conservative revisionism. I explore the history of CRT and show how the backsliding of the United States government coincides with a factitious honoring of diversity through cleansed figures …

Lg Ms 005 Maine Lesbian Feminist Archives Finding Aid, Siobain C. Monahan, Jill Piekut Roy

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Description:

Maine Lesbian Feminist was a social and political group based in Downeast Maine which operated from 1976 to about 1984. The archives includes records of the group, their political task force, and their communications committee, as well as event ephemera from the third Maine Gay Symposium in 1976.

Date Range:

1976-1982

Size of Collection:

5 File Folders

Jud Ms 25 Nathan F. Cogan Collection Finding Aid, Katelynn Paul

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Biographical Note

Nathan Franklin Cogan was born in Bath, Maine in 1937 and was the youngest of seven children. Nathan’s father, Morris Cohen, had originally arrived in Maine in 1914, following the outbreak of World War I. Nathan spent his childhood in Bath, where his father and family members assisted immigrants to Maine as a part of the Hebrew Benevolent Society. Nathan ultimately moved to Portland, Oregon in 1956 to attend Reed College. Nathan served two years in the U.S. Army, and upon ending service he pursued a doctorate in English at UC-Berkeley. Nathan became a professor emeritus of English …

Jud Ms 24 Frederic C. Weinberg Collection, Katelynn Paul

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Biographical Note:

Frederic Weinberg was born in Metuchen, New Jersey. He graduated from Metuchen High School and pursued a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Connecticut in 1969. After receiving his initial degree in English, he enrolled in the University of New Hampshire’s program in Library Science. In 1972 he was accepted into a special program in Educational Media at Boston University where he received a master’s degree in Education. In 1977 Frederic and his family joined the Beth Israel Congregation. He later assisted the congregation as a researcher and archivist. Currently Frederic is a regional coordinator for …

Black Lives, White Kids: White Parenting Practices Following Black-Led Protests, Allison P. Anoll, Andrew M. Engelhardt, Mackenzie Israel-Trummel

Arts & Sciences Articles

Summer 2020 saw widespread protests under the banner Black Lives Matter. Coupled with the global pandemic that kept America’s children in the predominant care of their parents, we argue that the latter half of 2020 offers a unique moment to consider whites’ race-focused parenting practices. We use Google Trends data and posts on public parenting Facebook pages to show that the remarkable levels of protest activity in summer 2020 served as a focusing event that not only directed Americans’ attention to racial concepts but connected those concepts to parenting. Using a national survey of non-Hispanic white parents with white school-age …

Quality Of Communications Infrastructure, Local Structural Transformation, And Inequality, Camilo Acosta, Luis Baldomero-Quintana

Arts & Sciences Articles

We analyze the causal impact of improvements in the quality of communication infrastructure on the structural transformation of US counties. Our treatment is the quality of communication infrastructure in a county, measured by the average Internet speed offered to businesses. We use as an instrumental variable the spatial structure of ARPANET, a network funded by the Department of Defense that is considered the precursor of the Internet, and whose location we determine using historical government documents. We show that faster Internet stimulates short-run growth and increases the shares of employment and GDP in high-skilled services, while negatively affecting sectors such …

Masculinity In American Movie-Musical Films, Christopher Sparks

Spring Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

My presentation explores the relation between American masculinity and film musicals. I demonstrate how the dominance of the musical at the box office in the middle of the 20^th century reflects historical events and technological change. Drawing on both scholarly and popular criticism, I show how the images of masculinity that Americans once encountered on the silver screen have transformed as musicals became marginal to popular culture in the United States. My research considers both classic 20^th century musicals, such as Wizard of Oz (1939) and 42^nd Street (1933), and more recent experiments with the genre, including …

A 14,100 Cal B. P. Rocky Mountain Locust Cache From Winnemucca Lake, Pershing County, Nevada, Evan J. Pellegrini, Eugene M. Hattori, Larry Benson, John Southon, Hojun Song, Derek A. Woller

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The remains of approximately 1000 (MNI) Rocky Mountain locusts (Melanoplus spretus) from an archaeological cache pit in Crypt Cave, Winnemucca (dry) Lake, Nevada, date to between 14,305–14,067 calendar years before present (95.4 % confidence; 12,238 ± 18 ¹⁴C yrs. B.P.). The age of this western Great Basin occupation along the shoreline of Lake Lahontan is consistent with occupation of several other Western North American terminal Pleistocene sites dating prior to 14,000 cal. B.P., including distinctive petroglyphs on the western shore of Winnemucca Lake dating as early as 14,800–13,200 cal. B.P.

Lg Ms 107 Karen Bye Papers, Katelynn Paul

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Biographical Note

Karen Bye was born and raised in Stonington, Maine on Deer Isle in 1952. Karen enrolled at the University of Maine’s Orono campus, joining the class of 1975. Karen was a member of the queer community and went on to join Gay Support and Action (GSA), a community organization located in Bangor, Maine. Karen advocated for GSA to start a group at the university, but was initially denied. Nevertheless Karen persisted and continued to advocate, and eventually formed a group of students that would soon become the Wilde-Stein Club. Karen held the role of secretary, and had been …

Behind The Brick Walls: On “Hearth” And Slavery At The William & Mary, Terry L. Meyers

Arts & Sciences Articles

Excerpt from the article: "The William & Mary was the second university in the U.S. after Brown University to establish a funded, institutional examination of its dark history of complicity with slavery and Jim Crow segregation. After resolutions from the Student Assembly and Faculty Assembly, the Board of Visitors in 2009 established the Lemon Project: A Journey of Reconciliation, named after Lemon, a man enslaved by the College..."

W&M’S Kkk Flagpole: Found?, Terry L. Meyers

Arts & Sciences Articles

Excerpt from the article: "Ever since 2008, when I wrote a piece for the Gazette about Williamsburg’s almost century old encounter with the KKK, I’ve been on a hunt for a flagpole. In 1926, 5000 Klansmen flocked to town to see W&M dedicate the Klan’s gift to the College—a huge American flag and a 70 foot flagpole to fly it. I wanted to know what became of that pole..."

The “Shoe Holly” And The “Dressing Trees” On Richmond Road, Terry L. Meyers

Arts & Sciences Articles

Excerpt from the article: "A site connecting the W&M campus and local Black history should be recorded--the “Shoe Holly” on Richmond Road, just off the corner of Bryan Hall..."

The “Peculiar Institution” In And Near Williamsburg, Terry L. Meyers

Arts & Sciences Articles

Excerpt from the article: "Slavery in Williamsburg and nearby—what was it like? Depends on who you ask..."

Scenes From Williamsburg’S 19th Century, Terry L. Meyers

Arts & Sciences Articles

Excerpt from the article: "When the capital of Virginia shifted from Williamsburg to Richmond in 1780, Williamsburg’s history shifted too, but did not end—three little known accounts of the town offer glimpses of life into the nineteenth century..."

Finding Your Inner Drag: How Drag Culture Helped Form Freedom Of Expression For The Lgbtq Community, Sylvia Zobel De Ayala

Pop Culture Intersections

This research paper discusses the history of the LGBTQ community, the effects of the drag community and the comparison to the behaviors and attitudes from the past to the present. This article goes in depth to different scholarly articles that help understand the history of the LGBTQ community. This article will also discuss personal stories and experiences that describe the emotional aspect of the moments of history mentioned. The three main topics discussed in this paper are the Stonewall Riot, the AIDS epidemic and the uprising of the transgender community. After understanding the history and the present attitudes, they will …

Popular Culture’S Grip On The Lgbtq Community, Connor Grogan

Pop Culture Intersections

The purpose of this research is to identify the causes and consequences of forming groups within this cultural sphere, specifically focusing on the LGBTQ community. I would contend that the inclusion and exclusion of this marginalized group which exists within a larger community can be promoted or amplified by hegemonic forces through the use of popular culture and mass media. Firstly, with regards to this paper, I will identify what hegemonic power dynamics are within the context of the thesis, as well as what it means to be a marginalized group without much force within a power dynamic. Secondly, I …

Jackson, John Andrew, Susanna Ashton

Publications

No abstract provided.

Williams, Samuel, Susanna Ashton

Publications

No abstract provided.

Introduction: How American Literature Understands Poverty, Clare E. Callahan, Joseph Entin, Irvin Hunt, Kinohi Nishikawa

English Faculty Publications

Together, the essays in this issue of American Literature stage what is at stake in how literature understands poverty, elucidating not only the problem of poverty but also, and especially, the problem of how we see it. To see poverty differently, they might conclude, is not only a matter of what we see. It is a matter of reflecting on how we see.

Musical Legacy Projects (Fa 1387), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1387. Audio interviews conducted by WKU oral history students in spring 2022 for the South Central Kentucky Music Project, centering on musicians in Bowling Green and surrounding counties.

American Literatures Prior To 1865, Scott D. Peterson

Open Educational Resources Collection

This work was created as part of the University Libraries’ Open Educational Resources Initiative at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

A web version of this text can be found at https://umsystem.pressbooks.pub/alpt1865/.

This anthology of American Literatures Prior to 1865, is organized chronologically into four units, focusing on Colonial Literature, Literature of Native American Perspectives and Discovery, Literature of Nineteenth Century Reform, and Literature of the New Nation. It includes introductions to the many authors included to enhance the reader's contextual understanding of the chosen texts. This anthology is essential reading for any student or scholar of Early American literature.

Ritual During Covid-19, Stephen Covell, Diane Riggs, Cameron Borg, Ryan Lemasters, Jacob Riccioni

Modules for Teaching Pandemic Response and Religion in the USA

The following teaching module is designed for high school and college level instructors who seek to teach a lesson on the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the participation and practice of religious rituals. The teaching module features a lesson plan, case studies, and assignments that can be incorporated as the instructor sees fit. This teaching module was created by Western Michigan University's Department of Comparative Religion.

Gender, Monastic Life, And The Lay Community During The Pandemic, Stephen Covell, Diane Riggs, Cameron Borg

Modules for Teaching Pandemic Response and Religion in the USA

The following teaching module is designed for high school and college level instructors who seek to teach a lesson on the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the monastic life of both Buddhists and Catholics. The teaching module features a lesson plan, case studies, and assignments that can be incorporated as the instructor sees fit. This teaching module was created by Wester Michigan University's Department of Comparative Religion.

Coronavirus (Covid-19) And Religious Holidays In The U.S., Stephen Covell, Diane Riggs, Cameron Borg, Jarrett Stalinger, Jacob Riccioni

Modules for Teaching Pandemic Response and Religion in the USA

The following teaching module is designed for high school and college level instructors who seek to teach a lesson on the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the celebration of religious holidays, such as Ramadan, Passover, and Easter. The teaching module features a lesson plan, case studies, and assignments that can be incorporated as the instructor sees fit. This teaching module was created by Western Michigan University's Department of Comparative Religion.

Exploring The Empirical Relationship Between Inner-City Blight And Urban Sprawl In The United States, Eric Fesselmeyer, Kiat Ying Seah

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Urban blight has been found to cause a variety of problems, including negatively affecting the value of surrounding properties and increasing neighborhood crime rates. If the same externalities that give rise to urban sprawl also contribute to urban blight, as is suggested by Brueckner and Helsley (2011), city center vacancy rates-an indication of blight-would increase with the extent of urban sprawl. This study adds to the sparse literature on the empirical relationship between urban sprawl and blight by finding that the city-center census tract vacancy rate is higher in more sprawling cities. The results of this article, therefore, provide support …

The Politics Of The Self: Psychedelic Assemblages, Psilocybin, And Subjectivity In The Anthropocene, Joshua Falcon

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how psychedelic substances become drawn into particular sociohistorical and political arrangements, and how psychedelic experiences with psilocybin ‘magic mushrooms’ are used as tools of subjectivation. Guided by literatures in philosophy, critical theory, and the social sciences that focus on subjectivity, assemblage theory, and critical posthumanism, I argue that psychedelics are drawn into variegated assemblages, each of which conceptualizes the nature of psychedelics in highly specific ways that reflect implicit conceptions of the world and the self. In developing the concept of psychedelic assemblages, this research provides a window onto the politics of the self in the Anthropocene. …

William Carlos Williams’ “The Young Housewife”: A Postcritical Reading Vis‐À‐Vis Shel Silverstein's 'The Giving Tree', Sue Norton

Books/Book Chapters

Using the framework of Rita Felski in her 2015 book The Limits of Critique, this essay offers a postcritical analysis of William Carlos Williams’ 1915 poem “The Young Housewife.” Its intention is to show how Williams’ poem or any poem can be approached through a variety of critical lenses, but that these may get in the way of more immediate, rewarding ways of reading. Shel Silverstein's well-known 1964 short book The Giving Tree is similar at the level of “plot” to “The Young Housewife.” Taken in tandem, these two texts neatly exemplify the value of postcritical/non-resistant reading.

Jesse James' Hideout Or Civil War Midden?, Steven Meyer, Tim Evers, Ben Ebert

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Whether the infamous outlaw Jesse James (1847-1882) ever lived in Iron County Missouri during his post-Civil War crime spree is a highly debated issue shrouded in legend and myth. A plot of land called “The Hideout” in Southern Iron County is a prime source for these legends to be tested. Archaeologists Benjamin Ebert, Steven Meyer, and Tim Evers will attempt to answer the question “Could Jesse James have stayed at the Hideout?” Iron County is steeped in rich history dating back to the Civil War, and other historic landmarks add credence to the legends
and help push tourism and preservation …

The Appalachian Nostos: Pastoralism And Returning Home In Appalachian Poetry, Henry David Thoreau Kilbourne

Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Ginanaandawi'idizomin: Anishinaabe Intergenerational Healing Models Of Resistance, Zoe V. Allen

American Studies Honors Projects

Since the early 2000s, the opioid epidemic has had a devastating sweep across Indian Country. The White Earth nation declared the epidemic as a public health emergency back in 2011. Since then White Earth has developed community-based harm reduction and culturally grounded models of intervention for substance use disorder that continue to influence Native Nations across the U.S. This project centers on Anishinaabe approaches to the ongoing opioid public health crisis but also elaborates on Anishinaabe forms of healing and resistance. My primary method was conducting oral histories with White Earth community youth workers and advocates. My research project asks: …