Lindsay T. Kijewski, CLAS '13
“This is the story of how we begin to remember, this is the powerful pulsing of love in the vein, after the dream of falling and calling your name out, these are the roots of rhythm and the roots of rhythm remain.”-Paul Simon, “Under African Skies” Music is often referred to as a universal language, [...]
Stephane F. Glynn, CLAS '13
“In a society that has suffered a massive blow, there arises…a discourse of trauma.”[i] The assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22nd, 1963 was one of the worst “blows” American society ever experienced. The assassination was unexpected and horrendous, shocking the nation to its very core. Kennedy stood for youth and change; now [...]
Viet M. Vopham, CLAS '14
One of the pioneers of the French New Wave, Jean-Luc Godard, is known for his baffling and narratively complex films. His visually stimulating pieces systematically disillusion and disconnect the average unwary viewer. To a large degree, Godard does not operate with the typical conventions of popular culture even though he is keenly aware of “both [...]
Katherine T. Urban, CLAS '13
Once upon a time never really existed for the Cinderella fairy tale as hundreds of versions have existed throughout time, and as Joshua L. Coady points out in “Cinderella’s Historical Character,” finding an “exact meaning and…basic story which all others are based on is virtually impossible.”[i] While there are many variations, the basic plot establishes [...]
Lindsay T. Kijewski, CLAS '13
The Marx Brothers’ 1933 film Duck Soup, considered to be one of the best American comedic films of all time, utilizes slapstick and screwball humor to offer a strong critique of the effectiveness of fascism, a form of government that was prominent on the international stage at the time of its production. Much of the [...]
Julia E. Winn, CLAS '14
Nationalism and culture are broad terms that cover a wide spectrum of concepts and structures. A nation is defined as an imagined political community—imagined because members of the community feel unified despite the impossibility of meeting every other member[i]. With the diversity of unified people, a nation must be comprised of many ideals, norms, groups, [...]
Asia N. Johnson, CLAS '13
The paradox of visibility illustrates the dilemma that exposure to the practice of sexual minorities and minority sexual practices creates. According to Eleanor Wilkinson, queer politics have often assumed that increased publicity automatically leads to public acceptance. However this theory is overly simplistic because with increased visibility comes the risk of misrepresentation.[i] The paradox of [...]
Lauren A. Hargarten, CLAS '13
American society as a whole watches about 250 billion hours of television per year.[i] A significant amount of time is spent in front of the television, watching, interpreting, and consuming presentations of race and ethnicity. As a result, popular visual culture is an intrinsic facet of our society. Media, particularly forms of visual culture like [...]