Tag: American Studies

The definition of academic freedom, for many, does not accommodate dissent.

April 16, 2014

BY STEVEN SALAITAAssociate professor of English at Virginia Tech Academic freedom is often a diversion from the free practices of academic labor. It does not yet fully accommodate dissent. In many ways, as the essays in the collection The Imperial University: Academic Repression and Scholarly Dissent illustrate, academic freedom is a byproduct (and progenitor) of deeply … More The definition of academic freedom, for many, does not accommodate dissent.

The BDS movement and the front lines of the war on academic freedom.

April 9, 2014

BY SUNAINA MAIRA Professor of Asian American studies at the University of California, Davis In December 2013, the American Studies Association announced that it had endorsed an academic boycott of Israeli academic institutions, following two years of discussion in the association and based on a majority vote by the membership in support of the boycott … More The BDS movement and the front lines of the war on academic freedom.

War, poverty, and the War on Poverty: 50 years later

February 26, 2014

President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Poverty Bill (also known as the Economic Opportunity Act) on Aug. 20, 1964, while press and supporters of the bill look on. LBJ Library photo by Cecil Stoughton, available via Creative Commons. BY JENNA M. LOYDAssistant professor of public health policy and administration, Joseph J. Zilber School of Public … More War, poverty, and the War on Poverty: 50 years later

Bonnie and Clyde: What does our collective fascination with crime say about us?

December 6, 2013

Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, sometime between 1932 and 1934. BY KATHLEEN BATTLESAssistant professor of communication and journalism at Oakland University This weekend, Lifetime Television, A&E, and the History Channel will simultaneously air a two-part television “event” – a miniseries documenting the lives of infamous Depression-era American bandits, Bonnie and Clyde. Publicity for the series … More Bonnie and Clyde: What does our collective fascination with crime say about us?

"Mr. Barnum’s Camera Man": Mathew Brady among the cannibals.

November 20, 2013

“The Figi Cannibals.” Photograph by Mathew Brady, 1872. Courtesy of the Meserve-Kunhardt Foundation. BY ROBIN BLYNAssociate professor of English at the University of West Florida Traditionally, Mathew Brady occupies an esteemed place in the history of photography and in the history of the United States. Otherwise known as “Mr. Lincoln’s Camera Man,” Brady stands nobly … More "Mr. Barnum’s Camera Man": Mathew Brady among the cannibals.

On cultivating culturally responsive architecture while designing for modern needs

August 14, 2013

Courtyard of the Place of Hidden Waters, Tacoma, Washington. This is thefirst tribal building to be certified LEED Platinum. BY JOY MONICE MALNARAssociate professor of architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and co-author, with Frank Vodvarka, of New Architecture on Indigenous Lands The result of six years of travel, interviews, email correspondences, and … More On cultivating culturally responsive architecture while designing for modern needs

How the suburban U.S. shopping mall reimagined the city and undergirded architectural modernization

July 18, 2013

Victor Gruen’s Southdale Center in Edina, Minnesota, was the first fully indoor shopping mall in the world. Photo credit: Bobak Ha’Eri via Creative Commons. BY DAVID SMILEYGraduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University In 1958, the Architectural League of New York held a photographic exhibit of new street furniture. Today, such an … More How the suburban U.S. shopping mall reimagined the city and undergirded architectural modernization

Why do we have such faith in creativity?

April 16, 2013

William W. Caudill, “The Busted Box,” New Schools for New Education, 1959, page 21. Despite its abstract nature, the term “creativity” is something of a hot commodity in contemporary educational rhetoric—a reminder of the discourse that flooded the U.S. after World War II. BY AMY F. OGATAAssociate professor at the Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, … More Why do we have such faith in creativity?