Tag: Cultural Studies

Suspects not Citizens: Criminalizing Muslims in the United States

October 2, 2019

BY NICOLE NGUYEN In 2017, James Alex Fields Jr. plowed his silver Dodge Charger into counter-protestors at the “Unite the Right” white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Fields’ reckless yet intentional actions killed thirty-two-year-old Heather Heyer and injured dozens more. Convicted of first-degree murder, aggravated malicious wounding, hate crime acts, and other federal and state … More Suspects not Citizens: Criminalizing Muslims in the United States

This key point in US history urgently calls for peaceful, art-filled protest.

August 7, 2019

Teachers strike in Oakland. Photo credit: Brooke AndersonPhotography. Published on Common Dreams.Used with permission. T. V. REEDBuchanan Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Washington State University As Harvard political scientist Erica Chenoweth has carefully documented, throughout modern history large-scale civil disobedience has been the most effective way to bring about significant social change—including overthrowing authoritarian regimes. If only … More This key point in US history urgently calls for peaceful, art-filled protest.

Frankenstein and anonymous authorship in eighteenth-century Britain.

January 18, 2019

BY MARK VARESCHIUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison Having celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2018, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is perhaps one of the most well-known novels of the early nineteenth century. While many are familiar with Shelley’s classic novel and can immediately picture some version of the work’s iconic monster, few are aware that when Frankenstein was first … More Frankenstein and anonymous authorship in eighteenth-century Britain.

Sonic Science Fiction: Programming the Thought Synthesizer

November 8, 2018

BY TRACE REDDELLUniversity of Denver One of the challenges I faced while researching and writing The Sound of Things to Come: An Audible History of the Science Fiction Film concerned the terminology of the “new” and the role of “futurity.” Early drafts of the project emphasized thematic clusters that brought together films from very different … More Sonic Science Fiction: Programming the Thought Synthesizer

“Wherever he is! Wherever he is!”: Jim Walsh on the world’s rediscovery of “The Gold Experience” and the funky powerhouse joy that is the New Power Generation

September 21, 2018

BY JIM WALSH The New Power Generation was on the second encore of its first-ever appearance at First Avenue on September 14, when lead singer MacKenzie and rapper Tony Mosley (a.k.a. Tony M) implored the crowd to pay respects to their fallen leader, Prince. As the crowd and band cheered at the night’s first mention … More “Wherever he is! Wherever he is!”: Jim Walsh on the world’s rediscovery of “The Gold Experience” and the funky powerhouse joy that is the New Power Generation

Occupy Surplus-Value: Toward the Revaluation of Value

September 13, 2018

BY BRIAN MASSUMI It is hard not to despair. The enormity of the problems dwarf the human scale, even though it is we, humans, who have created them. We seem to have fallen under the wheels of an economic system whose signature products are inexorably increasing social inequality, periodic crises from which only the top … More Occupy Surplus-Value: Toward the Revaluation of Value

Jack Zipes: "Fairy tales evolve and spread in strange ways."

August 3, 2018

BY JACK ZIPESUniversity of Minnesota I first came across Pyotr Yershov’s fairy-tale poem, The Little Humpbacked Horse, when I was preparing my fairy-tale postcards for publication in my book Tales of Wonder. Among the Russian postcards in my collection, I kept finding cards illustrating The Little Humpbacked Horse by different gifted artists, often with short texts … More Jack Zipes: "Fairy tales evolve and spread in strange ways."

On David Wojnarowicz, politics, and gestures.

July 3, 2018

BY LISA DIEDRICHProfessor of women’s and gender studies, State University of New York at Stony Brook Next week, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York will launch a major exhibition of the work of David Wojnarowicz, “History Keeps Me Awake at Night.” It notes that Wojnarowicz was “queer and HIV-positive” and an “impassioned … More On David Wojnarowicz, politics, and gestures.