Tag: Scholarly books

The global implications of RNC support for gay “conversion therapy”

August 11, 2016

BY TOM WAIDZUNASAssistant professor of sociology at Temple University Last week, police in Uganda raided an LGBT pride event. Witnesses described police brutality, especially toward transgender women. Among those arrested were Pepe Julian Onziema and Frank Mugisha, leaders of Sexual Minorities Uganda. The Anti-Homosexuality Act, which passed there in 2014, has since been overturned by … More The global implications of RNC support for gay “conversion therapy”

How tourism is deeply implicated in the antagonistic global structures that lead to war.

August 9, 2016

BY DEBBIE LISLESchool of Politics, International Studies and Philosophy at Queen’s University Belfast After the emergence of organized mass tourism in the mid-19th century, billions of people have indulged their desires to visit cultures, landscapes, and experiences different from their own. No place on the planet is immune to the tourist gaze: alongside familiar visits … More How tourism is deeply implicated in the antagonistic global structures that lead to war.

On the vengeance of a divided country, 1992 and 2016

July 28, 2016

BY LYNN MIE ITAGAKIAssociate professor, The Ohio State University Violence in the Middle East. Upheavals in Europe. Anxieties about American decline. Economic fears. A recent recession. Police brutality caught on video. Interracial conflict. Attacks on the police. A Clinton presidential campaign. The year was 1992, although it could just as easily be 2016. On the … More On the vengeance of a divided country, 1992 and 2016

The politics behind the metabolic health crisis in the United States

May 6, 2016

BY ANTHONY RYAN HATCHAssistant professor in the Science in Society Program at Wesleyan University Our metabolic health crisis—as defined by the conjoined endemics of heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol, and obesity—continues to surprise biomedical researchers, frustrate health experts, and disable and harm millions of people. This week, three news stories illuminate yet again how the … More The politics behind the metabolic health crisis in the United States

Racial justice, American exceptionalism, and speculative fiction

April 27, 2016

BY ANDRÉ CARRINGTONAssistant professor of English at Drexel University In the 21st century, society has grown to rely on the axiom that “race” is a lie. For some people, out of paranoia or a desire to avoid conflict, touting the knowledge that race is socially constructed is a way of declaring that ignorance about what … More Racial justice, American exceptionalism, and speculative fiction

The 1939–40 New York World’s Fair publicly launched the first idea of the television and what it can do.

March 17, 2016

This publicity photograph from RCA emphasizes the wealth and prestige of the first television viewers posed in front of the TRK-12 RCA receiver.Courtesy of the Hagley Museum and Library.  BY DANIELLE SHAPIRO Today, we take television for granted. It is everywhere, in different sizes and shapes, in our pockets and our living room walls. It is … More The 1939–40 New York World’s Fair publicly launched the first idea of the television and what it can do.

Disagreement abounds about the best way to serve deaf children.

March 10, 2016

LAURA MAULDINAssistant professor of human development/family studies and women’s, gender and sexuality studies at the University of Connecticut A common argument for using sign language with hearing babies is that it would have benefits that are practical (less fussing), emotional (creates a closer parent bond), and cognitive (boosts brain development). “Fewer tantrums and more fun!” … More Disagreement abounds about the best way to serve deaf children.

The Internet of Things and the rise of planetary computerization: How environmental sensing technologies multiply rather than consolidate versions of the planet.

March 2, 2016

BY JENNIFER GABRYS Reader in sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London Planetary computerization—and the making of a computational planet—are terms and concepts that now occupy considerable attention in media studies and environmental theory and practice. Yet these developments have been underway since at least the post-war context, since renderings of the planet as expressed through … More The Internet of Things and the rise of planetary computerization: How environmental sensing technologies multiply rather than consolidate versions of the planet.

The boombox on the bus: Erik Satie’s furniture music in 2016

February 25, 2016

BY PAUL ROQUETPostdoctoral fellow in global media and film studies at Brown University 2016 marks the 150th birth anniversary of the French composer Erik Satie (1866–1925). As far as musical ideas go, Satie is best known for his notion of “furniture music” (musique d’ameublement), first introduced nearly 100 years ago in 1917 and later popularized … More The boombox on the bus: Erik Satie’s furniture music in 2016