Wichita State University: Electronic Journals Hosted by University Libraries
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Missing the Signs: Imperfect Allyship and the Re-examination of Personal Biases
Get PDFLet us begin with some recent popular culture. Consider the excellent film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse released to theaters in late 2018.1 At a point in the movie, the intrepid heroes Miles Morales and Peter Parker sneak into a lab run by corporate scientists, for plot reasons. During this scene, we discover that the lead scientist, a woman, turns out to be Olivia Octavius, a female version of the famous Spider-Man nemesis, Doctor Octopus/Doc Ock. While watching the film, my friend and I turned to each other and gasped like pre-teen boys; we had not seen it coming. And yet the movie warns us a moment before the reveal that we need to challenge our assumptions, as Parker quips, "I re-examine my personal biases," after being told that the head scientist, who he thought was a man, was in fact a woman. The writers of the movie left clues throughout the story making it clear that not only would a major antagonist be a woman, but it would also make sense and not be a big deal. However, I think a lot of us long-time Spider-Man fans were genuinely surprised, as we overlooked the tells throughout the film, noticing only after the fact, to our surprise and, perhaps, embarrassment. Peter Parker had to re-examine his personal biases, but so did a lot of moviegoers
A Review of "Black Bottle Man" by Craig Russell
Get PDFCraig Russell\u27s Black Bottle Man packs a poetic punch of love, loss, and adventure, sprinkled with those pesky aspects of the human condition we all end up face to face with at one time or another
"Pleasure to Burn": A Comprehensive Look into the History of Censoring Literature in School Environments
Get PDFThe literature review below was done to investigate the history of censorship, specifically book burning and how it relates to the modern-day censorship that is seen in our country today. Using scholarly articles and books, news articles, professional organization websites, video documentaries, and data from prominent anti-censorship organizations, this article strives to tell the full story of the world\u27s complicated history with the censorship of knowledge. This review of literature makes clear that contemporary and historical censorship is an attempt to gain power and suppress the voice of those under authority. As educators, students, and community members, it is vital to use this knowledge to protect students\u27 right to read
Do As I Say and As I Do: Creating Strong Writers by Emphasizing and Modeling the Process
Get PDFWhen I was a high schooler, my knowledge of the writing process was slim, thus forcing me into a box of mediocrity. My collegiate experience has opened my eyes to my misunderstanding of drafting, revising, and editing and how that stunted me as a writer. In this reflection, I consider my lackluster methods, explore better options, and consider how I can implement these in the classroom to prevent my students from falling down the same path of comfortable stagnancy
Who Were You, Miss Billings?
Get PDFMiss Billings was gray. She had gray hair, gray bushy eyebrows, and gray hairs that sprouted from her chin. She even wore gray rayon dresses, the kind with little tiny flowers on a huge gray background. She was my fourth grade teacher
Rejecting Eve: Reception of Christianity Among Cherokee and Iroquois Women
Get PDFChristianity and the values it espoused were antithetical to traditional Iroquoian and Cherokee values. Women experienced similar social, economic, political, and religious authority within their respective societies. Their experiences in regard to Christianity, however, differed, although acceptance of missionaries in both societies was more for political and economic reasons rather than a genuine interest in Christianity. Iroquois women were profoundly suspicious of missionaries and consistently rejected Christianity. Huron and Algonquian adoptees with prior experience in established missions warned their new brethren that the presence of missionaries served as a prelude to European expansion, disease, and war. Cherokee women perceived Christianity and the civilization mission it carried with it as a validation of the work in which they already engaged. They remained outwardly more receptive but maintained aspects of their traditional spirituality. Both societies combatted Christianity\u27s attempt to subjugate women and struggled to maintain the gender balance so central to their cultures. These traditional powers held by women, and their resistance to a forced transition to patriarchy, are exemplified by two Native women: Degonwadonti, or Molly Brant (Mohawk), and Nanyehi, or Nancy Ward (Cherokee)
Teen Titans and a Generational Movement of the 60s and 70s
Get PDFA caption jumps out from the cover page, "THEY JUST COULDN\u27T WAIT TO START THEIR OWN MAG!" Approved by the Comics Code Authority and officially sealed with the Superman DC National Comics brand, the cover reveals four super powered teenagers in the midst of a struggle for their very lives. "NO, YOU"RE NOT SEEING THINGS! THAT\u27S ROBIN, WONDER GIRL, KID FLASH and AQUALAD-- ALL FIGHTING THE SAME VILLAIN... The BEAST-GOD of XOCHATAN!" Young readers across the nation could get their hands on this thrilling first issue and debut of a newly formed superhero team for only twelve cents, a decent price for nearly forty pages of entertainment. Young adults and children thought so too, back in 1966 when this comic book issue was first published. As exhilarating as it would be to see the Teen Titans battle a Beast-God named Xochatan, however. What is more important, historically that is, was what was being implicitly expressed through this series. During a time when a multitude of social movements were rapidly progressing towards social equality for most Americans, their own superheroes now seemed to be joining them.
A Family Friendly Force: Providing a Family Visitation Option for SAC Alert Crews
Get PDFOn January 16, 1974, commanders at McConnell Air Force Base near Wichita, Kansas, and members of the local media ate a lunch of steak and baked potatoes. A photograph in the official base newspaper shows a woman in a beehive hairdo about to hand a plate over cafeteria glass to one of the honored guests. The occasion was the opening of a new alert center, ready to house up to twenty-four member crews of KC-135 airplanes. The base paper called it "the newest and finest alert facility in all the Strategic Air Command" (SAC) and a "vast improvement over old alert facilities."1 The Wichita Eagle was more objective in its description but did call the center "a one-of-a-kind alert facility."
Witchcraft in the American Colonies Beyond the Limits of Salem
Get PDFIn the United States, witchcraft has become synonymous with Salem. When it comes to the history of witchcraft in the United States the conversation tends to be dominated by Salem, as the words witchcraft and Salem seem to have become synonymous. What is also well known is that the Salem Witch Trials led to the deaths of so many and the imprisonment of dozens more. However, fears of witchcraft and witch hunts and trials have occurred all over the world. There is documentation of witches and persecution of people thought to be witches on every continent that people inhabit. In the last few decades, as the subject of women\u27s history has flourished there has been an abundance of research done on the topic of witchcraft and its impacts in the American colonies. However, a majority of this research and the scholarly writings have focused on the Salem Witch Trials. While this has drawn more of the general population into the topic, there is still far more research that is needed on the other witch trials that occurred in the American colonies. Salem has a well-publicized and understood history when it comes to witchcraft and trials, but there are many trials that preceded and followed those that occurred in the Massachusetts Bay Colony