New Errands: The Undergraduate Journal of American Studies
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Cracked Out and Plugged In: America\u27s Emerging Culture of Addiction
No full textAmerica is the largest most culturally diverse country in the world and is home to many competing ideologies, practices, habits, norms, and values. Diversity within the US population continues to grow at a higher pace than ever before. At the same time, the largest and most culturally diverse generation called "the millennials" enter America\u27s workforce and universities (Howe and Strauss, 2000). Typically individuals born between 1982 and 2002 are categorized as, millennials, generation Y, or digital natives (will be used interchangeably throughout text). However vast the diversity of this generation, there remains a 21st century common denominator that exists between this diverse population. Recent U.S. data reports, 84.2% of Americans use the internet on a regular basis (The World Bank, 2014.), and 80-90% ingest caffeine regularly (Various Cited Sources). Even higher rates of usage have been observed in millennials at a 95% caffeine usage (Alison Bryant Ludden and Amy R. Wolfson, 2009) and a 93% internet usage rate according to Pew Research Center. These numbers indicate a far reaching epidemic of usage, but little is known on the affect that the relationship has on the general populous, specifically the millennial generation
Rage Against the Machine in the Garden: Television, Voyeurism, and Hyperrealism in American Suburban Film
Full text linkFollowing the Second World War, living in the suburbs has been connected to the American Dream. The suburbs appeared to be the perfect place to raise a family and enjoy the benefits of both urban and rural conveniences without the exposure to harmful influences of the city. Ebenezer Howard argues that the town and the countryside exert a magnetic pull that draws urban citizens in, eventually resulting in a balance between the two in a hybrid environment: the middle landscape, or the suburbs (166-69). Everyone strives to own a suburban home and everyone wants to fulfill their dream of a perfect life with a perfect family and perfect neighbors. However, once people have started to move, some realized that reality did not live up to the utopian expectations of the project. The magnet that has drawn them to the suburbs in the first place, began to tear them apart through conformity, social pressures, and paranoia. People started to scrutinize the suburb\u27s universal claim of an ideal reality. It is no surprise that these doubts were most fervently raised by scholars, poets, authors, and movie makers who, often originating from an urban background, detested the values of the middle landscape.Rage Against the Machine in the Garden: Television, Voyeurism, and Hyperrealism in American Suburban Film by Roland Gawlitta is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licens
The Chicago Defender: Its Representations & Uplift Project During the First World War
Full text linkThe same American war narrative has been repeated to students for generations. In studying the worldwars, we learn about the young, white male soldiers training in American camps before being shipped overseas to Europe. We learn about the young white females in the Red Cross, working in hospitals at home anddistributing donuts to the soldiers abroad. We learn about the mobilization efforts in America--the foodconservation campaigns and the patriotic anthems. These are the stories that show up on the covers of American history textbooks--the ones that have remained prominent in the American narrative. In order to find alternative narratives, one must look to sources that have gone unnoticed by the majority. One must look to the historiesnot just about the people on the margins of society, but also to the histories told by marginal and minority folk.With this purpose in mind, I have set out to researching an unsung narrative of American history during World War I. The Chicago Defender: Its Representations & Uplift Project During The First World War by Emilie Moran Woods is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licens
Carrie Mae Weems: Writing A Universal African American History
Full text linkImplicit in the comparison between Krugerand Weems is the notion that Kruger, as a whiteartist, is free to explore the representativepossibilities of her work, while Weems, as a blackartist, should stick with her "personal narratives" ofrace and gender. Weems has very publicly andexplicitly voiced her frustration with suchreductionist characterizations of her work. Afterwinning the prestigious MacArthur fellowship in2013, she explained that her "disadvantage [as awoman of color], when I am viewed by the world Iam viewed only in relation to my black subjectivity,even though I am a very complex woman… [Mywork] is partially about race, but considerablymore."(Macfound) Weems, like so many blackartists, has often been reduced to a racial type by theelite art world. Weems in no way is trying to shedher African American identity; rather, she isattempting to embed her race as one aspect of hercomplex and intersectional identity. Carrie Mae Weems: Writing a Universal African American History by Edward Maza is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licens
The Curious Case of Sydney Gruson and the Obsessions of Guatemala and the United States
Full text linkBy 1954, the United States was gripped by the fear of the ever-expanding Communist tide. The expansion of Soviet Russia into Eastern Europe, the fall of China to the reds, and the war over the Korean peninsula had all shaken America\u27s nerves. As the only non-Communist super-power, the United States felt that it was its duty to first halt the spread of Communism and then push it back and replace it with democracies. Any government that had even the slightest hint of Communism must be removed for the safety of the United States and democracy. The United States State Department and CIA became obsessed with rooting out Communism and Communists, and Guatemala became caught in the CIA\u27s crosshairs. This obsession lead to a lack of perspective and inability to see the other side\u27s point of view that caused the CIA, the United States State Department, and the Eisenhower administration to cause the downfall of Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz Guzman and end the October Revolution of 1944. Both sides were guilty of tunnel vision. All the CIA could see was red Communists quickly taking over the government of Guatemala and creating a beachhead for Moscow and the USSR to infiltrate the North American continent and the United States\u27 sphere of influence. While the people of the United States and their government may or may not have had justification for this fear, the real tragedy was their inability to see and understand why and what the reality was on the ground in Guatemala. Arbenz and his foreign minister were just as guilty in bringing about their demise. Arbenz and Toriello\u27s inability to understand the United States\u27 fear of Communism, and their own obsession with United Fruit Company contributed in a significant way to the end of their administration. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licens
The Art in War: Exploring Trench Art, its Materiality, and the Human Side of War
Full text linkWarfare timelessly associates itself with objects of death and destruction. Whether they manifest themselves as armaments or ammunition, these objects only help in facilitating man\u27s destructive instincts and fueling the flames of war. While many concede that these objects are merely expressions of man\u27s cold, technological ingenuity, I argue that they can also be repurposed for expressing one\u27s humanity in face of the cruel realities of warfare. Thus, this paper seeks to examine trench art, a longstanding practice of transforming materiel1 into artwork, utilitarian objects, and even symbolic monuments. By investigating trench art in a material cultural context, we gain a better understanding of the human side of warfare, as seen through the lenses of soldiers, prisoners of war, and civilians that create these art pieces. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licens
Abraham Lincoln and the Music of the Civil War
Full text linkMusic pervades civilization in almost every institution and serves as a provider of important ideas. Today, music carries heavy political meanings, as artists frequently opt to explicitly voice their opinions and express their emotions through song and dance. The 19th century was no different. An especially turbulent period in American history, the years of Lincoln\u27s presidency were marked by a staggering amount of political unrest. In this tumultuous time, music played a large role in spreading and reinforcing a wide breadth of beliefs. Acclaimed Lincoln and music historian Kenneth A. Bernard calls the Civil War a "musical war." His claim is further supported by the fact that more music was produced and performed over the four-year period of the American Civil War than during every other war combined
Streamline Moderne Design in Consumer Culture and Transportation Infrastructure: Design for the Twentieth Century
Full text linkSituated in the time between World War I and World War II, the design community sought a new design for a new century, free of the trappings and encumbrances of the past. The impact of this new design idea would be far-reaching and serve as a remarkable milestone in the American experience, ushering in modern contemporary mass-produced consumer culture, stylistically and philosophically the successor to then contemporary design practice. The Art Deco style was pioneered in the years following World War I, exhibited at the L’Exposition Internationale des Artes Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes of 1925 (translated to English as the International Exhibition of Modern and Industrial Decorative Arts). Art Deco, while certainly new, was not entirely free of the ornamental motifs of the past. Additionally, Art Deco prioritized the handcrafted, high-end, and exclusive, providing exceptional design for those who could afford it