Weblogs

Tamara Piety launches Oversold law blog

by Shaun Manning April 22, 2013

Tamara Piety, author of Brandishing the First Amendment: Commercial Expression in America, has launched a new blog devoted to issues of law, commerce, and the First Amendment–themes which should be familiar to readers of her book. Titled Oversold, Piety has focused especially on the deeper truths behind commercial expression in her early posts–notably, examining the popular and controversial Dove marketing campaign “Real Beauty Sketches” from several angles. Follow Oversold for continuing insight from Tamara Piety, and be sure to pick up Brandishing the First Amendment for an analysis of the court decisions and practices that continue to shape American media and public [...]

Francesca Royster reflects on Obama as a father in Huffington Post

by Shaun Manning January 24, 2013

Writing for the Huffington Post, Sounding Like a No-No author Francesca Royster builds from President Obama’s speech from his second inauguration to examine his role as a prominent African-American father and what Obama’s perspective as a parent does–and could–bring to his policy agenda. “Given the history of images of black fathers in the country, President Obama reveals that we are still in the midst of a moment of extraordinary change in terms of race,” Royster said. “But we are still not post-racial as a society, despite claims to the contrary. President Obama shows us that that positive images of black fatherhood [...]

The Demography and Diplomacy of ‘The Lord of the Rings’

by Shaun Manning October 9, 2012

J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings presented an incredibly rich fantasy world, imbued with poetic language and an intricate system of relationships between characters, races, and nations. The epic trilogy–The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King, along with prequel adventure The Hobbit–have inspired a passionate fandom but also, intriguingly, in-depth research into the fictional world. Earlier this year, the University of Michigan Press published Abigail E. Ruane and Patrick James’s The International Relations of Middle-earth: Learning from the Lord of the Rings. The book uses Tolkien’s multinational intrigues between Gondor, Lothlorien, Arnor, the [...]

‘American Newspaper Comics’ author Allan Holtz offers advice on preserving classic strips

by Shaun Manning July 9, 2012

Comic-Con International, the comics industry’s biggest event for both fans and professionals, takes over San Diego this week, including panels and presentations on everything from popular genre television like HBO’s Game of Thrones to politics in comics to histories of the form. And, yes, lots of people dressed up like Captain America. To celebrate Comic-Con, guest blogger Allan Holtz, author of American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide, offers his thoughts on preserving early newspaper comic strips. One of the questions I get asked a lot by collectors and comic strip fans is “How should I store my newspaper comic strips?” [...]

Press Author Jill Dolan Wins Prestigious George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism

by Shaun Manning January 27, 2012

Congratulations to Jill Dolan, author of The Feminist Spectator as Critic (1991), Presence and Desire (1994), and Utopia in Performance (2005) and editor of A Menopausal Gentleman (2011), for winning the prestigious 2011 George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism. The award, administered by Cornell University, carries a $10,000 prize and was bestowed upon Dolan for her insightful essays on her blog, The Feminist Spectator. This marks the first year the award has been given to a blog. Read the full award announcement here. The Guardian also published a great spotlight on Dolan and the significance of such a major [...]

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