Cultural Studies

"Culture is an instrument wielded by professors to manufacture professors." — Simone Weil

The Walls Speak: Excavating the Chinese Immigration Experience at Angel Island
Teow Lim Goh uncovers the ongoing effort by scholars and poets to preserve the Chinese immigrant experience at Angel Island through its lost poetry.
Teow Lim GohJan 13, 2019
- Cultural Studies
- History
A Patient Observation of Human Beings
Fabien Truong’s book is a thoughtful, well-crafted ethnography that humanizes the faceless, amorphous “Muslim youth” of the French banlieues.
Asma AfsaruddinJan 3, 2019
Need You — Baby
Dave Mandl consults “Where to Score,” a collection of classified ads culled from the pages of the “San Francisco Oracle.”
Dave MandlDec 30, 2018
- Cultural Studies
- Gender & Sexuality
I Hate to Wait: On Jason Farman’s “Delayed Response: The Art of Waiting from the Ancient to the Instant World”
Lydia Pyne impatiently explores “Delayed Response: The Art of Waiting from the Ancient to the Instant World” by Jason Farman.
Lydia PyneDec 12, 2018
“The Most Exhilarating Moments of His Life”: On Charles Sprawson’s “Haunts of the Black Masseur: The Swimmer as Hero”
Antonia Flood dives into “Haunts of the Black Masseur: The Swimmer as Hero” by Charles Sprawson.
Antonia FloodDec 9, 2018
Classic Rock’s Götterdämmerung
Ed Simon dances with Steven Hyden’s “Twilight of the Gods.”
Ed SimonDec 2, 2018
The Incitements of Pop Culture: A Conversation with Peter Biskind
A top media historian explains our culture’s fascination with zombies, caped crusaders, and other vigilantes.
Scott TimbergNov 30, 2018
Memorializing the Present: Montgomery’s New Legacy Museum
Jeffrey Lawrence discusses Montgomery’s new Legacy Museum and its radical approach to African-American history.
Jeffrey LawrenceNov 19, 2018
A Native with a Pale Face
Ross Wolfe presents a translation of Ivan Segré’s critical review of “Whites, Jews, and Us” by Houria Bouteldja.
Ivan Segré, Ross WolfeNov 14, 2018
Hippies in the USSR: An Interview with Juliane Fürst
Sasha Razor interviews Juliane Fürst, curator of “Socialist Flower Power: Soviet Hippie Culture” at the Wende Museum.
Sasha RazorNov 9, 2018
American Studies Takes Care: An Interview with ASA President Roderick Ferguson
Sarah Mesle interviews ASA President Roderick Ferguson about this year's upcoming ASA conference, "States of Emergence."
Sarah MesleNov 6, 2018
- Cultural Studies
Roland Barthes and the Urgency of Nuance
Philip Sayers on the difficulty and importance of recovering Roland Barthes’s engagement of the neutral in our political moment.
Philip SayersNov 4, 2018