Cultural Studies

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

Not Unpacking but Seeking
A collection of essays on gender, the body, resistance, and the Occupy Movement.
Kyle ProehlAug 29, 2018
From Watching to Participating: Kate Bredeson and Lars Jan Discuss 1968 and Jan’s Stage Production of Joan Didion’s “The White Album”
Kate Bredeson and Lars Jan discuss 1968 and Jan’s stage production of Joan Didion’s “The White Album.”
Kate BredesonAug 16, 2018
The Bitchified Decade We’re Still Paying For
Allison Yarrow’s “90s Bitch” explores how pre-2000s culture both celebrated and constrained autonomous femininity.
Randle BrowningAug 9, 2018
- Cultural Studies
- Gender & Sexuality
The Useless French Language and Why We Learn It
Colin Marshall examines English speakers’ relationship to the French language, which is the subject of a growing number of books.
Colin MarshallAug 2, 2018
- Around the World
- Cultural Studies
Reverse Cowboy
Disentangling fact from myth in the figure of the American cowboy.
Greg JacksonJul 29, 2018
- Cultural Studies
- History
Friends and Enemies: On Slogan Tees
"The popularity of the slogan tee is evidence of the dissolution of the political." Rachel Greenwald Smith on the recent popularity of the slogan tee.
Rachel Greenwald SmithJul 16, 2018
- Cultural Studies
- Politics
Balancing Act: Richard Sennett’s “Building and Dwelling”
Richard Sennett’s notion of an “open city” articulates how to achieve, or at least think about, the ethical city in the 21st century.
Josh StephensJun 15, 2018
An Elegy for Cemeteries
A book on the rise and fall of American cemeteries.
Sam HolleranJun 13, 2018
The New Primitives
Primitivism is back, not that it ever left. Ben Etherington on the historical and contemporary notions of primitivism.
Ben EtheringtonMay 24, 2018
The Words We Don’t Use: On Eviatar Zerubavel’s “Taken for Granted: The Remarkable Power of the Unremarkable”
Dan Friedman parses “Taken for Granted: The Remarkable Power of the Unremarkable” by Eviatar Zerubavel.
Dan FriedmanMay 23, 2018
- Cultural Studies
Cisco and Microsoft — Their Part in My Downfall; or, the Lost Ethics of Higher Ed; or, Maybe, a Sob Story
Toby Miller reflects on his unfortunate experiences in British academia.
Toby MillerMay 10, 2018
Of Fairylands, Borders, and Charmed Circles: On Julio Capó Jr.’s “Welcome to Fairyland: Queer Miami before 1940”
Carlos Ulises Decena finds a welcome, nuanced portrait of queer history in Julio Capó Jr.’s “Welcome to Fairyland: Queer Miami before 1940.”
Carlos Ulises DecenaMay 6, 2018