AMST@Maryland welcomes new bloggers

I'd like to welcome three new bloggers to AMST@Maryland: Mateo Munoz, Maria Velazquez and Asim Ali. I will let them do their own introductions in their initial posts. For me, this is a huge step towards AMST@Maryand representing the community and not just a single voice.Right now, we are experimenting with three-month term for guest bloggers, to ensure a steady supply of fresh viewpoints. We could probably accommodate a few more to start over the summer, if anyone is interested. Faculty, undergraduates and graduate students are all included in that invitation.

The Evils of Comic Books

Comic artist/blogger Neal Van Flue ran across a 1954 encyclopedia entry about comics which includes, amidst the fairly accurate historical background, some fairly strong accusations about the bad effects of comic books on children. The source of their power, according to the original article's author, was the combined use of words and visuals, which "no other kind of literature" does. The two main arguments against comic books are ones I heard repeatedly throughout my youth in the 1950s. First, some of them dealt with crime and "other wicked acts"and might influence young readers to imitate them. Second, low-quality comic books do not help children "develop good taste in literature". It cheers me considerably to note that the encyclopedia was absolutely right in his appraisal of the inspirational power of comic books. The opening scene in Stephen Spielberg's "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (co-authored by George Lucas) was based on Disney artist Carl Banks' Scrooge McDuck comic "The Seven Cities of Cibola". My brother and I read that comic until it was ragged, and apparently so did Lucas and Spielberg and a whole bunch of kids who grew up to be film critics and spotted the similarity when the movie came out in 1981.

Comic books, of course, have been replaced by new multimedia evils since 1954: television, music videos, computer games and MySpace. And I am sure that tragedies such as Columbine and Virginia Tech will continue to prompt cultural critics to decry the "dark side" of those amusements. But bear in mind that Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus has probably inspired a few copycat crimes in its 400-year existence, as well.

Nice White Lady

In AMST 498J today, the discussion will focus on popular culture images of teachers, especially the "magical hero teacher" myth. I plan to start with "Blackboard Jungle" (Mild-mannered English teacher Glenn Ford tames Sidney Poitier and defeats Vic Morrow) and discuss how the heroic teacher stories can shape viewers' attitudes toward teachers, at-risk students and learning. This narrative is so familiar that it is a frequent subject of parody; as in the Family Guy episode "Fast Times at Cianci Jr. High") and, more recently, the "Nice White Lady" sketch on MadTV. So we have the myth, and the humorous opposition; where does that leave the actual at-risk students? Could it be that the "teacher as hero" stories and the parodies both help maintain our unequal educational system?

Report from PCA/ACA 2007

I've just returned from the 2007 conference of the Popular Culture and American Culture Association. AMST@UM was well-represented by about a dozen of us, mostly graduate students and a few undergraduate students. PCA/ACA has been one of my favorite conferences for decades -- it is always lively, open and surprising. It's also deteminedly accessible, despite a tendency toward reading papers (as opposed to presentations from papers). Most of the papers are written for an interdisciplinary audience, which means that assumptions are unpacked and jargon explained. I will admit to having diminishing patience with those who research and write about everyday culture in non-everyday language. I've always suspected it was in the interest of self-protection; if the reality TV/romance/Seinfeld fans you are writing about can't understand you, they can't argue with your (mis)interpretation of their experiences.

The saddest thing about attending PCA/ACA (or any large convention) is the impossibilitiy of hearing all the papers and making all the connections you'd like -- with 2,800 attendees, 799 sessions and an average of four papers per session over the course of four twelve-hour days, the best I could have done would be to hear perhaps six a day, and since I wear out fast, I only manage half that. (It's also necessary to skip sessions if you want to have an in-depth talk with someone, as often happens.) Discoveries/delights this time: wonderful session from librarians and archivists on new media, including Wikipedia and Youtube. A new PCA area: Senior Culture; inevitable with all the aging Boomer pop culture scholars, but promising some interesting moments.
There were the usual PCA/ACA moments as well: 25 sessions devoted to mystery and detective fiction, the annual Sci-Fi area film viewing (A 30th anniversary screening of "Star Wars: A New Hope") and Ray and Pat Browne, the George and Martha Washington of PCA, holding court near the registration table.

Mark your calendars: March 19-22, 2008 in San Francisco. (During the UM spring break, for a change!)