Wednesday, September 26, 2007

What can you with with an AMST degree? (continued)

We usually have between 8 and 15 American Studies majors out doing internships or community-based projects every term, year-round. I've asked them to introduce themselves to the AMST community and describe their internships and how they connect with their major. Enjoy!

Saturday, September 22, 2007

What's in your news?

I subscribe to a mess of RSS feeds, mostly about race and antiracism, lifehacks/voluntary simplicity and Web 2.0. I also read the (real) Washington Post every day, the Prince George's Gazette every week and the Diamondback semi-regularly. My ears are busy, too. Besides listening to various podcasts as I walk to campus, my radio is tuned to the news on NPR while I eat breakfast and cook dinner, and conservative talk radio while I drive. Oh, and I watch the Daily Show and the Colbert Report, and subscribe to about a dozen listserves. These help me keep up with events and controversies from the local to the global, and frankly, some times I am exhausted.

Perhaps 2-3 hours of my day is typically spent on "news", broadly defined. (Of course, some of that time is shared with other tasks, such as chopping vegetables.) But it leads me to an odd phenomenon of American Studies: if you're a serious AMSTer, it's hard to avoid the flow of input or turn off what seems to be constant reflection and criticism.

I'm a costume historian with and interest in popular fashion, and I can't go to the local mall without finding grist for my intellectual mill. It's exciting and fun on one hand, but it can also be overwhelming. How does someone who "does" American culture and society of a living manage information overload and take time off?