The Apollo 8 Genesis Reading and Religion in the Space Age

Between January 1969 and the summer of 1975, NASA received over eight million letters and petition signatures supporting the right of American astronauts to free religious expression in space. Prompted by Madalyn Murray O'Hair's complaints about the reading of Genesis during the flight of Apollo 8, the petition campaign points to the complex ambivalent relationship between religious Americans and their nation's space program. The Genesis reading had provided reassurance that the program, with its secular motivations, its instrumental culture, and its designs upon God's very heavens, was not hostile to faith. But what if NASA now yielded to O'Hair? The petitions flowed in the eschatological anxiety that the sacred space of the skies might be cleared of Christian speech

Alterity — a category of practice and analysis : preliminary remarks

This article provides introductory remarks on the concept of ‘alterity,’ which could stimulate the discussion on newsreels/media and their representation of the Other. Starting from the observation that ‘alterity’ has often been overshadowed by an overestimation of ‘identity,’ the article differentiates between various fields of ‘alterity’: amongst them, ‘real alterity’ in societal practice, ‘representational alterity’ in media contexts, and attitudes of ‘othering’ in movements between alterity or alienness. It critically brings to the fore some underlying frameworks and unspoken assumptions. Finally, the article asks whether the positioning of alterity in 20th-century newsreels has provided first approaches for overcoming its binary corset in the direction of a global circulation of images. Can this perhaps be seen as a step towards turning our attention to a revaluation and new recognition of the Other

Stories Retold: Exploring Real-Life Stories through an Analysis of William Vollinger\u27s Art Songs for Lyric Soprano and Piano

This document explores the art songs for lyric soprano and piano of contemporary composer William Vollinger (b. 1945). Vollinger’s penchant for storytelling inspires his song compositions and the myriad of different stories he relays. In the majority of Vollinger’s art songs for voice and piano, he features the real-life stories of ordinary people and interweaves moral messages. Moreover, all song texts analyzed appear in prose rather than metered poetry, follow the linear narrative structure of short stories, and originate from a variety of unconventional sources. Freytag’s Pyramid, a diagram created to analyze dramatic structures, serves as a useful model for discussing the intersection of music and texts in Vollinger’s art songs based on its applicability to a variety of linear narrative forms and thematic content. By building on the familiar foundation of story narratives, such analysis can function as a relatable tool to help performers better understand Vollinger’s music and illuminate the song texts so they can make informed, interpretative choices. This document merges an interest in Vollinger as a composer and the stories he retells with a structural analysis of the song texts based on Freytag’s Pyramid which informs a discussion of his musical settings. I begin with a biography of Vollinger followed by information on the general style of his art songs for voice and piano. I then outline my methodology for analysis of “Benalisa,” “Alice,” “Ruth,” “Daddy Verne,” and the song cycle, Acts of Kindness. According to each song’s text, I highlight salient musical features present in the melody, harmony, and accompaniment that elucidate the texts and are informed by my delineated structural divisions based on Freytag’s model. Advisors: Anthony Bushard and Kathleen Butle