The Tenter-Hooks of Temptation : The Debate Over Theatre in Post-Revolutionary America

In Royall Tyler’s 1787 play The Contrast, the innocent and simple Yankee Jonathan unknowingly attends a playhouse, mistaking it for a hocus pocus show. The historian and eighteenth-century theatre manager, William Dunlap, later criticized Tyler’s play because his hero was a clown who misrepresented the new nation that the Revolutionary War created. Tyler’s satirical portrait of his hero, however, is not an attack on the Yankee, but rather a symbol of the ideological conflicts within America. Jonathan repeats the religious charges against theatre, but he also joins in the fun at the playhouse. He is simple and honest, but he does not have a mind of his own. Thus, Tyler both supported and critiqued the arguments against theatre from the 1780s and 90s. The Contrast is not only a play about theatre, but it is about the new American. Jonathan represents the common man, but his ignorance reveals that the common man could be dangerous. The debate over theatre at the end of the eighteenth century exemplified this paradox. Republicanism meant freemen should have the right to choose their own entertainment, yet it also meant freemen had the right to be protected from dangerous elements of society

The Clash of Agricultural Exceptionalism and the First Amendment: A Discussion of Kansas\u27 Ag-Gag Law

Since the Nation’s founding, agricultural production has been treated differently than other industries. This concept, known as “agricultural exceptionalism,” has manifested in many different ways throughout U.S. history. Since the 1990s, one manifestation of agricultural exceptionalism has been the enactment of “Ag-gag laws,” state laws that limit information gathering activities at animal production facilities. Ag-gag laws are frequently criticized by animal welfare advocates and legal scholars for seeking to shield animal production facilities from public scrutiny, a state-sanctioned protection not afforded to other industries

A Tradition of Sovereignty: Examining Tribal Sovereign Immunity in Bay Mills Indian Community v. Michigan

This commentary previews an upcoming Supreme Court case, Bay Mills Indian Community v. Michigan, in which the Court may decide whether the doctrine of Tribal Sovereign Immunity prohibits Michigan\u27s attempt to enjoin Indian gaming in the state or whether Congress expressly allowed the suit when passing the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act

Evaluation of the ArtsSmarts Strategy: Impacts and Sustainability

The purpose of this report is to provide: 1) an analysis of findings from a survey, interviews and focus groups regarding ArtsSmarts projects funded by the J.W.McConnell Family Foundation across Canada in 2002-2003 and 2) to support advocacy work to obtain long term funding and support for sustainability of the ArtsSmarts approach. The report focuses on the impact of the projects on students, the education system, the community and the arts community addressing key "spheres of Influence" in the educational system

Butterflies and Rebirth

During the Renaissance, collectors saw Morpho butterflies as beautiful, elegant, and rare creatures. Their exotic origin and sophistication made these fascinating creatures the subjects of scientific observation, decoration, and symbolism. Butterflies of the Morpho genus include a wide variety of marvelous, striking, and beautiful species. Home to South and Central America, Morpho butterflies thrive in the rainforests of Nicaragua, Colombia, and Venezuela. When Renaissance Europeans began exploring American rainforests, they were quickly captivated by these butterflies. Morphos feature vivid blue coloration and iridescence on the dorsal side of their wings as well as a yellow-brown coloration on the other side. [excerpt