Ripping the Curtain

A conversation with Peter Rollins, questions from the editors of Stance. Peter Rollins is a writer, philosopher, storyteller and public speaker who has gained an international reputation for overturning traditional notions of religion and forming “churches” that preach the Good News that we can’t be satisfied, that life is difficult, and that we don’t know the secret. Challenging the idea that faith concerns questions relating to belief, Peter’s incendiary and irreligious reading of Christianity attacks the distinction between the sacred and the secular. It blurs the lines between theism and atheism and it sets aside questions regarding life after death to explore the possibility of life before death

Television Histories: Shaping Collective Memory in the Media Age

From Ken Burns’s documentaries to historical dramas such as Roots, from A&E’s Biography series to CNN, television has become the primary source for historical information for tens of millions of Americans today. Why has television become such a respected authority? What falsehoods enter our collective memory as truths? How is one to know what is real and what is imagined—or ignored—by producers, directors, or writers? Gary Edgerton and Peter Rollins have collected a group of essays that answer these and many other questions. The contributors examine the full spectrum of historical genres, but also institutions such as the History Channel and production histories of such series as The Jack Benny Show, which ran for fifteen years. The authors explore the tensions between popular history and professional history, and the tendency of some academics to declare the past “off limits” to nonscholars. Several of them point to the tendency for television histories to embed current concerns and priorities within the past, as in such popular shows as Quantum Leap and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. The result is an insightful portrayal of the power television possesses to influence our culture. Winner of the 2001 Ray and Pat Browne Award for Outstanding Textbook given by the Popular Culture Association Offers much food for thought in this highly visual age. —Alliance (OH) Review As an example of well-reasoned, original research, Television Histories makes an important contribution to the study of the medium. —Anthony Slide, Classic Images This book is even more timely and provocative because much of the material discussed is being rebroadcast now that digital television is opening even more new channels. —Choice An engrossing collection that slides the thorny subject of television, history, and memory under a microscope. . . . Digs deep into a contemporary phenomenon, and its many conclusions are right on target. —Film & History Helps those of us who care about history think more clearly about how television can shape historical thinking among our friends, neighbors, and students. —Florida Historical Quarterly Television Histories, a pioneer work, weaves an inspired and informed interdisciplinary analysis of television and history. The chapters are enlightening, readable, and entertaining; the editors and the authors have produced a work that enriches and strengthens the study of film and history. —Michael Schoenecke The stuff serious thinkers in a media age should read, mark and remember. —Rockland (ME) Courier-Gazette An insightful and important addition to the literature that sheds light on an often controversial subject for professional historians. —Southern Historian Most of the essays are likely to be of considerable value to any attentive student of television. —Television Quarterly Working from the thesis that people learn about history through television more than any other medium, Edgerton and Rollins look at what TV subliminally teaches us by what is shows and does not show. —Varietyhttps://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_film_and_media_studies/1020/thumbnail.jp

Why We Fought : America\u27s Wars in Film and History

Film moves audiences like no other medium; both documentaries and feature films are especially remarkable for their ability to influence viewers. Best-selling author James Brady remarked that he joined the Marines to fight in Korea after seeing a John Wayne film, demonstrating how a motion picture can change the course of a human life—in this case, launching the career of a major historian and novelist. In Why We Fought: America’s Wars in Film and History, editors Peter C. Rollins and John E. O’Connor explore the complexities of war films, describing the ways in which such productions interpret history and illuminate American values, politics, and culture. This comprehensive volume covers representations of war in film from the American Revolution in the 18th century to today’s global War on Terror. The contributors examine iconic battle films such as The Big Parade (1925), All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), From Here to Eternity (1953), and Platoon (1986), considering them as historical artifacts. The authors explain how film shapes our cultural understanding of military conflicts, analyzing how war is depicted on television programs, through news media outlets, and in fictional and factual texts. With several essays examining the events of September 11, 2001, and their aftermath, the book has a timely relevance concerning the country’s current military conflicts. Jeff Chown examines controversial documentary films about the Iraq War, while Stacy Takacs considers Jessica Lynch and American gender issues in a post-9/11 world, and James Kendrick explores the political messages and aesthetic implications of United 93. From filmmakers who reshaped our understanding of the history of the Alamo, to Ken Burns’s popular series on the Civil War, to the uses of film and media in understanding the Vietnam conflict, Why We Fought offers a balanced outlook— one of the book’s editors was a combat officer in the United States Marines, the other an antiwar activist—on the conflicts that have become touchstones of American history. As Air Force veteran and film scholar Robert Fyne notes in the foreword, American war films mirror a nation’s past and offer tangible evidence of the ways millions of Americans have become devoted, as was General MacArthur, to “Duty, honor, and country.” Why We Fought chronicles how, for more than half a century, war films have shaped our nation’s consciousness. Peter C. Rollins is Regents Professor Emeritus of English and American Film Studies at Oklahoma State University and is former editor of the journal Film & History. He is the coeditor of numerous books, including Hollywood’s Indian: The Portrayal of the Native American in Film. John E. O’Connor is professor emeritus of the Federated Department of History at New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers University. He is also a founding editor of Film & History and the coeditor of several books. “Why We Fought is not only a thoughtful reading of war films and history, but it is a significant contribution to scholarship. Understanding why we fight is more relevant today than ever before since Americans continue to explore their national identity, their country, and themselves.”—Michael K. Schoenecke, coeditor of All-Stars and Movie Stars: Sports in Film and History Although it is sometimes waged for selfish and extraneous ends, warfare is fundamental to developing human cultures. Regardless of its end, warfare continues to be depicted in documentaries and analyzed more in the imagination than on the battlefield. Battles that are re-created on the stage and silver screen depict the motivations, actual experiences, and consequences of combat. . . . This penetrating collection of essays by two of the best editors of history and film looks deeply into movies\u27 interpretations of why we have fought and examines the ways in which war has been presented to us. --Ray B. Browne, Professor of Popular Culture, Emeritus, Bowling Green State University Peter C. Rollins and John E. O\u27Connor have compiled a historically sound, inclusive, and diverse, interdisciplinary portrait of American wars in film. Each essay has its own bibliography, and the ending filmography is nothing short of superb. Technically and conceptually, this book is, perhaps, the most powerful of its kind produced to date, and it will doubtlessly be lauded as a breakthrough in the studies of war films. --Robert C. Doyle, author of Voices from Captivity: Interpreting the American POW Narrative “This wide-ranging and sophisticated anthology incorporates a broad spectrum of analytical perspectives that establish major film treatments of America’s wars in cinematic and historical contexts, while demonstrating the synergistic relationships between the two approaches.”—Dennis Showalter, Patton and Rommel: Men of War in the Twentieth Century “A useful addition to an academic, arts, or film library, this book covers films based on every war fought by the United States.” --Xpress Reviews Rollins and O’Connor’s finished product is a great resource. It is chronologically organized, and uses a variety of mediums and types of analysis. This collection provides an appropriately complete illustration of how war has been depicted and its role in understanding American history. --David R. Buck, southwestjournalofcultures.blogpsot.com Rollins and O’Connor have assembled a rich, varied collection of essays that explore all US wars in order, from the American Revolution to Iraq. Essential. --R. D. Sears, Choice Not only will you learn a lot about the movies, but you’ll also re-examine the context of the film’s creation. . . . A fascinating book. --Book Bit for WTBF- AM/FM These outstanding essays provide proof of the war film genre’s lasting legacy in American history and cinema. --History News Network, hnn.us “The book takes on depictions of every conflict from the American Revolution to September 11 and its aftermath, showing how films have shaped America’s understanding of its history.” --Colloquy “An excellent compilation of essays on war films.” --VVA Veteran Rollins and O’Connor have provided a starting point with which to analyze the influence of wars and conflicts in movies, documentaries, and television shows. --On Point The methodology is to examine a particular film, a pair of films or series to explore the reasons given for having to fight it, the portrayal of combat, and the other political and social implications. --NYMAS Named as a Choice Outstanding Academic Titles. Winner of the 2008 Ray and Pat Browne Award.https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_film_and_media_studies/1023/thumbnail.jp

Hollywood\u27s White House: The American Presidency in Film and History

Winner of the 2003 Ray and Pat Browne Book Award, given by the Popular Culture Association The contributors to Hollywood’s White House examine the historical accuracy of these presidential depictions, illuminate their influence, and uncover how they reflect the concerns of their times and the social and political visions of the filmmakers. The volume, which includes a comprehensive filmography and a bibliography, is ideal for historians and film enthusiasts. The essays are supported by numerous sources that provide some good leads . . . the chronological filmography will come in handy. Recommended. -- Library Journal This well-written book, with contributions by both film critics and historians, is an interesting study of the real presidency and the reel presidency. -- USA Today Magazine An excellent example of the American theater. . . . We are the audience. We will be a much more informed audience after reading the essays in this book. -- Ray Browne, Journal of American Culture A scholarly examination of the portrayal of the American presidency in film. -- Choice Winner of the 2004 Ray and Pat Browne Award given by the Popular Culture Association.https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_american_popular_culture/1005/thumbnail.jp

Hollywood\u27s Indian: The Portrayal of the Native American in Film

Offering both in-depth analyses of specific films and overviews of the industry\u27s output, Hollywood\u27s Indian provides insightful characterizations of the depiction of the Native Americans in film. This updated edition includes a new chapter on Smoke Signals, the groundbreaking independent film written by Sherman Alexie and directed by Chris Eyre. Taken as a whole the essays explore the many ways in which these portrayals have made an impact on our collective cultural life. Raises interesting issues and challenges readers to consider the complex realities of American Indian cultures and Indian/non-Indian relations that major motion pictures often fail to communicate. -- American Graduate Important and groundbreaking work. -- Bookman News Enables readers to construct a cinematic chronology of the Hollywood Indian and to comprehend the larger cultural forces at work interpreting the Indian-white past on screen. -- Choice Rollins and O’Connor have skillfully blended a variety of thoughtful veiwpoints. -- Chronicles of Oklahoma A collection of quality essays, put together by two of the leading experts in this particular topic area. -- Communication Booknotes Quarterly Hollywood\u27s representation of Indians is a subject which up till now has generated a lot more heat than light. This welcome new collection of essays covers a lot of ground . . . including a valuable piece on Michael Mann\u27s The Last of the Mohicans and earlier versions of Cooper\u27s \u27Leatherstocking Tales,\u27 a surprisingly and convincingly sympathetic essay on Dances with Wolves , and an informative account of Pocahontas . -- Edward Buscombe Will become the standard source for reference for an important subject, not only in American contemporary popular culture, but for evolving attitudes in a new century. -- Film and History The essays provide valuable ways to think about the meaning and impact of Hollywood\u27s portrayal of American Indian characters. -- Great Plains Quarterly Offers an engaging and timely update to previous critical anthologies. -- H-Net Book Review An engaging and timely update to previous critical anthologies. -- Journal of American Culture The value of this collection resides in the concentrated attention it gives to the portrayal of Native Americans on film. -- Journal of American Ethnic History The essays are solid pieces that place the films in a proper historical and artistic context. -- Journal of American History The essays add to the growing literature on films about American Indians, and individually, they provide interesting insights into the process of movie-making and viewing. -- North Carolina Historical Review A welcome contribution to the lively and timely debate on the representation of ethnic minorities in the media. -- Zeitscrift fur Anglistik und Amerikanistik An excellent set of essays on the subject. -- Choicehttps://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_film_and_media_studies/1022/thumbnail.jp

The Story Circle as a Practice of Democratic, Critical Inquiry

The authors of this essay have been committed practitioners and teachers of Philosophy for Children in a variety of educational settings, from pre-schools through university doctoral programs and in adult community and religious education programs. The promotion of critical thinking has always been a primary goal of this movement. But communal practices of critical thinking need to include other kinds of democratic conversation that prompt us to see others as full-fledged persons and to be curious about how our being in community with them makes growth and self-correction possible. As we continue to experiment and innovate in new contexts we see ourselves continuing the inquiry around expanding the inclusivity of conversations about basic human concerns. In this essay we describe an inclusive strategy called the story circle, that was first developed as a method of popular education in Denmark and was then adapted as a tool of social change among poor and dis-empowered American citizens in Appalachia. Story circles were later utilized in a philosophical living-learning community and most recently coupled with Lipman and Sharp’s dialogue method of the community of philosophical inquiry (CPI). The authors of this paper have combined story circles with the community of philosophical inquiry in a variety of contexts. In each iteration, telling one’s own story and listening carefully to the stories of others can be equally revelatory actions

Viral forgetting, or how to have ignorance in an syndemic

This paper argues for the concept of viral forgetting to understand how and why the lessons of HIV are not easy to remember in the context of COVID. Building on recently drawn analogies between the two epidemics, we argue that new normative injunctions to ‘flatten the curve’ and ‘stay at home’ individualise responses to COVID that make memory of the first decade of HIV vital in recent viral times. Individualistic responses, including those that bind individuals to social identity groups, obscure the ways in which effective care for others and the self requires a recognition of the partiality of community, the inevitability of vulnerability, and a complex interpretation of scientific evidence and human ontology. We draw on Eve Sedgwick’s thinking about ignorance and power to critique how political leadership, particularly in the United States, in 2020 created chaos that suggested that an individualist masculine response to the epidemic was the only thing that could save us

Gastric IgG4-Related Autoimmune Fibrosclerosing Pseudotumour: A Novel Location

We describe the first reported case of an IgG4-related autoimmune fibrosclerosing pseudotumour located in the stomach of a 75-year old woman presenting with weight loss and vomiting. A lesion was detected in the gastric body at endoscopy. Subsequent characterisation by CT was suggestive of a gastrointestinal stromal tumour. Following laparoscopic resection, the patient recovered uneventfully. Histological examination of the resected specimen revealed an IgG4-related fibrosclerosing pseudotumour, a novel location for this histopathological entity

Observation of Parametric Instability in Advanced LIGO

Parametric instabilities have long been studied as a potentially limiting effect in high-power interferometric gravitational wave detectors. Until now, however, these instabilities have never been observed in a kilometer-scale interferometer. In this work we describe the first observation of parametric instability in an Advanced LIGO detector, and the means by which it has been removed as a barrier to progress

Treatment of fast breathing in neonates and young infants with oral amoxicillin compared with penicillin-gentamicin combination: study protocol for a randomized, open-label equivalence trial

Background: The World Health Organization recommends hospitalization and injectable antibiotic treatment for young infants (0–59 days old), who present with signs of possible serious bacterial infection. Fast breathing alone is not associated with a high mortality risk for young infants and has been treated with oral antibiotics in some settings. This trial was designed to examine the safety and efficacy of oral amoxicillin for young infants with fast breathing compared with that of an injectable penicillin–gentamicin combination. The study is currently being conducted in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and Nigeria Methods/Design: This is a randomized, open-label equivalence trial. All births in the community are visited at home by trained community health workers to identify sick infants who are then referred to a trial study nurse for assessment. The primary outcome is treatment failure by day 8 after enrollment, defined as clinical deterioration, development of a serious adverse event including death, persistence of fast breathing by day 4 or recurrence up to day 8. Secondary outcomes include adherence to study therapy, relapse, death between days 9 and 15 and adverse effects associated with the study drugs. Study outcomes are assessed on days 4, 8, 11 and 15 after randomization by an independent outcome assessor who is blinded to the treatment being given. Discussion: The results of this study will help inform the development of policies for the treatment of fast breathing among neonates and young infants in resource-limited settings