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American Culture Studies
The American Culture Studies, a multidisciplinary program within Arts and Sciences, offers a network of expertise on a broad range of American social, political and cultural issues. Well-regarded nationally, the Washington University program extends its focus beyond the usual American studies axis of literature and history, stressing a broader approach that more fully incorporates the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. The program includes faculty from every school on campus, including engineering, architecture, art and medicine. Other faculty come from such areas as anthropology, architecture, biology, economics, film, history, law, philosophy, psychology, social work and women's studies.
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Obituary
Jarvis A. Thurston, 93; professor of English
Feb. 15,
2008 -- Jarvis A. Thurston, Ph.D., professor emeritus of English and former chair of Washington University's Department of English in Arts & Sciences, died Feb. 4 of heart disease at his home in University City. He was 93.
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Bad for Baseball?
America ready to peg Barry Bonds as 'Bad Negro," says WUSTL essayist Gerald Early
July 13,
2007 --
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| Gerald Early |
While baseball purists may be poised to place a "steroid-fueled" asterisk next to Bond's name in the record books, to do so would be a mistake, one that follows an unfortunate pattern in the history of blacks in American sports, suggests Gerald Early, Ph.D., a noted essayist and book author who has written extensively on black culture and sports.
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Absence of blacks in the major leagues
Blacks aren't playing baseball simply because 'they don't want to,' says Gerald Early
April 12,
2007 --
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| NO BYLINE |
| Gerald Early's "Unpopular Answer to a Popular Question." |
As Major League Baseball prepares to celebrate the 60th anniversary on April 15 of Jackie Robinson's breaking of the "color barrier," there's been a groundswell of dire warnings about the diminishing ranks of African-Americans on big-league rosters. Some say young urban blacks are isolated from the game by racism, poverty and little access to facilities, but Gerald Early, Ph.D., a noted essayist and black culture expert at Washington University in St. Louis, has a much simpler explanation: "Black Americans don't play baseball because they don't want to." More...
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Peter J. Kastor
Associate Professor of History in Arts & Sciences
Peter Kastor, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of History, with a joint appointment as associate professor of American Culture Studies, both in Arts & Sciences. His research concerns the New Republic, the frontier, American expansion in the early 19th century, the Louisiana Purchase, ...
Expertise: American frontier, early Republic, cultural history, North American borderlands, Louisiana Purchase, expansion along the Lewis and Clark Trail, American foreign policy in 19th century, …
Direct contact: (314) 935-7663
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pjkastor@wustl.edu
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Iver Bernstein
Professor of History in Arts & Sciences
He is the author of "The New York City Draft Riots: Their Significance for American Society and Politics in the Age of the Civil War," Oxford University Press. The 1990 book is considered the definite authority on this time in American history. Bernstein was awarded the George Washington Eggleston ...
Expertise: 19th-century U.S. history, Civil War, Reconstruction, American political culture
Direct contact: (314) 935-5401
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icbernst@wustl.edu
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Howard Brick
Professor of History in Arts & Sciences
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| Brick |
Brick is an expert on the history of the United States since 1865, including a special focus on the history of labor, socialist and radical protest movements. His interests include U.S. intellectual, cultural, social and political history. He has written extensively about the relationship of capitalism ...
Expertise: protest movements, anti-war demonstrations, 20th-century America, history of labor, socialist and radical movements, disruptive protest since the 1930s, American intellectual, …
Direct contact: (314) 935-4251
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hbrick@wustl.edu
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Gerald L. Early
Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters
Early is a noted essayist and American culture critic. A professor of English, of African & African American studies and of American culture studies, all in Arts & Sciences, Early is the author of several books, including The Culture of Bruising: Essays on Prizefighting, Literature, and Modern American ...
Expertise: American literature, African-American culture 1940-1960, Afro-American autobiography, non-fiction prose, baseball, jazz music, prizefighting, …
Direct contact: (314) 935-5576
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glearly@wustl.edu
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Wayne Fields
Lynne Cooper Harvey Distinguished Chair in English
Fields is a nationally known expert on American literature, non-fiction prose, rhetoric and American political argument. His book, "Union of Words: A History of Presidential Eloquence" (1996) examines the use of rhetoric in presidential speeches, from declarations of candidacy to nomination acceptances, ...
Expertise: American literature, American political argument, rhetoric, presidential speechmaking non-fiction prose, rhetoric, Mark Twain, Mississippi River
Direct contact: (314) 935-5216
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wdfields@artsci.wustl.edu
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Negative rhetoric seen beyond campaign trail
Associated Press
and 58 others
April 28,
2008 -- Scorching rhetoric and negative campaigning aren't confined to the long presidential contest. They're spilling over into other segments of public life.
"It's partly this environment where we can't let things slide," said Wayne Fields, director of the American Cultural Studies program at WUSTL.
"There's big bucks to be made. These former leaders are going to protect their positions of expertise so they can keep selling books and keep getting speaking engagements."
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Analysis: Debate Unlikely to Change Race
Associated Press
and 66 others
Feb. 27,
2008 -- WUSTL's Wayne Fields comments on final pitches by Democratic presidential candidates as they head into the last weeks of primary elections.
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Missouri vote signals complex national mood
Chicago Tribune
Feb. 7,
2008 -- Missouri has an uncanny ability to choose presidential winners, going with the loser only once in the past century (Adlai Stevenson in 1956). The state is effectively an intersection of cultural forces — urban and rural, north and south, east and west — and it periodically swings with prevailing national moods.
WUSTL American culture studies director Wayne Fields comments.
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A faith-based stop for the president
Chicago Tribune
and 1 others
Jan. 11,
2008 -- WUSTL American culture studies Professor Wayne Fields comments on President Bush's recent Mideast trip. "President Bush believes in a religion of dramatic revelations — his conversion and 9/11 being the most notable — in which a person's life is transformed or the world is changed," said WUSTL American culture studies professor Wayne Fields. "These moments ... are the sources of the important 'truths' which inform his understanding of life and shape his behavior as well as his rhetoric."
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Huckabee oratory deemed 'low-key,' Obama's classic
The Boston Globe
Jan. 7,
2008 -- WUSTL political rhetoric specialist Wayne Fields is one of the experts commenting on victory speeches following the Iowa presidential caucuses.
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