Register
If you haven’t already, register to start contributing news and events, and to search the Member Directory. Registration is free, but only open to current members of the American Studies Association.
Events
Jan. 9 | Call for papers: Identities and Technocultures
A 2-day conference about American culture and technologies that examines how new technologies dominate and define Americaness in the US and abroad. Co-sponsored by the University of Iowa Center for Ethnic Studies and the Arts (CESA) and the Mid-America American Studies Association (MAASA).
Resources: Abstracts of American Studies Dissertations
By University | By Year
Bloom, John Douglas. "Cardboard Images of the Past: Baseball Card Collection and the Politics of Sports," University of Minnesota, January 1990. Advisor: Gary Alan Fine (18,22,14)
The hobby of adult male baseball card collecting that developed during the 1970’s and 1980’s reveals important connections between commercial objects, popular culture, and collective popular memory. this dissertation explores these connections, focusing on the ways that nostalgic representations of baseball cards illuminate contradictions within contemporary ideologies of masculinity. Combing a historical analysis of the hobby of the post- World War II U.S. life with an ethnographic profile of an adult make collecting audience, this dissertation weaves empirical data and contemporary cultural theory to explore how collectors have actively participated in the invention of a popular tradition.
Quick Links
American Quarterly [official journal site]
American Quarterly [editorial site]