This directory contains the responses to the New Subscriber Questionnaire for the Comics Scholars Discussion List. Entries may be found under each scholar's surname; please browse the sub-lists below. The complete list of names may be found at the Directory Main Page. Note that not everyone listed here may be currently a member of the discussion list, due to periodic un-subscribing. The date an entry was submitted or revised is found at the end of each entry.
If there are any questions, or if you would like to revise your entry, please contact Leonard Rifas
Stropstraat 22, 9000 Gent, Belgium -- naisvandamme@hotmail.com
Research Interest/Current Projects:
I am in my last year of Arts&Lit at Ghent University and writing a thesis about women in comics.
20 April 1999
School of Communications and Arts, University of São
Paulo, Brasil; home: São Paulo, SP -Brasil; wdcsverg@usp.br; http://www.eca.usp.br/gibiusp/, Phone/Fax:
55-11-3091-4324 (phone)
Publications--About Comics:
Brazilian comic artists in the United States. Brazilian Communication Research Yearbook, v. 2, p. 99-106, 1993
Comic book collections in Brazilian public libraries: the Gibitecas. New Library World, v. 95, n. 1117, p. 14-8, 1994
Children´s comics in Brazil: from Chiquinho to Mônica, a difficult journey. International Journal of Comic Art, v. 1, n. 1, p. 171-186, 1999
Brazilian superheroes in search of their own identities. International Journal of Comic Art, v. 2, n. 2, p. 164-177, Fall 2000
Brazilian pornographic comics: a view on the eroticism of a Latin American culture in the work of artist Carlos Zéfiro. International Journal of Comic Art, v. 3, n. 2, p. 70-78, Fall 2001
Forging a sustainable comics industry: a case study on graphic novels as
a viable format for developing countries, based on the work of a Brazilian
artist. International Journal of Comic Art, v. 4, n. 2, p. 157-167,
Fall 2002 and dozens of articles in Portuguese.
Publications--Other:
Many other on Library Sciences and Collection Development.
Conference Papers--About Comics:
Several.
Conference Papers--Other:
Several.
Teaching--Comics Related:
Critical Readings on Comics (Undergradutation); Comics publishing (Undergraduation);
Comics, Information and Education (Graduation)
Teaching--Other:
Collection Development; Library Management.
Research Interests,
Current Projects (Comics and Otherwise): Currently
researching on Brazilian comics and organizing a Brazilian Comics Directory;
writing a monthly column about comics (in internet), aimed to Brazilian
librarians and information professionals .
29 April, 2003
Palomar
College, 1140
W. Mission Rd., San Marcos, CA
Publications--About Comics:
Forthcoming in The Comics Journal, #224(?): "How Comics Enrich Literary Studies: A Teacher's Perspective"
Conference Papers--About Comics:
"ReMaustering the Past: Art Spiegelman and the Second Generation of the Holocaust" at the 15th Annual Conference on the Holocaust, Millersville College, Millersville, PA, April 1996
Conference Papers--Other:
"Telling Stories: Ethnic American Narrators and the Forgotten Past," at the 10th Annual Narrative Conference at Columbus, OH, April 1996. "Fabulating History: David Bradley's The Chaneysville Incident and Cultural Identity" at the National Conference for the Nationa Association of African-American Studies at Houston, TX, February 1996.
Teaching--Comics Related: Formal:
(Forthcoming in Spring 2001) English 270: "Words and Pictures: The Literary Art of the Comic Book"; Informal: inclusion of comic books in various literature and composition classes
Teaching--Other:
Full time teaching, including composition, creative writing, literary magazine production, film, introduction to literature, Vietnam and Holocaust literature
Research Interests, Current Projects (Comics and Otherwise):
Comic book recreations of the My Lai massacre; Lynda Barry and the reinvention of the comic strip; Journalism through comic books (focus on Joe Sacco, Joe Kubert, Don Lomax, and others).
31 May 2000
495 21st St. N.E., Salem, OR 97301-4404 USA
arnoldwagner@compuserve.com -- Phone/Fax:(503) 581-5928
Publications--About Comics:
The Pro Cartoonist & Gagwriter (1960-62)
Research Interests, Current Projects (Comics and Otherwise):
U.S. History 1815-1861; Biography of E.D. Baker; Humor bases.
19 April 2000
Frye Art Museum, 704 Terry Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104 -- richard@fryemuseum.org; http://www.fryeart.org/; Phone/Fax: (206) 622-9250 FAX: (206) 223-1707
Publications--About Comics:
"Comics as Ding an Sich: A Note on Means and Media" in Children of the Yellow Kid (exhibition catalogue), Frye Art Museum, Seattle, September 1998
Publications--Other:
"Rockwell Kent: Before the Odyssey" and "Rockwell Kent: After the Odyssey" in The Odyssey of Rockwell Kent (exhibition catalogue), Norman Rockwell Museum, September 2000 (forthcoming).
Conference Papers--Non-Comics:
"Rocky vs. Tail Gunner Joe: Rockwell Kent, Senator Joseph McCarthy, and the Genesis of the USSR 'Great Kent Collection,' " Rockwell Kent Symposium, SUNY, Plattsburgh, 1994
10 March 2000
New Orleans, LA USA
writermike@yahoo.com / blitz.simplenet.com
Research Interests, Current Projects (Comics and Otherwise):
Comics: Storytelling, Panels, Borders, Comics as viable medium
Writing: Any-thing and Every-thing.
17 May 1998
I.I.C.A.N.A. (Instituto
de Intercambio Cultural Argentino-Norteamericano),
Deán Funes 726 5000 Córdoba, Argentina
Departamento de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Nacional
de Villa María, 5900 Villa María,
Cba., Argentina
Achával Rodríguez 1146,
5000 Córdoba, Argentina
jwilliams@arnet.com.ar -- http://english.ttu.edu/comix/home.htm -- Phone/Fax: 0351 424 4425
Publications--About Comics:
· "Cultural Studies: American Dominance and Counter Hegemony as Seen Through Comics." Conference Proceedings, Asoiacion Argentina de Estudios Americanos, XXXI Jornadas. [forthcoming].
· "La tipología de la historieta como la próxima etapa en el desarrollo de la novela." Conference Proceedings, Literatura y fin(es) de siglo. [forthcoming].
· "Homosexuality and Political Activism in Latin American Culture: An Arena for Popular Culture and Comix." Other Voices (Web-Based Journal), 2.1 (1998).
· "Comics: A Tool of Subversion?" reprinted in Interrogating Popular Culture. Eds. Sean E. Anderson and Gregory J. Howard. Guilderland, NY: Harrow and Heston, 1998: 97-117. Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture (Web-Based Journal), 2.6 (1994): 129-146.
· "Comics in the Academy: A Bibliographical Essay", Interdisciplinary Humanities, Summer 1993: 29-36.
Publications--Other:
A couple on Writing Center theory and practice
Conference Papers--About Comics:
· "Cultural Studies: American Dominance and Counter Hegemony as Seen Through Comics." XXXI Jornadas, Asoiacion Argentina de Estudios Americanos, Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Escuela Superior de Lenguas in Vaquerías, Cba, September, 1999.
· "La tipología de la historieta como la próxima etapa en el desarrollo de la novela." Jornadas Nacionales, Literatura y fin(es) de siglo (Organizadas por: Escuela Superior de Lenguas Universidad Nacional de Córdoba) in Vaquerías, Cba, August, 1999.
· "From Hegemony to Counter-hegemony in the Works of Alan Moore." National Popular Culture Association Conference in Orlando, FL, March, 1998.
· "Political Activism and Popular Culture in Latin American Literature." Texas Tech University Graduate English Society Conference in Lubbock, TX. February 1998.
· "Citing Comics Art in Scholarly Writing-- The Report of the Comic Art Citation Committee." National Popular Culture Association Conference in San Antonio, TX. March, 1997.
· "Interacting Borders in Sacco's Palestine." National Popular Culture Association Conference in San Antonio, TX. March, 1997.
· "Gramsci and Comic Books." Politics and Languages of Contemporary Marxism (International Conference sponsored by Rethinking Marxism) in Amherst, MA. Dec, 1996.
· "When Outsiders Meet Other: Swallowed and Consumed, Domesticized Oppression, and Other Issues in Sacco's Palestine." Fifth Annual Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies Conference in Statesboro, GA. April, 1996.
· "Narrative Layering in Spiegelman's Maus." National Popular Culture Association Conference in Las Vegas, NV. March, 1996.
· "Reading Comics in the Classroom" (Panel Organizer and Presentor). National Popular Culture Association Conference in Philadelphia, PA. April, 1995.
· "Comics- A Tool of Subversion?" National Popular Culture Association Conference in Chicago, IL. April, 1994.
· "Comics in the Composition Classroom: A Cooperative Learning Approach." (Panel Organizer and Presentor). National Popular Culture Association Conference in New Orleans, LA. April, 1993
Conference Papers--Other:
A couple on Writing Center theory and practice
Teaching--Comics Related:
Freshman English Composition-- Comics and Cultural Studies; Fiction survey class-- Study of adaptations (used comics, short stories/poetry, novels, and film)
Teaching--Other:
Freshman English Composition (1st and 2nd semesters); Research paper writing and methods; Fiction Survey; Web Publishing; English Language Conversation; American Culture
Research Interests, Current Projects (Comics and Otherwise):
Marginal literature of the sixties (w/ emphasis on undergrounds and Robert Crumb), Literary Theory, Writing Centers, EFL, and Cultural Studies.
13 February 2000
University of Colorado, Boulder CO USA
Conference Papers--About Comics:
· Shakespeare in Neil Gaiman's Sandman,1998
Teaching--Other:
Shakespeare
Research Interests, Current Projects (Comics and Otherwise):
Renaissance drama, history of bodies
Other Comments:
dissertation in progress, Parts of the Past: Staging Bodies in the Early Modern Period
19 May 1998
15 Red
Rock Way, #N209, San Francisco CA
Publications--About Comics:
· Cartoon Theatricals. Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, forthcoming.
· "Hully Gee, It's a WAR!!! The Yellow Kid and the Coining of Yellow Journalism." Inks: Cartoon and Comic Art Studies 2.3 (1995) 22-37.
· "Cartoon Theatricals from 1896 to 1927: Gus Hill's Cartoon Shows for the American Road Theatre." Diss., Ohio State U, 1995. UMI Dissertation Information Service (95-34091), 1995.
· "Litigation and Early Comic Strips: The Lawsuits of Outcault, Dirks and Fisher." Inks: Cartoon and Comic Art Studies 2.2 (1995) 16-25.
· "Cartoon Theatricals: A Chronology." Theatre Studies 38 (1993) 56-92.
· "Comic Strip Theatricals in Public and Private Collections: A Case Study." Popular Culture in Libraries 1.1 (1993) 67-76.
·
"Jerome Lawrence and
· "The Yellow Kid and the Origins of Comic Strip Theatricals: 1895-1898." Theatre Studies 37 (1992) 32-55.
· "George McManus, Comic Strip Theatricals, and Vaudeville." Thes., Ohio State U, 1990.
Publications--Other:
·
Jerome Lawrence and
· "Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee: A Classified Bibliography." Studies in American Drama, 1945 - Present 7 (1992) 88-160.
Conference Papers--About Comics:
· "Hully Gee, It's a WAR!!! The Yellow Kid and the Coining of Yellow Journalism." American Journalism Historians Association, Annual Meeting. Tulsa, Oklahoma. September 28, 1995.
· Cartoon Theatricals. Exhibit. Main Branch, Columbus Metropolitan Library. Columbus, Ohio. August 3 - September 14, 1995.
· "Cartoon Theatricals." Public presentation in conjunction with a "Cartoon Theatricals" exhibit (August 3 - September 14, 1995). Main Branch, Columbus Metropolitan Library. Columbus, Ohio. August 12, 1995.
· ---. Proseminar. Department of Theatre, Ohio State University. Columbus, Ohio. Spring, 1995.
· ---. Lunchbag series. School of Theatre, Ohio University. Athens, Ohio. November, 1994.
· "The Public and the Private: Approaches of Special and Private Collections to Comic Strip Theatricals." 21st Popular Culture and 13th American Culture Associations Conference. San Antonio, Texas. March 27-30, 1991.
Conference Papers--Other:
· "Diversity in the Classroom." Brownbag series. Center for Instruction Resources, Ohio State University. Columbus, Ohio. Spring, 1994.
· ---. Fourth National Conference on the Training and Employment of Graduate Teaching Assistants. Chicago, Illinois. November 10-13, 1993.
· Graduate mentor, workshop facilitator. University Teaching Associate Workshop. Center for Teaching Excellence, Ohio State University. Columbus, Ohio. Fall, 1992; fall, 1993.
Teaching--Other:
OHIO UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL OF THEATRE, Athens, Ohio 1994; THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE, Columbus, Ohio 1991-1993; DENISON UNIVERSITY, DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE AND CINEMA, Granville, Ohio 1991
Research Interests, Current Projects (Comics and Otherwise):
Cartoon Theatricals; Jerome Lawrence & Robert E. Lee; Julian Eltinge; Gus Hill
Awards and Honors
· Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon. New York, New York. Swann Fellow. Dissertation support. 1993-1994.
· Pew Charitable Trust and the Fourth National Conference on the Training and Employment of Graduate Teaching Assistants. Pew Fellow. Recognition of excellence in teaching. 1993.
· John C. Morrow Memorial Fund, The Ohio State University, Department of Theatre. Travel grant. Fourth National Conference on the Training and Employment of Graduate Teaching Assistants. Chicago, Illinois. November 10-13, 1993.
· ---. 21st Popular Culture and 13th American Culture Associations' Conference. San Antonio, Texas. March 27-30, 1991.
· ---. LMDA (Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas) Conference. Chicago, Illinois. June 24-26, 1990.
· ---. Library of Congress, Manuscripts Division. Washington, DC. February 23-26, 1989.
2 April 2000
Attending and working at Washburn University, 1700 College Ave, Topeka, KS 66621
kwohler@sunflower.com, http://www.filmguru.net/
(785) 221-4837
Conference
Papers--Other:
(co-author) Writing
Fellows Plus: Creating a Writing Community with the Washburn Writers Program,
to be presented at WAC 2004
Research Interests,
Current Projects (Comics and Otherwise):
Master's Thesis on Superman in relation to popular notions of
nature vs. nurture (in the works, due May 2004)
Art Center College of Design, Pasadena CA -- bwood@artcenter.edu
Research Interests, Current Projects (Comics and Otherwise):
I am a graduate student in New Media, and I am studying/developing digital comics. My main question is: since the print magazine model is well-established on the Internet, why have comics lagged behind? If they are establishing a presence on the Internet, why are they like printed comics? Why not take advantage of the two mediums strengths? I am currently developing a hypertextual graphic novel for exclusive viewing on the Internet.
It should be noted that I am not a well-versed theoretician, I was trained as a designer/illustrator. However, I have a working knowledge of semiotics, narrative structure, and other theories that apply to comics. I could always use more knowledge on these matters (couldn't we all?), so mail me if you have something interesting. Thanks!
If anyone is interested in starting a dialogue about the possibilities of digital comics, I would be glad to start a correspondence
8 April 1998
Michigan State University; woodje@msu.edu
Publications--About Comics:
"A Formal Analysis of Art Spiegelman's MAUS" (M.A. thesis, Central
Michigan University)
Publications--Other:
none yet
Conference Papers--About Comics:
none yet
Conference Papers--Other:
none yet
Research Interests, Current Projects (Comics and Otherwise):
Formal properties of comics, McLuhan, art criticism, visual communication, computer
games. Current projects - character involvement in "The
Sims," peddling my thesis, closure in Kandinsky,
and mixed media in the new "Max Payne" computer game.
Other Comments: Hi everybody!
13 August 2001
Dublin, Ireland -- wasteyourtimehere@yahoo.com (personal use) and mail_of_j@yahoo.com (professional use).
Publications--Non-Comics:
Forthcoming: 'Scylla and Charybdis (and Phaedrus)' in James Joyce Quarterly
Teaching--Comics Related:
Have delivered a couple 'multi-media' presentations (I used overheads) to undergraduate comparative literature courses.
Research Interests, Current Projects (Comics and Otherwise):
Comics (theory, narrative presenation, and links to other forms of narrative media), Irish literature (specifically Swift, Joyce, Beckett, and a few other usual suspects who helped aim the canon back on itself), 19th & 20th century literature, critical theory. Current projects this year: Make 'Em Think You're Mad! Or, A Qualitative Analysis of Swift's Physico-Literary Chassis; The Masked Identifications of Yeats, Nietzsche and Leo Africanus (A Suggestion)[preparing for publication]; Nausicaa: The Narrative Voice Need Not Be Negated [preparing for publication]; Endgame: An Impossible Heap of Absurd Words; The Amazing True Story of Comics and the Incredible Francie Brady! [an analysis of the influence of comics on the narrative structure and form of Patrick McCabe's 'The Butcher Boy']; currently working on Anglo-Irish Masters of Philosophy thesis on the multidimensional narratives of Joyce and Beckett, and an essay on the violence of irony perpetuated against metaphor in Anglo-Irish Aisling poetry.
Other Comments:
[...if only more people understood...]
9 November 1999
Division of Social Science, Marymount Manhattan College, 221 East 71st Street, New York, NY 10021
worceste@ssrc.org -- Phone/fax: 212-517-0452
Publications--About Comics:
Numerous reviews for 'The Comics Journal' and 'Comics Forum' (U.K.), and 'Inks'. Also: in-depth interviews with Ted Rall ('Comics Journal', no. 206, August 1998) and Bob Fingerman ('Comics Journal', no. 207, September 1998), as well as "Superman, Philip Wylie, and the New Deal" ('Comics Forum', no. 6, Spring-Summer 1994).
Publications--Other:
'C.L.R. James: A Political
Biography' (SUNY Press, 1996); 'Trade Union Politics: American Unions and
Economic Change, 1960s-1990s' (Humanities Press, 1995, co-edited with
Teaching--Comics Related:
"Comics and Animation" (Fall 1999, Marymount Manhattan College)
Teaching--Other:
Comparative politics, social movements, democratic theory.
Research Interests, Current Projects (Comics and Otherwise):
The history of the Marvel Universe; vigilante comics; the intellectual history of the modern social sciences.
23 March 1999
Community College of Allegheny County, and Pittsburgh Children's Museum Joe Wos Productions, Pittsburgh PA USA -- jwos705932@aol.com or joe.toon@bargainbd.com website currently under construction
Publications--Non-Comics:
Comics work: Freelance cartoonist, Cartoonist and storyteller through The children's museum traveling to schools and festivals. Develop screensavers and working on several children's books.
Teaching:
Art, Cartooning both kids and adult level courses, Community College of Allegheny county, also caricature, and lectures.
Research Interests, Current Projects (Comics and Otherwise):
Currently attending the University of Pittsburgh. I am studying the history and aesthetics of comic strip art, including its impact on popular culture and aesthetic patterns within the media. I also continue my work as a freelance cartoonist. I am always looking for advice and more books on the history and aesthetics of comic strips..I look forward to any and all dialougue on the subject and hope to meet a few of you at future comics and cartoon events. Thank you.
9 November 1999
Department of English, Francis
Marion University,
PO Box 100547, Florence,
SC
a.. TYoung4@sc.rr.com; b.. TYoung@fmarion.edu; c.. www.fmarion.edu/~dryoung
Phone: (843) 661-1500
Publications--Other:
a.. "This Frenzy"
[poem]. Southwestern Review Spring 1995: 62-63.
b.. "Biographies: The Life and Work of Vardis Fisher." Proceeding On Through a
Beautiful Country: A History of Idaho.
Idaho PBS. KAID, Boise.
1990.
c.. "Contributions: Sun
Valley." Proceeding On Through a Beautiful Country: A
History of Idaho. Idaho
PBS. KAID, Boise.
1990.
d.. "Thoughts On Ezra Pound"
[poem]. Cold-Drill 1987: 40.
e.. "Cuban Coda of a Bohemian
Rhapsody" [short story]. Crypt 2 (1986): 6-7.
f.. "Dead Can Dance" [short
story]. Ivory Tower 2 (1986): 40-45.
g.. Five poems. Crypt 1 (1985): 2-6.
h.. Four poems. Hot Bit Spring 1985:
15, 19, 21.
Conference Papers--About Comics:
a.. "Randian
Modernism in the Work of Steve Ditko."
Philological Association of the Carolinas
Conference. Asheville, NC,
23 March, 2002. A
presentation dealing primarily with Ditko's Shade,
the Changing Man and Mr. A that reveals the influence of Ayn
Rand on Ditko's work and how Rand's Objectivism
(and, thus, Ditko's work) falls squarely within the
realm of Modernism. A companion paper that contrasts Ditko's Modernism with the Postmodern elements in Alan
Moore's Watchmen (using characters inspired by Ditko)
has yet to be completed.
Conference Papers--Other:
a.. "Vision and Revision for the
Electronic Medium." Southeastern Writing
Center Association
Conference. Savannah, Georgia,
4 February 2000.
(Co-presentation with Dr. John Sutton). A presentation and discussion
on the changes within the teaching and tutoring of composition students as
writing moves from linearly organized texts based in Aristotelian logical
structures to nonlinearly organized texts based in non-Aristotelian logical
structures.
b. "Romantic Idealism in Thomas Hardy's
The Woodlanders." College English Association Conference. New
Orleans, 6
April 1996. A presentation on the influence of German
Transcendentalism and British Romanticism on the idealistic and pantheistic
ideology of Hardy's novel.
c.. "The Use of Pauses in Jack Kerouac's
Spontaneous Jazz Style: Narrative Technique in Doctor Sax." Arkansas
Philological Association Conference. Hot Springs,
Arkansas, 14 October 1995. A presentation on the types of
musical note rests that correspond to the three variations of the space-dash
and the period punctuation forms that appear in Kerouac's novel in order to
demonstrate that the narrative's theme is the
equivalent of a theme phrase in jazz-with elaborations on that theme
following the musical rests within the text.
d. "The Aesthetics of Epiphanies: Joycean Observations on the Feeling of the
Sublime." South Central Conference on Christianity and
Literature. New Orleans, 3 February 1995. A
presentation tracing the origin of Joyce's epiphanies to Kantian aesthetics
that came to Joyce through British Romanticism and Nietzschean
transcendentalism. The epiphanies are an integral part of Joyce's
aesthetics that embody a tension between opposing ideas.
Teaching--Comics Related:
Alan Moore's V for Vendetta used in a sophomore-level English class (English
200) as part of a study of dystopian literature.
Teaching--Other:
a. Senior Seminar (co-instructor), Francis Marion
University-Instructor for section on Jack Kerouac's On the Road (English
491).
b. American Literature Before 1860, Francis
Marion University
(English 303).
c. British Literature Survey, University
of Louisiana-Romanticism to
Present (200 level).
d. American Literature Survey II,
University of Louisiana-Civil War to Present (200 level).
e. American Literature Survey I, University of
Louisiana-Colonial to Civil War (200 level).
f. Literature and the Natural World, Francis
Marion University
(English 203). This class supplemented with work in the English
Department's Computer Lab using the
Daedalus Integrated Writing Environment software
(DOS).
g. Literature and Society, Francis
Marion University
(English 202).
h. Literature and the Individual, Francis
Marion University
(English 201). This class supplemented with work in the English
Department's Computer Lab using the
Daedalus Integrated Writing Environment software
(DOS and Windows).
i. Sophomore Composition-Writing for
Disciplines, Francis Marion
University (English 200).
This class supplemented with work in the English Department's Computer
Lab using the Daedalus Integrated Writing
Environment software (DOS and Windows).
j. Freshman Composition I, Francis
Marion University
(English 111). This class supplemented with work in the English
Department's Computer Lab using the Daedalus
Integrated Writing Environment software (DOS).
k. Freshman Composition II, Francis
Marion University
(English 112). This class supplemented with work in the English
Department's Computer Lab using the Daedalus
Integrated Writing Environment software (DOS and Windows).
l. Composition and Literature, University
of Louisiana (English 102).
m. Rhetoric and Composition for the Computer Lab, University of
Louisiana-using the Daedalus Integrated Writing
Environment software for Windows (English 101-L).
n. Rhetoric and Composition, University
of Louisiana (English 101).
o. Developmental English Composition, University
of Louisiana (English 090).
Research Interests, Current Projects (Comics and Otherwise):
· Revision and pursuit of the
publication of my dissertation, From Blake to Bop: The Portmanteau Aesthetics
of Jack Kerouac, in its entirety as well as in publishing
excerpts as journal articles.
· A related article on Jack
Kerouac's The Subterraneans that is nearly
completed
· A general examination of the
aesthetics of various jazz-styled writers-such as Langston Hughes, Amiri Baraka, Bob Kaufman, Ntozake Shange, Nathaniel
Mackey, et cetera. The thesis for this examination is on how the
"imperfect art" of jazz music (or jazz aesthetics) is not only a
reflection of American Idealism coming down from Whitman, but is also a
literary reflection of Heisenbergean uncertainty
that extends into contemporary society and academics.
· How Modernist and Postmodernist
narrative techniques-along with other elements in pre-Heisenberg literary
works-prefigure theories in quantum mechanics. The study includes a
comprehensive view of the relevant literature in the area, and the
development of a theory (through Jungian principles) to explain how such prefigurement is possible. My particular interest
is on the connections between humanistic idealism, extra-dimensional theories
in physics, and Faulkner's narrative techniques-focusing primarily on
Absalom, Absalom! The thesis might end up being an expansion on Steven
T. Ryan's 1979 paper "Faulkner and Quantum Mechanics."
Additionally, paradigms of modern physics theories may be found in the works
of William Blake and all other literature that is based in philosophical
Idealism-a fact that may cause this
research project to be merged with item vi below.
· An examination of obscenity
hearings in America on literary works including, but not limited to, hearings
on Lawrence's Lady Chatterly's Lover, Joyce's
Ulysses, Burroughs's Naked Lunch, Ginsberg's Howl, and the production of
McClure's The Beard. The study in a New Historicism view on American
society at the time in which the various works were charged with obscenity, and in what ways American society changed after
the works were cleared of obscenity charges.
· An examination of American road
literature from The Journal of Madam Knight through Jack Kerouac's On the
Road-including, but not limited to, such works as William Byrd II's "The History of the Dividing Line," the
tramp literature of Jack London, the proletarian hobo literature of the
Wobblies, much of Steinbeck's work (including Grapes of Wrath), and Hart
Crane's The Bridge. The thesis focuses on how American road literature
demonstrates humanity's conflicting desires for the boundaries that define
people's lives in opposition to Whitman's theme of expansiveness in such
works as "Song of the Open Road."
· An examination of the philosophic
Idealism that informed the various moments of transcendence within the
British Romantic and American Renaissance canons. The study traces
British and American Romantic thought back to Continental Idealism
(particularly German idealism) and to its roots as the cosmological component
of Hinduism and Buddhism. The epistemology and cosmology of British and
American Romanticism, German Idealism, and Eastern philosophies have
correlations with the paradigms provided by new theories in modern
physics. For instance, Gottfried Leibniz's influence on William Blake
informed the depiction of the visions in Blake's Jerusalem in a manner that
echoes the components of string theory in quantum mechanics-all of which is
in essential agreement with the underlying cosmology of Ch'an
(or Zen) Buddhism.
24 October, 2002
LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY 7900 Loyola Blvd., Von der Ahe Library Rm 118 Los Angeles CA 90045-8206 -- mzuccaro@lmumail.lmu.edu -- Phone/Fax:310 338-7693
Publications--About Comics: THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR Two articles.
Teaching--Comics Related: LMU Cont. Ed course: Comics Books - An American Art Form: http://conted.lmu.edu/conted/99Spring/pren825x01.html
Research Interests, Current Projects (Comics and Otherwise): Pitching live action screenplay, FOREVER AMORE, co-authored with Jack "King" Kirby.
16 August 1999