The Artist in American History
Summary: How have writers, illustrators, film makers, and musicians shaped the American experience? In this podcast series historian Dr. Darren R. Reid explores American history through the lens of the artist. From classic comics books to music and film, this podcast examines how art and artistry has reflected and informed the American experience. Featured iTunes podcast (January and February 2014), #1 episodes in Education and Higher Education. Current series, "Comic Book Studies" explores the historic and cultural significance of comic books and graphic novels, exploring issues relating to race, class, gender, and change over time in titles from Superman and Captain America to V for Vendetta and Art Spiegelman's Maus. Silent Film festival (four episodes) combines classic films mostly from the silent era with new audio commentaries. Films include Charlie Chaplin's The Immigrant, Superman Goes to War, and D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation. Other episodes include lectures which explore how the Cold War changed the music of Pink Floyd, the lost Beach Boys' album, SMiLE, the music of the American Civil War, and representations of Native Americans in film and literature.
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- Artist: Dr. Darren R. Reid
- Copyright: Copyright 2018 The Artist in American History
Podcasts:
In this special episode we examine the just broadcast return of Jack Bauer in 24: Live Another Day. Always a political creative vehicle, 24 is perfect for discussion and analysis. In this episode Dr. Reid reviews the two hour return of the show...
Comic books are not always seen as a valid subject of academic discussion but in this episode, Dr. Reid lays out a case for why that should not be the case by exploring Alan Moore's V for Vendetta and Watchmen, and Art Spiegelman's Maus
A short film that explores how fundamental ideas about race manifested themselves in the first wave of superhero comics.
Captain America first appeared in 1940 but shortly after his introduction he was joined by sidekick team "The Young Allies" among whom was one of the most openly racist characters in superhero history. In this episode we explore how and why men like Jack Kirby and Stan Lee (creators of the X-Men, Fantastic Four, etc) helped to create such a piece of racist iconography.
The second American Studies lecture again looks at classic American comic books, this time turning its attention on Batman's arch-nemesis, the Joker. Throughout his long career the Joker has been portrayed as everything from a Chicago-inspired gangster, to traumatised victim, and ruthless terrorist - in this lecture we explore how each of those images reflected huge social and cultural changes in America.
Superman first appeared during the Great Depression in 1938 in a comic book which reflected the period's strong stereotypes against women. In this episode the first superhero comic will be given a scholarly reading and compared to its modern equivalent to show how America's self-image has changed over the past 70 years.
In the same week that the producers behind hit sitcom, 'How I Met Your Mother' had to apologise for their use of 'yellow face' in a recent episode, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated The Lone Ranger for the Oscar in...
In the final part of the 2013-2014 film festival we explore Charlie Chaplin's seminal 1917 film, The Immigrant. When Chaplin was exiled from the United States in the 1950s for his leftist politics, this film was used as evidence against him....
The Birth of a Nation (1915) is one of the most important films in the history of cinema. It refined the art of editing, special effects, large casts of characters, and was truly epic in scope. Unfortunately, is also one of the most racist films...
In the second episode of "The Artist in American History" film festival we examine the racial coding present in the 1942 Superman short film, "Eleventh Hour". This episode contains the complete short film + a brand new commentary track
Native America on film - in this special video presentation we examine a short film by D.W Griffith (director of The Birth of a Nation)that was made in 1909. This episode includes the entire original film with a special academic audio commentary.
In this episode we explore one of the most controversial American songs, the unofficial anthem of the Confederate States of America, 'Dixie'. This enduring song continues to be sung in a variety of contexts today, but in this study we will...
Not the faint of heart, we head back to early America for this episode, we explore anti-Indian propaganda in literature from the 1780s. In 1782 Colonel William Crawford led a military expedition into the Ohio Valley. His campaign was defeated...
In this discussion, I consider the argument which dismisses racism in classic comics. Racism in the Golden Age of comic books was rooted in ideas which predated the Civil War which de-humanised both African-Americans and Asian-Americans...
Introducing the Artist in American History
