This theme issue contains the following articles on libraries as agencies of culture: (1) "American Libraries and Agencies of Culture" (Thomas Augst); (2) "The Sound of the Civic: Reading Noise at the New York Public Library" (Ari Kelman); (3) "High Culture, Low Culture: The Singular Duality of the Library of Congress" (Elizabeth Jane Aikin); (4)…

Contributes to scholarship on American Studies, Literary Criticism, and Gay Historical Criticism by examining F. O. Matthiessen's "American Renaissance." Argues that criticism of the work misses its homosexual double-consciousness: a resistive form of "passing" labeled "homosexual palimpsest" that manifests itself in…

Historian Patricia Limerick's book, "The Legacy of Conquest" focuses on the history of American West within the context of conquest as "the historical bedrock of the whole nation" and the American West as "a preeminent case study in conquest and its consequences." To live with that legacy, contemporary Americans ought to be well informed and well…

In this article we introduce a "head and heart" approach to community-engaged scholarship. Through the literatures of Aboriginal scholarship and engaged scholarship we reflect on a community-university research and program development project undertaken in response to health and education concerns of Aboriginal people in Canada. We…

Although several academic associations in the United States devote at least some part of their annual conferences to research on American Indians, many scholars of indigenous populations have long felt they lacked an intellectual home, a place where they could gather with large numbers of people who share their interests. A fledgling organization,…

Based on four years of experience teaching computers to 8-12 year olds, media scholar Ellen Seiter offers parents and educators practical advice on what children need to know about the Internet and when they need to know it. "The Internet Playground" argues that, contrary to the promises of technology boosters, teaching with computers is…

Being an ecologically literate citizen involves making decisions that are based on ecological knowledge and accepting responsibility for personal actions. Using writing-to-learn activities in college science courses, we asked students to consider personal dilemmas that they or others might have in response to how human choices can impact coastal…

American studies is a combination of fields such as literature, history, philosophy, politics, and economics. This publication examines how the different fields of study relate to American studies through folklore or folktales. The use of folktales can provide better illustrations and understandings of U.S. individuals' heritage and evolution.…

A look at utopian literature, 1888-1900, typifies the problems of approaching literature as a vehicle for American studies. The problems, however, do not excuse the greater fault of omitting literature altogether. (JH)

Scenes from the agreeable "entre-deux-guerres" sojourns of French dramatist Jean Giraudoux in America. (Text is in French.) (DB)

Reviews a variety of books and essay collections that demonstrate the new concern in the American Studies movement for the influence of mass media. (PD)

Presented is a self-contained lesson in land use which can be used in a high school American studies course. The lesson is cross-referenced to major textbooks. (RM)

A professor who teaches an American Studies course at the University of Idaho contends that she has her work cut out for her. According to the professor, Idaho's conservative political climate has led to her learning to negotiate. This paper first describes the development of an American Studies core course that began in the 1980s and continues…

Describes two elective courses for juniors and seniors. (DD)

American studies in British schools touch on issues like democracy in political theory and practice, war and peace, race relations, the situations and feelings of the adolescent. Considers the implications for educational standards in Great Britain. (Author/RK)