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British Association for American Studies

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Reviews

Review of ‘Avant-Gardes Now!’ Symposium

Throughout the whole day there were repetitions of specific phrases which became tagged to the definition of avant-garde. Notions of simulation and mimicry were frequently raised in relation to the differences between what is imagined, and what is supposed.

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Book Review: Mindful America: The Mutual Transformation of Buddhist Meditation and American Culture by Jeff Wilson

Mindful America is a superb study by Jeff Wilson, scholar of American religion, that situates the practice of mindfulness within the lineage of American religious movements. What makes this movement unique, of course, is the central focus on the traditionally Buddhist practice of mindfulness.

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May Day and the future of workers’ internationalism

The conference “Workers of all lands unite? Working class nationalism and internationalism until 1945,” (University of Nottingham) highlighted how workers, now more than ever, need an international movement, one that can tackle the issues raised by a globalized system of production. (Review by co-organisers and labour scholars Lorenzo Costaguta and Steven Parfitt)

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Book Review: America’s Deadliest Export: Democracy – The Truth About US Foreign Policy and Everything Else by William Blum

Blum’s book is a tirade against the United States and its foreign policy, not just on the macro level, but aimed at specific individuals, from presidents down to the soldiers carrying out the policies on the ground.

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Conference Review (part three) of BAAS 2015, with ’60 Years of BAAS’ Roundtable

This year’s conference celebrated 60 years of the existence of the British Association for American Studies, so it was only fitting that the final session of the conference was “60 Years of BAAS: A Celebration.” The delegates gathered to first hear Nick Witham discuss the way BAAS’s relationship to US political power has evolved over the years.

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Conference Review (part two) of BAAS 2015, with Saturday Plenary

On the third evening of BAAS 2015 we were treated to an eloquent and passionate plenary from Professor Dana Nelson (Vanderbilt). Best known for her work on race in the nineteenth century (The Word in Black and White, National Manhood), Dana’s lecture ‘A Passion for Democracy: Proximity to Power and the Sovereign Immunity Test’, drew from her most recent work Bad for Democracy (2008).

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Conference Review (part one) of BAAS 2015, with Friday Plenary

Sarah Churchwell’s talk was a part of a longstanding project investigating The Great Gatsby. She set out a number of findings from her thorough research into the era and context of the novel’s creation and reception, which she described as ‘treasure hunting for traces’.

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Book Review: Borders of Equality: The NAACP and the Baltimore Civil Rights Struggle, 1914-1970 by Lee Sartain

Lee Sartain focuses on Baltimore due to its historical significance as a border city and its proximity to Washington D.C. While racism and segregation existed here as they did elsewhere in the early twentieth century, Baltimore espoused a relatively large black middle class and offered some degree of black voice and representation.

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Conference Review: Sixteenth Annual Conference of the Scottish Association for the Study of America

While SASA is first and foremost a Scottish-based organisation, it is by no means dominated by academics from Scottish universities. Indeed, attendees and speakers travelled north from Newcastle, Coventry, Warwick, London and Dublin, highlighting the Association’s inclusiveness.

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Book Review: Desire and Disaster in New Orleans: Tourism, Race, and Historical Memory by Lynnell L. Thomas

The most striking feature of Lynnell L. Thomas’s book Desire and Disaster in New Orleans: Tourism, Race, and Historical Memory is the author’s exhaustive and intimate knowledge of her subject matter: namely, the city of New Orleans.

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