Book Review: Making Schools American: Nationalism and the Origin of Modern Educational Politics

Ewert not only depicts the origins and aims of the public school system as a tool for national unity in the United States, but he also successfully foregrounds how the inherent struggle for a definition of America and Americanness in a country marked by racial and ideological tensions shaped the educational system and continues to do so. As such, Ewert’s book is a useful source when reading and researching about the history of the American school system as well as the nature of the forces at work in the national and local societies that shaped it. Continue reading

Book Review: City of Newsmen: Public Lies and Professional Secrets in Cold War Washington

Kathryn McGarr describes this period as a turning point where reporters became increasingly furious with the government withholding information and started to voice their opposition in print rather than in private. McGarr makes a vital contribution to understanding the relationship and conflict between the government and the press. Her work is part of a new look at foreign affairs which argue that it is now the time for historians to investigate early Cold War journalism and not to merely characterise it when the press simply believed everything the government told them Continue reading

100 Years of Writing against Complicity : A Woman’s Place is in the Resistance

How can writing escape complicity? As the 21st century version of nationalist authoritarian politics has internalised the postmodern recognition that language constructs reality, and warped it for its own purposes in Donald Trump’s ‘tweet-politics,’ a literature-focused backlash is developing. Katharina Donn discusses modernist and contemporary practices of hybrid women’s writing, and explores their politics of form. Continue reading

My Research across Borders: Lonneke Geerlings

‘My Research’ is a new feature that aims to introduce and summarise the research of Postgraduates and Early Career Researchers within the field of American and Canadian Studies. Sit back, and get to know some of the craziest, challenging, and rewarding places researchers have been taken to… Continue reading