My latest publication is out! It’s largely inspired by the terrorist attack on our nation last week as ordered by Trump. Please check it out! “Going a Little Unhinged”: Some Raw, Informal Thoughts About Presidential Politics Thanks! Dr. Andrew Joseph… Read More ›
thoughts
Notes on Flawed Characters vs. Flawed Scripts
I often aspire to help my students realize the difference between flawed characters and flawed scripts, but recently realized I had sometimes neglected to apply this notion to my own cultural criticism. My thoughts about How To Get Away With… Read More ›
Alex Trebek. Aunt Becky. Not Your Friends.
Parasocial relationships form easily. Carefully-scripted and highly-rehearsed, people see fictional characters people on their screens from the comfort of their homes and almost naturally come to believe they really know and very much like them. People are not able to internalize that… Read More ›
How To Get Away With Murder as Propaganda
I have previously written about ABC’s How To Get Away With Murder here and here. With the current season, I am growing more and more frustrated because of the constant twists (within twists, within twists, within yet more twists), the very… Read More ›
Black Men Driving: Race, Gender, and the Rhetoric of Announcing Presence
I have had regular hour-plus commutes for over a decade now. During this time I have consistently noticed an interesting correlation: Drivers who drive with the driver-side window down and with their arm/hand on the edge or slightly outside of… Read More ›
Notes on: What is Religion?
Often, people don’t recognize how multifaceted the answers are to “what is religion?,” “what are the sources of theologies,” “what are the components of theologies?” Talking about Christianity, the Bible is often seen as the theological source. By recognizing how the… Read More ›
Funerals, Rhetorics, and Constructions of History
Clichés about “funerals being for the living” abound. Funerals assist with grieving and with accepting one’s own mortality, popular mores say. Funerals can also hinder this grieving process: Without realizing it, people sometimes talk about the deceased in ways that… Read More ›
Thanksgiving Day teaches submissiveness.
On this Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2018: Please try to remember those who might not have anything to be “thankful” for, where thankful means “conscious of benefit received” and “expressing gratitude and relief.” Saying everyone has “something” to be grateful for… Read More ›