ENGLISH — Lecturer Peter Cullen Bryan has signed a contract with University Press of Mississippi for his second book entitled, “Sonja: The She-Devil with a Sword as Pulp Hero and Brand Icon.” The book is scheduled for an early 2025 publication. This is the first full-length scholarly examination of a classic barbarian hero, emphasizing her creation as a response to Second Wave Feminism in the 1970s and later adaptations under various authors, including Wendy Pini and Gail Simone, parallel to the development of Third Wave Feminism. This book will explore how the character influenced comics, pulp art and larger cultural movements over the past 50 years, with an emphasis on the role of fans as creators and how that allowed for more transgressive takes on femineity.
HISTORY — Professor of History Vernon Burton’s article “Edgefield, South Carolina: Home to Dave the Potter/Dave Drake” was published in “The Words and Wares of David Drake: Revisiting ‘I made This Jar’ and the Legacy of Edgefield Pottery.” Edited by Jill Beute Koverman and Jane Przybysz. On February 2, Burton appeared on a webcast with other historians who signed an amicus brief drafted by Professor Allan Lichtman and Burton on the 14th Amendment Supreme Court case Trump v. Colorado. On February 4, E.J. Dione Jr. cited the brief in explaining “Why I changed my mind and think Trump should be thrown off the ballot” in the Washington Post.
On February 12, he led a seminar for the Liberty Fund on Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation. On the same day, the New York Historical Society broadcast an episode of “For the Ages: A History Podcast” on Burton’s book titled “The Age of Lincoln” with David Rubenstein interviewing Burton. On February 13, Burton discussed “Justice Deferred” with the League of Women Voters and the Detroit Public Library.
On February 14, Sydney Blumenthal cited the brief in The Guardian. Burton held a series of class visits and lectures at Michigan State University over February 5-6, which included a discussion of “Justice Deferred: Race and the Supreme Court” at the Michigan State Law School. Less than a week later, Burton had a conversation on the state of African American history in South Carolina with Walter Edgar for the keynote at the South Carolina African American Heritage Commission’s annual conference in Columbia.
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION — Assistant Professor of Philosophy Quinn Gibson published a paper titled “Interventionism and Intelligibility: Why depression is not (always) a brain disease” in the “Journal of Medicine and Philosophy.” Gibson argues against the prominent idea that clinical depression — as it is conceived in the most recent Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Disorders (DSM-5) as Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) — is always a disease of the brain.
PERFORMING ARTS — Brooks Center Director Emerita Lillian Utsey Harder, artistic director of the Utsey Chamber Music Series, secured three broadcasts in March by Sphinx Virtuosi’s concert on March 30 on America Public Media’s “Performance Today;” a broadcast on February 14 of Carlos Simons’ “Between Worlds” performed by violinist Hannah White; a broadcast on February 27 of Michael Dudley’s “Prayer for our Time;” and Valerie Coleman’s “Tracing Visions” on February 28.
WORLD CINEMA — Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies Aga Skrodzka’s article titled, “Dubai-gate and the libidinal operations of nation-making in ‘Girls from Dubai,’” was published in the Journal of Contemporary Iraq and the Arab World.
ENGLISH — Calhoun Lemon Professor of Literature Rhondda Robinson Thomas gave the presentation, “‘Slavery a Positive Good?’: Resistance within the Enslaved Community at John C. Calhoun’s Fort Hill Plantation,” on a panel for “Just Sharing: Building Community through Stories of Our Past” on February 11 at Drayton Hall in Charleston. This is a partnership project between South Carolina Humanities, Clemson University and the University of South Carolina.
LANGUAGES — Professor of French Eric Touya published an article entitled, “Women’s Leadership in Senegal: Pedagogical and Feminist Perspectives,” (Oxford Women’s Leadership Symposium) in the “Journal of Academic Perspectives” (Issue 2, 2024, p. 159-167). He also published a book review of “La totalité littéraire. Théorie et enjeux de la littérature mondiale,” in “French Review” (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 2023). He also gave a lecture entitled, “Emplaced Humanities, Beauvoir’s ‘Situatedness’ and Bourdieu’s ‘Habitus,’” at the Modern Language Association of America Conference in Philadelphia.
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION — Kathryn and Calhoun Lemon Professor of Philosophy Daniel Wueste presented “Integrity: Three Frames and the Architecture of Roles: at the 33rd Annual International Conference of the Association for the Practical and Professional Ethics in Cincinnati from February 22-25. He was also a judge in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the National Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl that was held in conjunction with the conference on February 25.