Otterbein Aegis Spring 2007
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Otterbein University Digital Commons @ Otterbein Aegis: The Otterbein Humanities Journal Current Otterbein Journals Spring 2007 Otterbein Aegis Spring 2007 Otterbein Aegis Otterbein University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.otterbein.edu/aegis_humanity Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons Recommended Citation Otterbein Aegis, "Otterbein Aegis Spring 2007" (2007). Aegis: The Otterbein Humanities Journal. 8. https://digitalcommons.otterbein.edu/aegis_humanity/8 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Current Otterbein Journals at Digital Commons @ Otterbein. It has been accepted for inclusion in Aegis: The Otterbein Humanities Journal by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Otterbein. For more information, please contact [email protected]. spring 2007 Aegis: The Otterbein College Humanities Journal Statement of Editorial Policy A journal designed to catalyze a deeper critical appreciation of the humanities at Otterbein College, Aegis seeks scholarly essays and book reviews that advance the presence and values of the humanities on campus and beyond. In accord with the National Endowment for the Humanities’ (NEH) definition of the humanities, Aegis will consider scholarly essays and book reviews in the following disciplines: history; philosophy; languages; linguistics; literature; archeology; jurisprudence; the history, theory, and criticism of the arts; ethics; and comparative religion. Essays and reviews of books in the social sciences that are historical or philosophical in approach—or that involve questions of interpretation or criticism traditionally in the humanities—will also be eligible for publication in Aegis. Aegis will also consider essays and reviews of books that use the disciplines of the humanities to interpret, analyze, or assess science and technology. Essays should be between 10-30 pages—in twelve point type, double-spaced, and in Times New Roman font with standard one-inch margins. This includes pages devoted to notes and/or works cited pages. Book reviews should be between 1-4 pages—in twelve point type, double-spaced, in Times New Roman font with standard one-inch margins. Aegis is committed to nonsexist language and to wording free of hostile overtones. Aegis will appear annually each calendar year toward the end of spring quarter. Essays and book reviews will be received on a rolling basis. The deadline for the coming year’s edition shall be the second Friday of Winter Quarter. Essays and book reviews received after this date will be considered for the following year’s edition—even if the writer is in the final year of his/her study at Otterbein. aegis 2007 Submissions, prepared according either to the MLA Style Manual or The Chicago Manual of Style, should be sent in duplicate and addressed to Andrew Mills, Faculty Advisor, Aegis, Towers Hall, Otterbein College, Westerville, Ohio, 43081. If you are submitting through the U.S. Mail and wish for one copy of your submission to be returned, please include a self-addressed envelope with sufficient postage. Authors’ names should not appear on submitted essays; instead, submissions should be accompanied by a cover sheet, on which appear the author’s name, address, and the title of the essay. All essays accepted for publication will need eventually to be submitted on hard diskette in Microsoft Word. Aegis 2007 Editorial Board Editors: Jason Craig and Meghan Johnson Board Members: Shannon Bauchert Megan Hatfield Larsa Ramsini Jennifer Roberts Jennifer Scarbrough Cassi Smith Cover Art: Stephen Goldmeier Advisor: Dr. Andrew Mills Students interested in serving on Aegis’ Editorial Board for the 2007-2008 school year should contact Dr. Andrew Mills at [email protected]. contents 5 Editor’s Introduction 7 Interview with Dr. Henry Abelove 13 Articles 13 Facebook.com: Preparing Future Leaders with Ignorance—Colleen Deel 29 Jesus: Apocalyptic Mesiah or Counter Apocalyptic Social Prophet? An Alternate View of Jesus and Why the Church is Called to Serve the Oppressed—Nick Kiger 36 The Rise of Marxist Thought in Twentieth Century Vietnam—Halle Neiderman 48 Resurrecting Judith: Edith Summers Kelly, Weeds, and the Politics of Gender— Christi Amato 64 Social Movements and the Politics of Place: Transnational and Local Change—Sarah Prindle 76 The Drama and the Comedy of the Commons: Rethinking “The Tragedy of the Commons”—Sarah Prindle 84 The Material Language of Beuys and Antoni - Emily Starr 94 Is Trope Theory Viable?—Jason Thomas Craig 109 The Origins of Republican Womanhood—Shannon Bauchert 121 Leonard Bernstein: I Hate Music! A Cycle of Five Kid Songs and its Cultural Con- text—Danielle Hickey 136 Discovering Knoxville: A Biography, Analysis, and Study of Cultural Context— Alison Brooks 150 Book Reviews 150 America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy— Cassi Smith 152 Gender Matters: Civil War, Reconstruction, and the Making of the New South—Me- gan Hatfield 154 The Last American Man—Meghan Johnson 156 March—Larsa Ramsini 160 Memories of My Melancholy Whores—Shannon Bauchert 162 The Road—Jason Thomas Craig 164 The World is Flat—Jennifer Scarbrough 165 Contributors Editors’ Introduction Jason Craig and Meghan Johnson It is an honor to present to you the fourth edition of Aegis, the Otterbein College Humani- ties Journal. With every edition the Journal grows, encompassing both more humanities disci- plines, and facets of research within those disciplines. For instance, in this year’s edition you will read on topics as diverse as metaphysics, music, the Vietnam War and Marxism, gender issues and politics. This diversity is itself a reflection of both the astounding breadth of what we generalize as “the humanities” as well as a reflection of the depth of research taking place at Otterbein College. It is the sincere hope of those involved with the Journal that its contin- ued growth and diversity is an exponential trend. In the past, these introductions have some times taken on outside issues that directly reflect on the humanities and scholarship in general. Last year, the issue of intellectual honesty was dealt with at length. One prevalent theme this year is that of being conscious of one’s lifestyle and the world around oneself. As we are get- ting well into the 21st century, concerns over the environment and the economy are becoming more and more urgent and in need of consideration. Land is becoming a more precious resource as increasing talk about consumption and land development takes form in the theory of the “tragedy of the commons.” This topic is addressed in two of our essays and the relevance of this concern is brought to the attention of aegis 2006 the readers of Aegis. Whether the environmental situation is viewed from a more bureaucratic standpoint with solutions surrounding government intervention and regulations, or a more individual standpoint (like the man of the wilderness in one of the featured book reviews, The Last American Man) where solutions are as simple as people taking it upon themselves to examine their lifestyles and level of consumption, the concern is legitimate. The 21st century has brought on many events and changes and we must now consciously address them. Growing demands for resources and increased land use to meet the comfortable lifestyle so many Americans value is putting a strain on the environment and eventually we will be faced with the consequences of the indulgence and consumption we enjoy presently. Globalization is quickly spreading, the world is becoming more and more connected, yet America, at this point, is isolated when it comes to environmental concerns because, luckily, we are at this time generally not experiencing the problems that the rest of the world is begin- ning to address. By looking at the economy and being mindful of our own lifestyles, we can independently make our own changes to begin to address these concerns. An easy place to start would be our own day to day practices. Our daily impact could easily be reduced if the one place we all have in common, the campus of Otterbein College, began a campus-wide recycling program. Also, simple and easy independent choices could take form in what we decide to purchase. Examining the environmental consequences of the food and materials that we purchase could reduce the strain on the environment. No one wants to give up the modern conveniences we enjoy, but we can reduce our consumption and join the world in an effort to save the one thing that we all rely on and value. While Otterbein and many other cities, towns and colleges have made great strides in placing emphasis on the issue of conservation, and humankind’s relation to its external world, there is, as always, a danger of both counter-arguments against the conservation-environmen- talist position (as seen with the recent publishing of many books that supposedly “debunk” extreme global climate shift) and of those involved in the movement becoming complacent or apathetic. While it is impossible for a journal such as this to directly combat these claims with quantitative data, it is no less important for those in the humanities to face this issue with all of the tools at their disposal. It is only through a combination of the humanities and science, with their divergent lenses of examination and interpretation, that enough pressure and change can be implemented to cause action and permanent shifts in the ego-centric anti-environmen- tal mindset of many people. While the issue of conservation and the environment is by no means the only “theme” of this edition of Aegis, we claim that it is an answer to the question raised by the journal’s first editors—Ashar Foley and Teresa Moore—in the first editors introduction of Aegis —“why Aegis?” Aegis exists not only to put on display the finest minds Otterbein has to offer, or to display the vitality and urgency of the study of the humanities, it exists to show that the humanities exists as a necessary field of research that in and of itself can raise, question and aegis 2007 promote problems, thoughts and plans for applicable action in the real world.