Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2010 Exceptional TV: Post-9/11 Serial Television and American Exceptionalism Erika Johnson-Lewis Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact
[email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES EXCEPTIONAL TV: POST-9/11 SERIAL TELEVISION AND AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM By ERIKA JOHNSON-LEWIS A Dissertation submitted to the Program in Interdisciplinary Humanities in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2010 Copyright © 2010 Erika Johnson-Lewis All Rights Reserved The members of the committee approve the dissertation of Erika Johnson-Lewis defended on March 25, 2010. ________________________________ Leigh H. Edwards Professor Directing Dissertation ________________________________ R.M. Berry University Representative ________________________________ David Johnson Committee Member ________________________________ Amit Rai Committee Member ________________________________ Jennifer Proffitt Committee Member Approved: _____________________________________ John Kelsay, Director, Program in Interdisciplinary Humanities The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members. ii This dissertation is dedicated to my parents, Judy and Mel, my husband, Alan, and my little man, Gareth. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation was completed with the help of many people. First, I would like to thank my advisor, Leigh Edwards, for all her help, encouragement, and impromptu training sessions in American studies. Her guidance and thoughtful comments were indispensible to me throughout this process. She always encouraged me to have confidence in myself and for that I am grateful. I would also like to thank all of my committee members, Jennifer Proffitt, Amit Rai, Ralph Berry, and David Johnson for their patience and support.