1 The American Papers 2 The American Papers Editor-in-Chief Ashley Loup Managing Editors Darcy Anderson Judson Barber Ashely Ongalibang Bahar Tahamtani Editorial Board Jena Delgado-Sette, Charles Laconico, Nathan Jensen, Jasmine Mayfield, Aaron Mezzano, Xochitl Morales, Amanda Ritter, Sara Roberts, Jon Schrieber Layout Editor Bahar Tahamtani Faculty Advisor Dustin Abnet Copyright © 2017 The American Studies Student Association California State University, Fullerton. All rights reserved. ISSN 10598464 3 The American Papers 4 Professor Abnet would like to thank the editors for their hard work, camaraderie, and professionalism while preparing this edition of The American Papers. Their willingness to give freely of their time—even over summer break—to add to this institu- tion is very much appreciated. He also would like to commend the authors for their exceptional papers and good-natured responses to the editorial process. Bahar Tahamtani, Judson Barber, Darcy Anderson, and Ashley Ongalibang deserve special recognition for their service as Managing Editors as does editor Jonathan Schreiber for his assistance securing funding from the InterClub Council. Together their efforts made the production of the 2016-2017 issue possible. Professor Abnet offers special thanks to Bahar Tahamtani for her beautiful work on the layout and design of this issue. Finally, he especially would like to thank Ashley Loup for serving as this vol- ume’s Editor in Chief. Her professionalism, hard work, and dedica- tion to the success of The American Papers has been remarkable. 5 The American Papers 6 Course Descriptions AMST 201: Introduction to American Studies With the concept of culture as a unifying principle, focus is on four separate time periods to provide the framework for an understanding of American civilization. Various kinds of documents used to illustrate the nature and advantages of an inter- disciplinary approach. AMST 300: Introduction to American Popular Culture A Historical exploration of popular culture in America as it both reflects and con- tributes to the search for meaning in everyday life. Heroes, myths of success, symbols of power, images of romance, consumerism, race and sexual identity. AMST 301: American Character Cultural environment and personality. Extent to which there have been and continue to be distinctly American patters of belief and behavior. Similarities, as well as class, ethnic, sex, and regional differences among Americans. AMST 401T: Adolescent America: A Cultural History and Contemporary Study of the Teenager in America This course examines the teenager as a category of cultural participation: the chal- lenges and conditions of adolescence in America, what has held “youth culture” together, what has fragmanted and reformulated it across time, with attention to broader beliefs and values. AMST 401T: American Culture through Ethnography In this interdisciplinary seminar students conduct independent research on aspects of contemporary American culture using ethnographic methods including interviews and participant-obervation. AMST 401T: Stories of Los Angeles Examines how people have told stories about Los Angeles. Los Angeles is repeatedly represented, fantasized, and forgotten, famously divided and sprawling, renowned for both sunshine and noir–and it is also the setting for most of our lives, so its contra- dictory stories are well worth exploring. AMST 408: Gaming in American Culture Explores the development and significance of outdoor, board, and video games in America. Analyzes literary works, films, television shows, advertisements, manuals, and material artifacts to understand how gaming has addressed larger social tensions and shaped American identity and culture. AMST 418: Food in American Culture Food and identities in America from the colonial era to the present, including ex- plorations of American ethnic food, industrialization of food and contemporary food movements. 7 The American Papers AMST 447: Race and American Popular Culture Explores American racial ideologies through the lens of popular culture. Examines literature, theater, sport, music and film, and asks: how has popular culture contrib- uted to and challenged the social construction of race and ethnicity in the United States? AMST 502: Race in American Studies Graduate seminar in American Studies that examines the theory of race as a prac- tice; one that is created, inhabited, transformed, and reimagined. The course pushes in-depth analysis of interdisciplinary approaches to the study of racial formation and interracial interactions in the United States. AMST 502: Public Memory Weaver Award Course Analysis of cultural practices of remembering (and forgetting) in relationship to both scholarly and popular constructions of the history of “American experience.” Exam- ines the how narratives, artifacts, and sites of public memory can be seen to create as well as reinforce social boundaries. 8 9 The American Papers 10 Table of Contents Silent Ruins: The Politics, Distribution, and Confinement of Memory 17 Surrounding Alcatraz Island by Judson Barber The Earl James Weaver Graduate Paper Prize AMST 502: Public Memory The Impact of Emmett Till 33 by Elizabeth Montenegro AMST 201: Introduction to American Studies The Neolithic Ape Man and Empowered Woman: Transforming 37 Victorian Gender Roles Through Popular Culture by Ashely Ongalibang AMST 300: Introduction to American Popular Culture The Influence of The Tempest 41 by Jacqueline Rose AMST 301: American Character LGBT Inclusive Public School Curriculum: A Gradual Process, Support 43 vs. Opposition, and Effects on LGBT Youth by Michael Paramo AMST 401T: Adolescent America: A Cultural History and Contemporary Study of the Teenager in America Doing Masculinity: The Experiences of the Drag King Community 51 by Lauren A. Flores AMST 401T: American Culture through Ethnography Art and Advocay: Providing Support to Adults with Intellectual Disabilities 61 by Elizabeth J. Ugalde AMST 401T: American Culture through Ethnography Food Trucks: A Means of Mobility 71 by Olivia Alvarado AMST 401T: Stories of Los Angeles Grand Theft Auto: A Vehicle for Public Memory and Prosthetic Identity 81 by Drew Bahna AMST 408: Gaming in American Culture Playing by the Numbers: Sabermetrics and Understanding in American Baseball 91 by Judson Barber AMST 408: Gaming in American Culture 11 The American Papers De-linking from Neoliberalism: Indigenous Resurgence and 103 Community-based Agriculture by Raul Ruano AMST 418: Food in American Culture Chicago World Fair Residue: How Pop Culture Recreated the White 109 City and Midway Plaisance in 20th Century Los Angeles by Sara Roberts AMST 447: Race and American Popular Culture Plead the Fifth: The Progression of the African American Lawyer 113 by Ashley Loup AMST 502: Race in American Studies Morbid Memento: Private Keepsakes of Public Violence 127 by Bahar Tahamtani AMST 502: Race in American Studies About the Authors 136 12 13 The American Papers 14 In the spring of 1993 the American Studies Student Association established the Earl James Weaver Graduate Paper Prize to honor the retirement of Earl James Weaver, Professor of American Studies, past Department Chair, and founder of the Department of American Studies at California State University, Fullerton. With an original endow- ment raised from the generous contributions of American Studies students and alumni, the Weaver Prize is an annual $250 cash award for the best paper written by an American Studies graduate student during the preceding year. Every spring, a panel of American Studies faculty reads submissions and selects the winning essay. The 2016 Weaver Prize went to Judson Barber for his essay “Silent Ruins: The Politics, Distribution, and Confinement of Memory Surrounding Alcatraz Island.” The In this original research project, Barber takes his readers on a journey to The Rock to experience the official version of the island’s history. Visitors hear the sounds of slamming cell bars and leave with jail-themed souvenirs, but few learn of the island’s hidden history that unfolded after the prison closed—the occupation of Alcatraz by the Indians of All Tribes from 1969 to 1971. Barber’s sophisticated analysis of sources ranging from postcards to protest graf- fiti firmly engages the slippery concept of public memory—a process that Barber describes as more of an “active disremembering than innocent forgetting.” The project is rigorously conceived and the paper beautifully written with solid argumentation from start to finish. The committee offers our heartfelt congratulations to Judson Barber for his inspiring work. -2016 Weaver Prize Committee 15 The American Papers 16 Silent Ruins: The Politics, Distribution, and Confinement of Memory Surrounding Alcatraz Island Judson Barber Introduction There is more than a presence, but evidence of an absence on Alcatraz. Throughout popular culture, public discourse, and narrative fiction, Alcatraz Island is known primarily for its use as a Federal Penitentiary which operated from 1934 to 1963. However, there are pieces of something else, some more and something different, that curiously emerge from the shadow of the looming cellhouse. A mark here, a mention there, and while sometimes conspicuous, the stage is never granted to these hints of alterity that inhabit the island. These glimmers, specters, and wisps are eager to shout and be seen, but their platform has been dismantled and their voices spoken over. Like a sibling that vies for attention in the shadow of the favorite,