Summer 2013
Video: After Newtown: Guns in America
This PBS documentary examines the evolution of guns in America, their frequent link to violence, and the clash of cultures that reflect competing visions of our national identity.
» More ...Guns
Summer 2013
Gun Show Nation—a conversation with Joan Burbick
While researching her book Gun Show Nation, WSU English Professor Joan Burbick joined the National Rifle Association, visited gun shows around the country, and steeped herself in the history of American gun culture. Looking beyond the romance of the West, of Buffalo Bill and the magazine American Rifleman, she found issues of race, gender relations, moral crusades, and political and financial concerns.
As someone who writes nonfiction exploring the character and culture of America, Burbick has studied rodeo queens, examined Henry David Thoreau’s efforts to integrate natural history with human history, and looked into the American national culture of the 1900s. Now a professor emeritus, … » More …
Fall 2005
I never said thank you.
May 2005
Inside the First Samoan Congregational Church in Oceanside, California, the Rev. Junior Tupuola is addressing his congregation, when he notices a figure in white moving across the back of the sanctuary. To Tupuola, it resembles an angel.
As the figure reaches the end of the aisle, Tupuola can see that it’s clad in jeans, the blue color of which stands out against the brightly colored clothing of the islanders sitting in the pews.
The figure stops and turns toward Tupuola. The white resolves into a Washington State University jersey. Crimson numerals take shape.
No. 19. Rod Retherford’s jersey number.
From the pulpit, Tupuola … » More …