FYP Outline - Prostitution in the US

The aim of my FYP is to look at prostitution within the US. Regarding it’s history during the ‘Wild West’ period (the 1800’s), looking at the ‘soiled doves’ of the West and women such as Calamity Jane. There are stories of the prostitutes of that era doing well for themselves and marrying mayors and suchlike, I wish to look more closely at these.

I plan to investigate the results of the ban introduced between 1910 and 1915 in most US states, why it has remained legal within parts of Nevada. Moving forward I plan to focus on the legalised brothels that exist in Nevada, the treatment of the women working within them and the media depiction of these places, which have spawned television shows such as Cathouse (about the Moonlight Bunny Ranch). I will aim to discover whether the treatment of the workers is infact as the documentaries show or if there is a darker side to the business. Comparing the prostitutes of the ‘Wild West’ and the present day, I aim to look into whether it would have been better to have been a sex worker then or now in the present day.

Jude's piece of writing for session 2

For my contribution to session 2, I have chosen a forthcoming article entitled: 'Stupid White Men: Toward a Political Mapping of Stupidity.' Because it exists as a pdf file, I can't post it here and will instead email it to group members. Don't feel obliged to read it! However it may be of some interest.
The essay tries to tackle the question of the apparent power of 'stupidity' as a pose, or a performance, in contemporary American culture. In a way, the most obvious example was in the way that George W Bush's 2000 and 2004 election campaigns promoted Bush's persona against that of his opponents - that by being ignorant, Bush was a dependable normal guy, while his Democrat opponents were untrustworthy because they were too intelligent (and hence lacked sympathy/understanding of ordinary people.) Thus stupidity works here in a tradition of American anti-intellectualism. This tradition was mapped by historian Richard Hofstadter in the early 1960s, as discussed in the essay.
In the wake of McCarthyism, Hofstadter identified the power of stupidity as belonging to the political right. However, since the early 1960s things have become more complex. First, people across the spectrum use stupidity - Michael Moore for example. Moreover, as Europeans, we have to guard against the self-serving assumption that we are cultured/sophisticated/clever and Americans are dumb. In the article then, I tried to work out some of these issues, by starting to map out some ways in which 'stupidity' functions at the intersection of politics and culture in the USA.

Canon

Issues of identity and national tradition are crucial when thinking about the canon. Most people accept that the canon changes over time, because its primary function is to connect people with the past (usually, the past conceived of in terms of a nation.) Traditions are dynamic things, mediating between the present and the past. They have to change a little or they die. So again most people accepted that it was important to bring in previously excluded writers (eg women, people of colour). The more difficult question arises when such inclusiveness (as Donadio hints) results in the affirmation of specific identities - in particular she characterises African American Studies as being simply about celebrating AA culture. This leads then to all sorts of worries that education just becomes about affirming who people are, that national identity is fragmented into lots of little groups, etc. For my part, there is something in these fears, though I think they are somewhat exaggerated and one-sided, for the following reasons:
1. Good examples of such courses are not simply affirmative. They draw attention to debates and conflicts within identity groups and their relation to nations.
2. Although more traditional canoncal writers (the 'dead white males') rarely deliberately wrote with the intention of affirming white masculinity, it is undeniable that even their notions of 'universal' values were shaped by their own identities. So there's no disinterested, transcendent, set of cultural values embedded in the canon.
3. Above all, it seems to me, the whole point of engaging in depth with culture of any sort is a kind of encounter with difference. It's not about affirming, it's about encountering - and encountering is always a mixed, two-way process.

FYP - Is Iraq Another Vietnam

I am going to look at the debate surrounding whether the Iraq War can be called the new Vietnam. To do this I am going to look at the similarities that have been drawn to compare them. But also on the differences, no matter how little they seem, to see if there any core differences that help to provide evidence that the wars are two individual wars which have to be looked at for there own significance in the world. Or if in fact Vietnam’s failure are being seen in Iraq, this will be able show if America really needs to learn from their past in the policies that they make today.

I will look at the impact of the media during both wars. For Vietnam this is the idea of the first televised war and with Iraq I will focus on the way in which the war is being fought on the internet. I will also study the methods and tactics of both wars to be able to see if both wars can be seen as fighting against guerrilla tactics and whether the military can win against these tactics. And finally I will look the reasons behind the war and whether they can be seen as a just cause or American interference.

FYP outline

This is just a brief description of my fyp. It's basically what I used for the fyp 2 form.

I aim to look at the relationship between Britain and its thirteen North American colonies in the build up to the American war of Independence. I will focus on whether the colonies breaking away from Britain was inevitable or if events could have turned out differently.
This study will focus on the policies of the British government and the reaction of the colonies to the laws forced upon them. The project will also look at the influence of other factors that led to the colonies wanting Independence. Those factors range from population size, to the potential of America’s economy and the origins of settlers. Britain’s treatment of Quebec compared to the thirteen colonies is another key issue I will focus on. The difference between America’s origins and rise to Independence compared to colonies, such as Australia and Canada is another topic that I plan to use to show America’s inevitable break away for Independence.
To get a sense of how the build up to war began I will look at political writings of the time and what they can tell us about popular support for independence in the colonies. Newspapers and pamphlets of the time were a key instrument in inciting popular support for the revolution. The effect of the Stamp act and the influence of the press helped encourage anti-British ideas throughout North America.
The first year of the Revolutionary War has been described as a ‘phoney war’ it was not until The Declaration of Independence late in 1776 that it seemed certain American would break away from British rule. I plan to argue that the War for Independence was inevitable but it could have happened at a different time.

Canon

'Hey, Dickens was a pulp writer, Tolstoy a sexual maniac and heretic, Twain was satirical... ;-)
Btw, Shakespeare was for quite some time considered as anything but respectable (especially for his lack of decency and the general lewdness of his texts).
'Novel' was in the beginning a "low" genre and not in the same league as epics or classical drama, the German "Roman" was even less reputable. I hear the same was true in China were it was a major faux pas to use the word for novel in the same sentence as those for "true" literature.
The canon has its fashions too.'

I think this quote sums it up nicely that fashions change what is now considered a classic wasn't always thought of that way. It's interesting to think what could be thought of as a classic in the future I just hope its not Harry Potter!

Canon

“I'm always a little amused by the failure of many to see the circularity of the arguments in regards to "the canon." Of course these authors "continue to appeal across generations" -- they're taught in English classes beginning in grade school and continuing through college and grad school. What opportunity do more contemporary -- I'm talking mid-to-late 20th century here -- writers have to become part of the canon if their works aren't studied and taught?”


I agree with this comment that nothing new can become a canon if they are not introduced into the school texts. If new texts are slowly brought into the education text then over time they too could become a canon. This is not to say that I don’t believe the books that are presently studied at schools are not valuable but then there are some modern books that could have a place in English classes and could themselves become over time canons.

Revisiting the Canon Wars

I found this site, which is a reply to the article . Its only a short piece but their are a lot of comments posted as well. Some of the comments make a good argument so are worth flicking through.


http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2007/09/canon-fires.html