SLU American Studies Department

Our students take American Studies global!

In June, SLU American Studies doctorate Bryonie Carter presented at the International US Drama and Theater Conference, held at Université Toulouse-Jean Jaurès. Her paper was part of the International Susan Glaspell Society’s roundtable session “Susan Glaspell and the Mutability of Literary Forms: Politics Across Genres.” Dr. Carter presented with Jeffrey Kennedy from Arizona State University, Drew Eisenhauer from Université Le Havre Normandie, and Noelia Hernando-Real from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain).

Congratulations to Dr. Cicely Hunter on the successful defense of her dissertation!

Please join us at 12:30 pm on July 14th in 142 Adorjan or via Zoom to attend Cicely Hunter's Doctoral Dissertation Defense!

Blaring Silence: New York Parades for the Black Collective, 1917-1924

Blaring Silence examines six historic Black parades held in New York between 1917 and 1924 alongside selected poetry by Langston Hughes and Georgia Douglas Johnson. By situating these historical events and literary works alongside one another, Blaring Silence constructs a Black parade archive that reveals the intersections of activism, Black creativity, and the power of the Black public sphere.

Our gratitude goes out to Heidi Ardizzone, who captained our department for the past three years. We wouldn't be where we are without her. Thank you, Heidi!

Another alumni event this winter brought PhD Alum Melissa Ford back to St. Louis for the premiere of a play named for and based on her first book: A Brick and a Bible: Black Women's Radical Activism in the Midwest during the Great Depression. The play focuses on the 1933 Funsten Nutpickers' Strike led by Black women workers in St. Louis, and premiered to an enthusiastic audience, which included many SLU students and alumni. Dr. Ford met with current students before the play to talk about her current (third!) book project on the Scottsboro Mothers, and answer questions about dissertation, job markets, teaching, and life, the universe, and everything. She is shown here (second from the right in flowered dress) participating in a panel immediately following the premier with writers and directors. And she attended Heidi Ardizzone's seminar on Race and Citizenship in St. Louis to discuss her scholarship, St. Louis Black women's activism, and experience of seeing historical research turn into a musical. Organized by Bread and Roses, the play "A Brick and a Bible," the play continues its run at other locations.
https://www.broadwayworld.com/st-louis/article/Review-A-BRICK-AND-A-BIBLE-Sheds-Light-on-an-Important-Moment-in-St-Louis-Black-History-20260221

We are catching up on posting about a busy first six weeks of the semester! On January 29th, we welcomed ABC News Anchor Linsey Davis and our MA alum John Krull for a public conversation about journalism and politics in the current moment. With support from the Office of Development and the College of Arts Sciences, our event brought almost 200 students, faculty, Saint Louis University Alumni and community members.

Many of you will recognize Linsey Davis from her evening reporting, and debate moderating. Some of you will also recognize John Krull from his time at SLU when Sr. Elizabeth Kolmer was chair.

THIS THURSDAY!!! We hope to see many of you who are in the St. Louis area at our "Candid Conversations in Troubled Times" with American Studies MA alum John Krull and ABC News Anchor Linsey Davis. Reserve your (FREE) ticket at this link https://engage.slu.edu/register/linseydavis

The Department of American Studies in co-sponsorship with the College of Arts and Sciences is excited to announce an upcoming event:

Candid Conversations in Troubled Times
Featuring ABC News Anchor Linsey Davis with American Studies alum John Krull

6:30pm January 29th
Anheuser-Busch Auditorium, Cook Hall
Entrance is free but online registration is required. (Link below.)

Linsey Davis anchors “ABC World News Tonight” and the Emmy Award-winning “ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis.” She moderated the 2024 presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris and has interviewed many of the world’s leading political and cultural figures. She has been the eyes and ears of the public at most of America’s biggest news stories over the past decade.

John Krull (MA, ’84) is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and is the publisher and active contributor to TheStatehouseFile.com, an award-winning news website powered by Franklin’s journalism students. His columns appear regularly in newspapers across the country.
Together, they will discuss Linsey Davis’s experiences and perspectives as a leading observer and analyst of American politics and culture.

If you are still in town or nearby, we would love to see you there!
https://engage.slu.edu/register/linseydavis

Candid Conversations in Turbulent Times with Linsey Davis  

Congratulations to American Studies PhD student Khalid Abdulqaadir for collaborating with African American Studies faculty and local author Vivian Gibson in producing a documentary film featuring interviews with former residents of Mill Creek Valley. This documentary premiered in St. Louis earlier this year and has since been screened on campus and at the Missouri History Museum . You can watch it here!

Remembering Mill Creek: When we were There This is "Remembering Mill Creek: When we were There" by AGA Productions on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

Interim Chair Heidi Ardizzone participated in the annual American Studies Association Conference on a panel discussing career pathways for PhD students. She/I also attended a panel featuring recent PhD grad Amelia Flood, who spoke on the topic of her dissertation: colonial identities and genealogies in the transitions of Danish Caribbean to the U.S. (now the U.S. Virgin Islands). I also ran into former SLU faculty and chair, Emily Lutenski! Emily was part of a panel on chairing interdisciplinary departments in the current political and economic moment; she is now the director of Women and Gender Studies at Appalachia State University.