Where the Hell is Matt Harding?

The Cultural Politics of Spider-Man 3

A few weeks ago I wrote a post titled The Cultural Meanings of Spider-Man, in which I reviewed some of the scholarship on this American icon. In my post, I discussed Niall Richardson’s article The Gospel According to Spider-Man (2004), which analyzes the use of religious motifs in the first Spider-Man movie. Well, I write [...]

“The Sandman”, via E.T.A. Hoffman, Sigmund Freud and… Rich Ragsdale

I have been teaching E.T.A. Hoffman’s “The Sandman” and Freud’s “The Uncanny” in my Sumer Intersession course and just found this brilliant film by Rich Ragsdale, a film maker out of Venice, California. I tip my hat to Mr. Ragsdale for this film, it’s truly magnificent and I can’t wait to share it [...]

More on The Tempest at the Novello

A while back I made a post on the production of The Tempest at the Novello Theater. In it I discussed Giles Cadle’s set design and even drew a picture of the concept of the first scene in Act I.
A few days ago I was looking for paintings by the German Romantic painter Caspar David [...]

Of Meteors and Martians: UFO Hoaxing in Nineteenth-Century Latin America

Like Fox Mulder of the X-Files, “I want to believe.” But it’s not an easy thing. Take, for example the peculiar story of a nineteenth-century, Latin American UFO hoax involving a meteor, a Martian and strange artefacts reminiscent of more contemporary UFO mythology.
UFO enthusiasts have known for a long time about the Airship Wave of [...]

“Only Connect…”: Top 10 Reasons College Professors Should Blog*

For two years, I’ve used course blogs in eight university courses, two of which were graduate seminars. At this point, I can’t teach without the freedom and opportunities afforded by blogs. Below are my top 10 reasons for professors to use blogs in their classes. At the end of this post I’ve included a slide [...]

Cultural Constructions Conference 2007: Memory

Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Antoinette Sol, the Modern Languages Cultural Constructions of Memory conference was a great success. It was held on Friday May 4 in Trimble Hall 200. Presenters included UTA graduate students from Spanish, French, Linguistics, English and History, a graduate student from Rice University’s French program, and several faculty members, [...]

Modern Languages 2007 Award Ceremony, UT Arlington

We had our departmental award ceremony on Wednesday May 2nd and it was a big success thanks to the hard work of our award committee and departmental staff. Sandy Wise sang The Girl from Ipanema and Professor Richard Francaviglia, the Director of the Center for Southwestern Studies and Cartography at UTA gave a magnificently humorous [...]

The Cultural Meanings of Spider-Man: Critical Approaches to an American Icon

The Cultural Meanings of Spider-Man: Critical Approaches to an American Icon

Now that Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 is due in theaters in a few days, starring the inimitable Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, we may want to pause to consider the power of this enduring American icon. For almost half a century, Spider-Man has been a [...]