UC Davis experts: Cultural impacts from terrorism

The University of California, Davis, has campus experts available to provide commentary related to how cultural issues are related to terrorism.

Altruism during the attack's aftermath

Psychology professor Robert Emmons can talk about why people are altruistic during times of crisis. His research is at the interface of personality, psychology and religion. He focuses on how religiousness and spirituality reflect core aspects of the self and identity, and how these aspects of the self are involved in well-being and personality coherence and integration over time. He is the author of "The Psychology of Ultimate Concerns: Motivation and Spirituality in Personality." Contact: Robert Emmons, Psychology, (530) 752-8844, raemmons@ucdavis.edu.

Censorhip, freedom of expression

Challenging books is a pervasive American response to literature that deals with sex, race, homosexuality and other uncomfortable subjects, says UC Davis English professor Don Abbott, who specializes in freedom-of-expression issues. "There is this impulse in American society to challenge literature because some groups want to prohibit people from reading certain books, which is a violation of the First Amendment," Abbott says. Among the most challenged books are those in the Harry Potter series, because they deal with wizardry and magic, Abbott points out. However, a perennial favorite book to ban has been "Huckleberry Finn," because of its presumably racist message and language. Most of the challenged books have received recognition as good or even great literature, Abbott says. Contact: Don Abbott, English, dpabbott@ucdavis.edu, (530) 752-6097.

The media and popular culture

Darrell Y. Hamamoto, professor of Asian American studies, specializes in media and popular culture. He can talk about how both the media and popular culture have changed since the Sept. 11 attacks. He has written extensively on both mainstream and independent media. Hamamoto's work includes the edited anthology, "Countervisions: Asian American Film Criticism" (2000), "Nervous Laughter: Television Situation Comedy and Liberal Democratic Ideology" (1989) and "Monitored Peril: Asian Americans and the Politics of Television Representation" (1994). Contact: Darrell Hamamoto, Asian American Studies, (530) 752-5600, dyhamamoto@ucdavis.edu.

How artists are responding

Given the significant changes to visual art following other historic political traumas such as World War I, the Holocaust and the Vietnam War, it is inevitable that artists will produce work that incorporates their new sense of the world since Sept. 11, says art historian Blake Stimson. Already art exhibitions in New York, including one that opened before Sept. 11 with explicit terrorist themes, have been re-interpreted in light of the attacks. Stimson, an assistant professor in the Art History Program and co-director of the Critical Theory Program, writes and teaches about how political events of the 1960s transformed the social role of art. He is editor of "Conceptual Art: A Critical Anthology" (1999). Contact: Blake Stimson, Art History Program, (530) 752-5644, bstimson@ucdavis.edu.

The need for heroes

Jay Mechling, professor of American studies, can talk about the public need for heroes. He writes broadly about heroism and masculinity in American cultures. He also writes and teaches about the formulaic, mythological narratives filmmakers use to explain masculinity, violence and their connections. He has studies mass-mediated images of masculinity in film and television as well as in various organizations. His book, "On My Honor: Boy Scouts and the Making of American Youth," was published in fall 2001 by the University of Chicago Press. Contact: Jay Mechling, American Studies program, (510) 865-8858 (home), jemechling@ucdavis.edu.

Media contact:

Karen Nikos, News Service, (530) 752-6101, kmnikos@ucdavis.edu

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Last updated Sept. 6, 2011