Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2007. / Title from file title page. Chris Kocela, committee chair; Paul Schmidt, Michael Galchinsky, committee members. Electronic text (95 p. : ill. 9some col.)) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Nov. 16, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 78-81).

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2007. / Title from file title page. Marian Meyers, committee chair; Layli Phillips, Amira Jarmakani, committee members. Description based on contents viewed June 3, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 120-123).

Thesis (M.A.) in History--University of Maine, 2007. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-122).

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Also available in print.

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2008. / Title from file title page. Jennifer Patico, committee chair; Emanuela Guano, Megan Sinnott, committee members. Description based on contents viewed Sept. 10, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p. 141-147).

No description available.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2017 / In November 2011 Marvel Comics introduced the re-imagined incarnation of one of their top tier superhero characters, Spider-Man. Marvel proposed the new identity of the hero as Miles Morales, a 13-year-old boy of African American descent. It represents the first significant alteration to the character in almost half a century. Further, Marvel suggested that Miles is evidence of both their commitment to diversity, transformation and the representation of a multicultural society that includes different identity propositions. This study explores the enunciation on of Miles’ identity counterpoised with that of the normative discursive enunciation of heroism in comics within the context of intersectional politics. A central focus is the manner in which Miles’ rendering can be interpreted as discursively disruptive and transformative, especially in the depiction of race and class. The study views Marvel’s representation of Miles as not only a proposition of black postcolonial heroism but also that of the scaffolding of power and knowledge. It is the contention of this study that UCSM exhibits the markings of colonial and imperial discourse pertaining to identity politics, manifesting in the discursive strategy of mimicry and the mimetics of popular culture, that reveal firmly entrenched power relations limiting Miles’ autonomy. The analysis delves into the articulation of race in the circumscription and demarcation of identity, when read comparatively with classical heroism, supporting characters and the subjectivity of Miles’ white counterparts, notably his predecessor as Spider-Man, Peter Parker. Miles is imprinted with the pattern of disenfranchisement and labours under the weight of racialised identity politics that invoke the spectre of colonialism. Through the use of critical discourse analysis, postcolonial and critical theory the study brings to light the maintenance and structure of inequality, tacit discrimination and stereotypical identity that surfaces in a 21st century popular cultural text. / XL2018

My dissertation interrogates the role played by teachers, professors, researchers, administrators, and librarians in comics activism in the years before the establishment of the Comics Code Authority. Teachers occupied a unique space: public servants in one sense, subject matter experts in another. At the same time, they were not impervious to the media’s treatment of the anti-comics crusade, nor were they immune to the sway of religion, politics, and race in the conversation. Using teachers’ professional journals and local newspapers, I find that educators existed on both sides of the debate as drivers of the action—sometimes as actors, but also as proxies and participants. In addition, as arbiters of kids’ free time, keepers of literacy, imparters of citizenship, developers of good taste, and specialists in the behavior and needs of students, teachers had a special vantage point from which to observe the effects of comics on young readers. Theirs was a valuable position, and it was coopted by any number of factions jockeying for influence. Probing the records of the comic book industry’s regulatory body, I determined that educators were targets of the industry’s campaign to legitimate the genre. My dissertation also situates universities as key sites of pro-comics activities and expands the actors in the anti-comics campaign to include independent scholars, as well as university faculty, administrators, and students. Peer-reviewed research was used by parties on both sides of the debate. Evaluating this scholarship, I conclude that unaffiliated researchers made consequential contributions to the debate, speaking directly to the public in ways that more traditional researchers could not. Finally, my project establishes the nuance in educators’ role in the anti-comics campaign and surveys the ways they were actors, subjects, and instruments in the movement. Utilizing textual analyses of key Silver Age comics, I find that the comic books created in the wake of the anti-comics crusade were direct outgrowths of the anxieties and aspirations of educators—a deliberate effort by comic book publishers to gain their endorsement.

The desire for heroes is a global and cultural phenomenon that gives a view into society’s very heart. There is no better example of this truism than that of the superhero. Typically, Superheroes, with their affiliation to values and morality, and the notion of the grand narratives, should not fit well into postmodernist theory. However, at the very core of the superhero narrative is the ideal of an individual creating his/her own form of morality, and thus dispensing justice as the individual sees fit in resistance to metanarrative’s authoritarian and restrictive paradigms. This research will explore Superhero comic books, films, videogames and the characters Superman, Spider-Man and Batman through the postmodernist conceptions of power, plurality, and morality.

A Research Report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Applied Ethics for Professionals, September 2017 / The cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad on the front cover of various issues of the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, leading up to the 2015 terrorist attack have been seen by many to be harmful and offensive. This report argues that, from a liberal perspective, the cartoonists did not do anything morally wrong by publishing these cartoons. In fact, it is argued that the cartoonists were morally justified in publishing these cartoons because they were protecting the liberal value of free speech. I argue that both the act of publishing these cartoons, as well as the actual content of these cartoons were morally justifiable. Arguments against the cartoons pertaining to both harm and offence are proven to be unsound. Furthermore, when balancing the seriousness of the offence with the reasonableness of the cartoons, it becomes clear that the offence is not as serious as some may think. / XL2018