欧美口爆视频 Adjunct Professor Peter H. Wood鈥檚 seminal 1974 book on race, rice and rebellion in Colonial America recently celebrated its 50th anniversary with an updated version

If Peter H. Wood wants to stump some University of 欧美口爆视频 history majors about early American history, he鈥檒l ask them which of the original 13 colonies was the wealthiest before the American Revolution and also had an African American majority at the time.

鈥淥ften, they will see it as a trick question. Some might guess New Jersey or New York or Connecticut, so most people have no idea of the correct answer, which is South Carolina,鈥� says Wood, a former Rhodes Scholar and a Duke University emeritus professor. He came to the 欧美口爆视频 Boulder Department of History as an adjunct professor in 2012, when his wife, Distinguished Professor Emerita Elizabeth Fenn, joined the department.

South Carolina colonial history is a topic with which Wood is intimately familiar, having written the book , which was first published in 1974 and has been described as   W. W. Norton published a 50th anniversary edition of the book in 2024.

Recently, Wood spoke with 欧美口爆视频 Arts and Sciences Magazine about how he first brought the story of colonial South Carolina to light, reflecting on how the book was received at the time and why this part of history remains relevant today. His responses have been lightly edited for style and condensed for clarity.

Question: How did you become aware of this story of colonial South Carolina, which was unfamiliar to many Americans in 1974 and perhaps still is today?

Wood: I knew when I was an undergraduate that I wanted to study early American history. After a two-year stint at Oxford in the mid-1960s, I came back to Harvard for graduate school.

At that time, the Civil Rights Movement was going on. I鈥檇 been very interested in those events, as most of my generation was, and I wanted to see how I could put together my interest in interracial problems with my interest in early American history.

What I found was that early American history was very New England-oriented in those days. Ivy League schools were cranking out people writing about the Puritans, and when they wrote about the South, they would mainly write about Virginia. They talked about Jefferson and Washington. South Carolina had hardly been explored at all. There are only 13 British mainland colonies, after all, so to find that one of them had scarcely been studied was exciting.

Specifically, I was motivated by the Detroit riot in 1967, watching it unfold on television in the summer of 1967. Roger Mudd, the old CBS reporter, was flying over Detroit in a helicopter the way he鈥檇 been flying over Vietnam. He was saying, 鈥業 don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going on down there.鈥� I realized that he was supposed to be explaining it to us, but he didn鈥檛 really have a very good feel for it himself. No white reporters did.

And the very next morning I went into Widener Library at Harvard and started looking at colonial history books to see if any of them covered Black history in the very early period 鈥� and South Carolina was completely blank. So, that was what set me going.

Question: If there wasn鈥檛 any significant scholarship about South Carolina prior to the American Revolution, particularly about African Americans living there, how did you conduct research for your book?

Wood: I went to the South Carolina State Archives in Columbia, not knowing what I would be able to find. I understood that if I did find materials, they would be written by the white colonists 鈥� because enslaved African Americans were not allowed to read and write. There wasn鈥檛 going to be anybody who was African American keeping a diary.

But what I did find was that the records were abundant. That鈥檚 partly because these enslaved people were being treated as property; they had a financial value. So, when I would open a book, there would be nothing in the index under 鈥楴egroes鈥� (that was the word used in those days). But I would look through the book itself and there were all kinds of references to them. They just hadn鈥檛 been indexed, because they weren鈥檛 considered important.

At every turn, there was more material than I expected, and often dealing with significant issues. 鈥�

And when you鈥檙e researching early African American history, you learn to read those documents critically. The silver lining of that sort of difficult research is that it forces you to be interdisciplinary and to use any approach you can.

So, I ended up using some linguistics and some medical history (about malaria) and especially some agricultural history. Most people back then鈥攁nd most Americans still today鈥攄on鈥檛 realize that the key product in South Carolina was rice. I argued successfully and for the first time in this book that it seemed to have originated with the enslaved Africans. The gist of the book is that these people were not unskilled labor; they were skilled and knowledgeable labor, and it was a West African product (rice) that made South Carolina the richest of the 13 colonies.

Question: With regard to Black Majority, you made the statement, 鈥楧emography matters.鈥� What do you mean by that?

Wood: I realized early on that demography was a very radical tool in the sense that it obliges you, or allows you, to treat everybody equally. In other words, to be a good demographer, you have to count everybody: Men, women and children, Black and white, gay and straight鈥攅verybody counts equally. As a born egalitarian, that was appealing, especially in a period where there were lots of radical ideas bouncing around that I was a little leery of.

But demography seems very straightforward, as in: All I have to do is count people. So, the very title of the book, Black Majority, is a demographic statement. It鈥檚 not saying, 鈥楾hese people are good or bad鈥� or anything else. It鈥檚 just saying, 鈥楬ere they are.鈥� It becomes what I call a Rorschach test, meaning it鈥檚 up to the reader as to what they want to make out of these basic facts. 鈥�

The book鈥攅specially in those days鈥攚as particularly exciting for young African Americans, because they鈥檇 been told they didn鈥檛 have any history, or that it was inaccessible.

Remember, this was even before Alex Haley had published Roots. I actually met Alex while he was working on his book, because I was one of the only people he could find who was interested in slavery before the American Revolution. Most of the people who were studying Black history鈥攚hich was only a very small, emerging field in those days鈥攚ere either studying modern-day Civil Rights activities and Jim Crow activities, or maybe the Civil War and antebellum cotton plantations.

Question: You initially undertook your research on this topic to write your PhD dissertation. At what point in the process did you think your findings could make for a good, informative book?

Wood: Very early on, I thought I wanted to write a book. I mean, I wanted to be able to publish something and I wanted to start at the beginning. 鈥� If I could go all the way back to 1670, when this colony began, and find records, and tell the story moving forward鈥攊nstead of going backwards from the Civil Rights movement鈥擨 wanted to do that.

If I could write a book about that, then it would show lots of other people that they could write a book about Blacks in 18th-century Georgia or 19th-century Alabama, for example. All of those topics had seemed off limits at the time.

So, I was going to start at the beginning and move forward and see how far I had to go to get a book. I thought, 鈥業鈥檒l probably have to go up to 1820,鈥� but by the time I got to 1740, by the time I got through the 鈥攚hich was the largest rebellion in Colonial North America, in 1739, and it was unknown to people鈥擨 had enough for a book.

I had enough (material) for a dissertation so I could get my degree, but I also had enough for a book. And, luckily for me, it was just at the time when there was a lot of pressure on universities to create Black Studies programs, in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

That put a lot of pressure on New York publishers to find books about Black history. And so, Alfred Knopf in New York took the book and gave me a contract within two weeks. I was very lucky in that regard: That was a moment where it was just dawning on everybody that, 鈥楳y goodness! There鈥檚 a huge area here where we have not shone a searchlight.鈥� 鈥�

I'll tell you a funny story. At Knopf, they said, 鈥榊ou should go talk to our publicity director,鈥� because they were excited about this book. I walked into her office, and she was this burly, blonde advertising woman. Her face just dropped. She said, 鈥極h, Dr. Wood, I thought you were Black!鈥� And then she brightened up. 鈥楾hat鈥檚 all right,鈥� she said. 鈥業'll get you on the radio.鈥� (laughs)

So, that just illustrates, if I鈥檇 been Black, it would have been even better, but at that point, anything was grist for the mill, especially if it was opening up new territory in American history.

Question: That actually raises a question: Did you face any criticism as a white author writing about Black history, like author William Styron did?

Wood: That was the controversy about William Styron鈥檚 1967 book,  Styron was a white Connecticut author, and quite well-informed and well-intended. He had been raised in Virginia himself, so he鈥檇 grown up with versions of this story.

He was not a historian. Still, he wanted to try to write about from Turner鈥檚 perspective. So, he had the freedom of a novelist, of trying to put himself inside Nat Turner鈥檚 head. That effort was troublesome to a lot of folks.

It bothered some Black folks because it was a white author trying to do that and showing a complicated version of things. It was also upsetting to some white folks. If they knew about Nat Turner at all, it was that he was some crazy madman who killed people, so the idea that you should try to get inside his head, that was upsetting to them.

But, in answer to your question, I was lucky in that 鈥� the critique that white people shouldn鈥檛 do Black history had not really taken hold. At that time (1974), very little was being written about African Americans in Colonial times 鈥� and so there was a desire for anything that could shine some light on the subject.

Question: Why do you think Black Majority has maintained its staying power over the years? And what changes were made for the 50th-anniversary edition that W. W. Norton published?

Wood: As I鈥檝e said, it came along at the right time. Along with other works, it opened up a whole new area, and so early African American history is now a very active field.

When I did the revisions for this 50th-anniversary edition, I didn鈥檛 change it drastically, because it is a product of the early 1970s, of 50 years ago. I think the points I made then have held up pretty well. That鈥檚 why I鈥檇 say it has been influential in the academic community, but for the general public, not so much.

Question: Why do you think that is?

Wood: It鈥檚 very hard to change the mainstream narrative, especially in regard to our childhood education about early American history. From elementary school on, we hear about Jamestown and about the Puritans; we learn that colonists grew tobacco in Virginia, but almost nothing beyond that. 鈥�

I think that鈥檚 part of our failing over the last 50 years. The idea of having a national story that everyone can agree upon has fallen apart, and I wish we could knit it back together. It may be too little, too late. But if we if we can ever manage to knit it back together in a more thorough, honest way, African Americans in Colonial times will be one of the early chapters.

Twenty years ago, I worked on a very successful U.S. history textbook called Created Equal, where I wrote the first six chapters. Even then, our team was trying to tie all of American history together in a new and inclusive way鈥攐ne that everyone could understand and share and discuss. 鈥� I hope that book, and Black Majority, is more relevant than ever. 

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In new novel The Naturalist Society, 欧美口爆视频 Boulder alum Carrie Vaughn offers a fresh take on historical fantasy

For New York Times bestselling author and University of 欧美口爆视频 Boulder graduate Carrie Vaughn (MEngl鈥�00), the boundary between science and magic is a playground.

Her latest novel, The Naturalist Society, released last month, transports readers to an alternate Victorian era in which scientific discovery and arcane magic coexist. Here, the Latin binomial nomenclature used to classify plants and animals grants extraordinary powers to certain scientists.

The novel is a departure from Vaughn鈥檚 usual urban fantasy or mystery settings, for which she's been nominated several times for the Hugo Award and won the 2017 欧美口爆视频 Book Award in the genre fiction category. She recalls a friend joking, 鈥淗ey, you like birds, you should write a book about them!鈥�

In her new novel The Naturalist Society, Carrie Vaughn (MEngl鈥�00) explores an alternate Victorian era in which scientific discovery and arcane magic coexist.

From that comment, she spun a tale blending 19th-century Victorian science and a distinctive magic system鈥攚ith a splash of romance added for good measure.

鈥淚 tend to do this a lot, take several different ideas and smoosh them together to see what happens,鈥� Vaughn says. 鈥淭he story developed pretty quickly and went in some unexpected directions. It鈥檚 not just historical fantasy, but also alternate history.鈥�

When research meets imagination

Creating an immersive world for the protagonist of The Naturalist Society to traverse was more than a work of imagination. Vaughn immersed herself in research while preparing to write the novel.

鈥淚 read a bunch of history of the natural sciences, about Darwin and the impact of his ideas,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd I kept my Sibley Field Guide to Birds on my desk the whole time.鈥�

Vaughn also drew inspiration from Victorian-era literature.

鈥淚 read some Edith Wharton to get that flavor of upper-class New York City in the late 19th century,鈥� she says.

As any writer can understand, Vaughn鈥檚 work on The Naturalist Society didn鈥檛 come without challenges. Stepping away from her familiar urban fantasy worlds鈥攕he reached the New York Times Bestseller list with her long-running novel series about Kitty Norville, a Denver DJ who is also a werewolf鈥攖o tackle a historical setting took Vaughn on a lengthy fact-finding journey.

Despite completing extensive research, Vaughn admits the process felt never-ending. 鈥淎s much research as I do, it never feels like quite enough. It鈥檚 impossible to be completely thorough.

鈥淯sing a concrete historical setting means I鈥檓 very aware of all the possible mistakes I could make. I鈥檓 waiting for readers to start emailing me about what I got wrong,鈥� she jokes.

Still, Vaughn considers these trials part of the creative process. She strives to remain open to all ideas and let her stories evolve naturally鈥攁 tricky balance to strike while keeping The Naturalist Society grounded in history. 

The Naturalist Society is a departure from the urban fantasy and murder mystery genres in which Carrie Vaughn has widely written.

Embracing the unexpected

For Vaughn, The Naturalist Society is more than just her latest novel; it鈥檚 part of a larger journey as a writer. Throughout her career, Vaughn has written more than 20 novels and 100 short stories spanning every genre from urban fantasy to murder mystery.

鈥淚鈥檓 always looking for new stories to tell,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 go where the stories tell me to go. I like the challenge of trying new genres and tropes.鈥�

Vaughn鈥檚 exploratory approach to storytelling is rooted in experimentation. She says she enjoys the surprising outcomes that emerge after taking time to reconnoiter new settings or blur the lines between genres.

This approach helps The Naturalist Society exist as a historical fantasy novel while also transcending the conventions of the genre.

From 欧美口爆视频 Boulder to a career of discovery

Vaughn鈥檚 ability to weave complex stories is no accident. She credits her time at 欧美口爆视频 Boulder for giving her a firm foundation in her craft.

鈥淚 need to give a big shout out to Professor Kelly Hurley,鈥� Vaughn says. 鈥淗er seminars on Victorian and Gothic literature have stayed with me.鈥�

She says these classes, among others, helped shape her understanding of storytelling. Time spent reading and discussing books and literature during her degree studies also played a pivotal role in Vaughn鈥檚 career.

鈥淚f I can write across genres and settings, it鈥檚 because I鈥檝e read across genres and settings,鈥� she explains. 鈥淚 go back to Professor Hurley鈥檚 ideas and reading lists all the time. She helped fill a well that I鈥檓 still drawing on.鈥�

Advice for writers

Every aspiring writer鈥檚 journey is unique, Vaughn says, and her experiences emphasize the value of exploration and risk-taking. Her advice to writers looking to try new genres or settings?

鈥淩ead widely! Look for inspiration in unlikely places.鈥� 

She also encourages writers to embrace bold ideas and trust their instincts.

鈥淲hen I鈥檓 working on an idea and find myself thinking, 鈥楾his is crazy, people will never go for this,鈥� I know I鈥檓 on the right track,鈥� she says.

With The Naturalist Society, Vaughn has unlocked yet another creative direction for her work, but her latest novel is just the beginning of her foray into historical fantasy. She鈥檚 already working on a sequel and aims to build further on the world she created.

Learn more about Carrie Vaughn and The Naturalist Society .

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In a newly published book, 欧美口爆视频 Boulder Professor Reiland Rabaka delves into the culture and sound of music鈥檚 鈥榖est-kept secret鈥�

Barely two months into the 鈥�70s, Funkadelic鈥攍ed by George Clinton, Jr.鈥攔eleased something of a musical manifesto with the song 鈥淕ood Old Music鈥�:

Everybody鈥檚 gettin鈥� funky

In the days when the funk was gone

I recall not long ago

When the funk it was goin鈥� strong.

欧美口爆视频 Boulder Professor Reiland Rabaka (left) recently published The Funk Movement: Music, Culture, and Politics.

In hindsight, the lyrics hint not only at funk鈥檚 musical and cultural impact, but at the forgotten shadows in which funk has often lived.

鈥淥ne of the many reasons funk frequently is not understood to be funk has to do with its ghettoization within the music industry and White music critics鈥� tendency to lazily lump most post-1945 Black popular music under the 鈥榬hythm & blues鈥� moniker,鈥� writes musicologist Reiland Rabaka.

鈥淚n other words, because White music critics often serve as musical gatekeepers for White music fans, telling them what is 鈥榟ip鈥� and 鈥榟ot鈥� and what is not, most White folks never developed an ear for, or serious appreciation of, classic funk in the ways they did for pre-funk Black popular music such as blues, jazz, rhythm & blues or even soul music.鈥�

Rabaka, a University of 欧美口爆视频 Boulder professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies and director of the Center for African and African American Studies, aims a scholar鈥檚 eye at funk in his newly published book The Funk Movement: Music, Culture, and Politics. Originally scheduled for 2025 release, a deluge of pre-orders prompted publisher Routledge to release it in late October.

鈥�(Funk is) this musical gumbo, where you鈥檝e got all these different kinds of music and not just distinctly Black music,鈥� Rabaka explains. 鈥淎frican American culture is a hybrid heritage鈥攚e鈥檙e talking about an incredibly creolized culture, and as Black folk in America, we鈥檙e not searching for some sort of purity. Music reflects our multiple traditions and heritages and also allows us to live out loud. The musical audacity in funk, even if it鈥檚 just for three minutes and 30 seconds, when Parliament Funkaldelic says dance without constrictions, we鈥檙e dancing without constrictions.鈥�

No rap without funk

The Funk Movement joins Black Power Music! Protest Songs, Message Music, and the Black Power Movement, released in 2022, and Black Women's Liberation Movement Music: Soul Sisters, Black Feminist Funksters, and Afro-Disco Divas, released in 2023, in Rabaka鈥檚 ongoing exploration of the confluences of music, culture, identity, politics, place and people.

"It鈥檚 not a coincidence that James Brown comes out and says, 鈥楽ay it out loud, I鈥檓 Black and I鈥檓 proud鈥� after Martin Luther King was assassinated,鈥� says Reiland Rabaka. (Photo: James Brown performing in the Musikhalle in Hamburg, Germany, February 1973. Heinrich Klaffs/WikiCommons)

He comes to this work not only as a scholar, but as a musician: 鈥淚 was the kid from the projects who got bussed to these incredible creative arts schools,鈥� he says. 鈥淔rom there, I was able to get a truckload of music scholarships, which is how I became the first person in my family to go to college.

鈥淚 really feel like my musicology is coming full circle, coming back to where I started. I was a performing jazz musician and have a performing arts degree, so in a way I鈥檓 what social scientists call a participant researcher鈥擨鈥檓 deeply involved in a lot of the music I write about. It lends my work a kind of insider鈥檚 knowledge, a kind of intimacy with my subject. I鈥檓 not just somebody writing to achieve tenure; these are passion projects to me.鈥�

Rabaka came to funk not only loving the music but fascinated by its place at the nexus of the women鈥檚 liberation movement, the sexual revolution, the Black power movement, the evolving civil rights and gay rights movements and all the other political and social upheavals of the 1970s. However, he acknowledges in his book that funk鈥攂oth the music and the culture鈥攊s often subsumed into musical movements that are more broadly familiar to non-Black audiences.

鈥淢ost funk, both as a genre of music and a cultural movement, has not resonated with non-Black fans of Black popular music the way a lot of pre-funk Black popular music has,鈥� Rabaka writes. 鈥淚t is like funk is one of the best kept secrets of Black popular music, even though it, more than any other post-war Black popular music genre, laid the foundation for the mercurial rise of rap music and hip-hop culture in the 1980s and 1990s.鈥�

In other words, Rabaka says, 鈥渢here鈥檚 no rap, no hip-hop, without funk.鈥�

Reiland Rabaka鈥檚 book Black Women's Liberation Movement Music: Soul Sisters, Black Feminist Funksters, and Afro-Disco Divas was recently named Best History in the category Best Historical Research in Recorded Blues, R&B, Gospel, Hip Hop or Soul Music in the 2024

The goal of the ARSC Awards Program, according to the organization, 鈥渋s to recognize and draw attention to the finest work now being published in the field of recorded sound research.鈥�

In the book, Rabaka, a professor in the University of 欧美口爆视频 Department of Ethnic Studies, critically explores the ways the soundtracks of the Black Women鈥檚 Liberation Movement often overlapped with those of other 1960s and 1970s social, political and cultural movements, such as the Black Power Movement, Women鈥檚 Liberation Movement and sexual revolution. His research reveals that 鈥渕uch of the soul, funk and disco performed by Black women was most often the very popular music of a very unpopular and unsung movement: The Black Women鈥檚 Liberation Movement.鈥�

Rabaka and his fellow award winners will be recognized at an awards ceremony during ARSC鈥檚 annual conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in May.

Say it out loud

However, funk鈥攍ike the broader umbrella of 鈥渁rt鈥� under which it lives鈥攃an be difficult to define; listeners know it when they hear it. And it鈥檚 more than music: 鈥淚t鈥檚 the sound and the aesthetics of Black bohemia,鈥� Rabaka says.

In his book, Rabaka approaches the funk movement as it encapsulates both the music and the culture of funk, focusing on the golden age of funk that鈥檚 generally categorized between 1965 and 1979. He notes that while funk is often dismissed as simple party music, it addressed and embodied the upheaval and frustrations of the times in which it was born.

鈥淭o adequately interpret funk, one needs to understand key moments in African American history and culture, especially the struggle to end racial segregation that culminated in the 1960s and the beginning (and unfulfilled promises) of the era of racial integration in the 1970s,鈥� Rabaka writes.

鈥淔unk can be interpreted as 鈥榓 discourse of social protest鈥� and 鈥榯he critical voice of a post-Civil Rights Movement counterculture鈥� that challenged mainstream histories that attempt to nicely and neatly paint the 1960s as the decade of racial segregation and the 1970s as the decade of racial integration, 鈥榚qual opportunity,鈥� and 鈥榰biquitous optimism.鈥欌��

When Marvin Gaye asked 鈥淲hat鈥檚 Going On,鈥� Rabaka says, Sly Stone answered several months later with 鈥淭here鈥檚 a Riot Goin鈥� On.鈥�

鈥淚n the book I say it鈥檚 not a coincidence that James Brown comes out and says, 鈥楽ay it out loud, I鈥檓 Black and I鈥檓 proud鈥� after Martin Luther King was assassinated,鈥� Rabaka says. 鈥淭here was mass disillusionment, mass depression, so funk is also a deeper and darker sound, a grittier sound. It exists in a lot of levels, where it can be good-time music, sure, but sometimes there are a lot of heavier topics and themes that go on in funk.鈥�

Rabaka is particularly fascinated with the women of funk and is already working on a book that brings them out of the shadows.

鈥淔unk, I argue, was a Black popular music response to the hippie movement, to the women鈥檚 movement, to Stonewall even,鈥� Rabaka says. 鈥淏lack America has a way of refracting things that are going on in mainstream America, saying, 鈥楬ow does that speak to us?鈥欌��

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欧美口爆视频 Boulder scholar Katherine Little explores how Colleen Hoover and similar authors have taken over bestseller lists and social media

Colleen Hoover fans cheered last month when the film version of her novel Reminders of Him was at Universal Pictures and slated for February 2026 release. On the heels of the almost $150 million that It Ends with Us, a 2024 film based on another of Hoover鈥檚 novels, earned domestically, even non-fans or those not on TikTok probably know that a new Colleen Hoover film is a big鈥攁nd lucrative鈥攄eal.

Hoover and a cohort of bestselling authors that includes Ali Hazelwood, Emily Henry and many others have taken over the reading鈥攁nd sometimes film-adaptation鈥攚orld one romance novel at a time. Their rise to literary fame writing novels that critics often dismiss as 鈥渢rashy鈥� can be attributed in large part to social media, especially BookTok, a subcommunity in the TikTok app dedicated to books. In fact, 鈥�鈥� is a sales metric that Publishers Weekly tracks, and cites seven of the 10 as being written by BookTok authors鈥攚ho also happen to write romance or romantasy.

Katie Little, a 欧美口爆视频 Boulder professor of English, has taught a course called Trashy Books.

This raises the question: What is the enduring appeal of these 鈥渢rashy鈥� novels? Why are they so popular?

First, it helps to understand what exactly makes a novel 鈥渢rashy.鈥�

鈥淭here isn鈥檛 one correct answer to what makes a book 鈥榯rashy,鈥欌�� says Katie Little, a University of 欧美口爆视频 Boulder professor of English who has taught a course called Trashy Books, adding that the word 鈥渢rashy鈥� suggests these novels are in some way bad鈥攑oorly written, too sexy or simply a waste of time.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the marketing,鈥� says Little. 鈥淯sually, somebody who is writing a trashy book understands themselves to be writing it for a particular audience looking for something fun to read, looking for romance.鈥�

Some even argue that these novels are intentionally 鈥渢rashy,鈥� and sales figures might back that up. that 2022 adult fiction sales rose 8.5% from 2021, growth that was led by a 52.4% increase in romance book sales. So, the authors of these novels likely understand that they are not writing books for academic or high-literary audiences but are purposely writing what Little calls 鈥渂ooks for fun.鈥�

鈥淏ooks that we read for fun do have a bad-for-you aspect, and sometimes people aren鈥檛 as aware of it because they鈥檙e just looking for something fun,鈥� Little explains. Books for fun are what some consider to be books that aren鈥檛 challenging to read鈥攁 concept that has shadowed fiction almost since the first fiction was written.

Books for education

Through human history, books have been essential for formal鈥攁nd even self-directed鈥攅ducation, and the prevailing idea has been that people could not consider themselves educated if they did not know how to read or if they didn鈥檛 read often.

Colleen Hoover is one of the leading "BookTok authors," or authors who are beloved in the book-focused subcommunity of TikTok.

With the invention of the printing press and the growth of mass publication, 鈥攂别肠补尘别 and accessible means of entertainment, not just education. Even before the printing press鈥攁s early as the first century AD and 鈥攏ovels were generally regarded as the dumber, less respectable offspring of the epic poem. So, it wasn鈥檛 a far leap to 鈥渢rashy鈥� books that are more about fun and entertainment than enlightenment.

And while it might be an exaggeration to claim that social media have had as significant an effect on people鈥檚 reading habits as, say, the printing press, the effect has nevertheless been significant鈥攕pecifically BookTok. A community within the social media app TikTok, BookTok is dedicated to all things books鈥攆rom book reviews to news about authors and new releases鈥攁nd made writers like Colleen Hoover into bestselling authors. BookTok content creators have embraced romance and romantasy novels that might be termed 鈥渢rashy,鈥� helping to make the genres a driving force in publishing.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 changed with social media and BookTok is that people are reading books, and they don鈥檛 really read books the way they used to,鈥� Little says. 鈥淸Readers] don鈥檛 have this sense of 鈥業 should be reading a better book,鈥� as in better written, more intellectually challenging.鈥�

But what does BookTok mean for the future of reading? Little asks what would happen if people put similar effort into reading Shakespeare or other highly regarded authors that they put into BookTok鈥攖he lighting, the recording, the influencing and tagging. about student reading abilities, several college professors expressed fear for future generations: Will they learn how to analyze, explain and understand difficult texts that are meant to challenge readers?

鈥淚 still think that books are the path to education,鈥� Little says. 鈥淚 understand people want to read for escape, but I also want people to read to use critical ways of thinking and knowledge.鈥�

According to Little, one day Colleen Hoover and similar writers will fade in popularity, just as many authors have before her. 鈥淓ven if writers exhaust the romance鈥攖he trashy books line of writing鈥攑eople are so creative, they鈥檒l come up with something else that will percolate in a different way.鈥�

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欧美口爆视频 Boulder anthropologist Kathryn Goldfarb spearheads new book that examines the difficult aspects of family connection.

Historically, anthropologists defining kinship tended to begin with who people are related to by birth and by marriage. Family was often considered a bedrock of society.

Over time, the idea of what constitutes kinship has evolved, but a key underlying assumption has remained largely unchanged when it comes to the idea of families being a source of caregiving support, says Kathryn Goldfarb, an associate professor in the University of 欧美口爆视频 Boulder Department of Anthropology, whose research focuses on social relationships, including kinship.

鈥淭he literature in anthropological scholarship on families often still supports this notion that, definitionally, family is what keeps us together,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here is a perception that kinship is where social solidarity lies, how social continuity works, how society hangs together.鈥�

Kathryn Goldfarb, an associate professor in the 欧美口爆视频 Boulder Department of Anthropology, researches social relationships, including kinship.

The problem with that idea, Goldfarb says, is that empirical data, including Goldfarb鈥檚 own fieldwork in Japan connected to the child-welfare system, often contradicts that idealistic portrayal. That, in turn, posed a problem when assigning readings to her students.

鈥淎s I鈥檝e taught kinship over the years, I had this increasing sense that many of my students don鈥檛 see themselves reflected in the literature,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e often talk about diversifying our syllabi, making sure that the authors come from diverse backgrounds and have diverse perspectives. That was really lacking in the materials that I had available to assign to students, because a lot of the reading doesn鈥檛 take serious the fact that some people鈥檚 lives with their families are really problematic and really hard.鈥�

Goldfarb鈥檚 solution was to spearhead the book , which was recently published by Rutgers University Press. Goldfarb led the conceptualization of the book鈥檚 theme, served as co-editor and co-author of the introduction, and wrote one of the chapters.

As Goldfarb and her co-author, Sandra Bamford, note in the book鈥檚 introduction, 鈥淚f family is, by definition, about nurturing and caregiving, then how do we understand kinship when it is not?鈥� The authors do not attempt to redefine kinship, but instead seek to expand the types of scholarship that can be considered central to the field.

Recently, 欧美口爆视频 Arts and Sciences Magazine spoke with Goldfarb about the book. Her responses were lightly edited for style and condensed.

Question: What is kinship, exactly? And how has the idea of kinship changed over time?

Goldfarb: The term 鈥榢inship鈥� is fairly academic and is taken to mean the systematic level of family relationships. In the old anthropology literature, it was about trying to discern what sort of kinship system each society had, allowing researchers to produce a systematic understanding of how people reckoned their social ties.

One of the reasons anthropologists cared about this was that they believed 鈥榩rimitive鈥� societies didn鈥檛 have politics; they just had kinship. Anthropologists were often tasked by colonial governments to determine these key social structures so colonizers could more effectively govern. 鈥�

From my perspective, now when we talk about kinship and anthropology, it is about how we think about relatedness more broadly鈥攂eyond just heterosexual reproduction and marriage. For example, if I ask my students to depict their own kinship networks, they may draw a genealogy, but when you actually find out what their real relationships are like, those may not be reflected in either their genealogies or legal documents. 鈥�

If you are just basing things on genealogy, you鈥檙e not seeing the foster child who is part of a family; depending on the local legal regime, you may not be seeing the same-sex couple; you鈥檙e not seeing the ghost of the grandmother who is still a part of a family鈥檚 daily life. These are all aspects of human life that you wouldn鈥檛 actually see if you are just looking at relationships that map onto a normative genealogy. So, definitionally, we need to be more open-minded about the ways that we categorize social relationships in order to analyze them.

Question: And the book specifically grapples with the idea that familial kinship doesn鈥檛 always carry the positives that many people tend to associate with it, correct?

Goldfarb: A very stubborn assumption continues to exist in both the academic literature and the popular imagination that kin ties are鈥攐r should be鈥攍oving, forever, unconditional and nurturing, and that the obligation to care should exist in perpetuity. The chapters presented in this collection paint a different picture.

In Difficult Attachments: Anxieties of Kinship and Care, authors seek to expand the types of scholarship that can be considered central to studying kinship.

In the 鈥楢mbiguities of Care鈥� section, we were thinking about situations where normative frameworks of caregiving were destabilized in some way, which often meant that care was delegated to nonfamilial others鈥攕o, either the carceral, the child welfare system, long-term care facilities or medical systems. 鈥�

For example, one essay looked at recidivism rates for older adults in Japan, where people tend to commit petty crimes so they can be re-arrested and incarcerated, as prison offers more comfort than life 鈥榦utside鈥� if their family is not able to care for them. In those cases, they find being incarcerated more 鈥榟omey鈥� than being at home.

The section 鈥楾oxic States鈥� is about the ways state formations shape the types of relationships that are possible, or that people produce in spite of these state formations. So, for example, one of the essays is about people who have been incarcerated after being caught at the U.S. border, and how American border policies impact kinship relationships and possibilities for connection and disconnection.

And the third section is 鈥楴egative Affects.鈥� The main idea in that section is that types of affect or emotion that are often considered negative, like anger or envy or favoritism, are actually constitutive aspects of how we understand ourselves in relation with others. 鈥�

My own essay, in that last section, talks about how in child-welfare contexts, the idea may be that family is a dangerous place; when children have been removed from their homes, it may be because their family of origin is not safe for them. From my fieldwork in Japan with child welfare institutions, I observed that one of the goals of those spaces was to produce what I call 鈥榮anitized relationality鈥欌�攕omething that was not family, that was safe, not contaminated by arguments or worry and everyone was equal and was treated the same.

The argument I make in the essay is that that type of relationship is not the sort that helps people understand in adulthood how to maintain social ties. If you are going to continue to have a relationship with someone, you have to work through difficult things; you can鈥檛 just prohibit those things and you can鈥檛 have a substantive relationship that can be sanitized of all those things. So, it鈥檚 hard to grow up in a situation like that and know how to have relationships. To be able to argue with someone and still continue that relationship is a type of privilege.

Question: By extension, it seems that when kinship works like people envision it鈥檚 supposed to, it should be recognized and maybe respected because it鈥檚 not automatically the norm?

Goldfarb: Exactly. At least, the recognition that kinship relationships that feel positive and good take a lot of work; there is nothing natural or automatic about kinship ties being caring or based upon positive sociality.

Question: How did the idea for this book come together?

Goldfarb: We had proposed a session for the 2020 American Anthropological Association conference, which ended up being canceled because of COVID. 鈥� When the conference was cancelled, we decided to do two online workshops instead. For that, we had people send in drafts, and we grouped the participants in thematic groups. 鈥�

"If you are going to continue to have a relationship with someone, you have to work through difficult things; you can鈥檛 just prohibit those things and you can鈥檛 have a substantive relationship that can be sanitized of all those things."

We asked the authors to think about: What irritates you about the way kinship has been talked about in the literature? How can you think against the grain of typical arguments? 鈥�

For the volume as a whole, I wanted something that would be accessible to undergrads and good materials for graduate students; something that would be ethnographically rich and also theoretically exciting. We wanted these to be short, delicious essays of between 4,300 and 6,000 words, which is quite short for academic articles. 鈥�

And one thing that I love about the book is that there鈥檚 such diversity in the contributors. Some of them are junior grad students and others are emeritus professors.

Question: Who is the intended audience for this book? And, have there been any reactions to it thus far?

Goldfarb: As an academic press, it鈥檚 probably academics in general who are the audience. So, undergrad students, graduate students and faculty. But I also feel the essays are quite accessible, so I really hope that people beyond academia read it.

I taught portions of the book this fall in my undergraduate Kinship seminar, and the students have reacted really positively to it; some of them said they found it very validating of their own experiences.

We did a book launch on Oct. 24, where the first half was a cabaret performance by Ronan Viard, who is French actor and singer who lives in Boulder. His story is exactly what the book is about. It was about him being abducted by his father and brought from France to the United States when he was a child. The story is about his experiences with that, but it鈥檚 also about his relationship to the United States, where he lives now, and his relationship with his father after all these years, and his children鈥檚 relationship with his father.

It was a powerful performance, and it brought up all these questions that were at the center of the book, like: How do you grapple with the types of family inheritances, including inherited trauma, that are perhaps unwelcome but hard to escape?

Ronan鈥檚 cabaret also raises questions about belonging that are very anthropological: How do we theorize belonging? How do we think about belonging to a nation or to a family or a community or to a language?

Kathryn Goldfarb鈥檚 solo-authored ethnography, , is forthcoming from Cornell University Press.

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The award jury called Biernacki鈥檚 2023 book, The Matter of Wonder: Abhinavagupta's Panentheism and the New Materialism, 鈥榖oth striking and original鈥� 

Loriliai Biernacki, professor of religious studies at the University of 欧美口爆视频 Boulder, is one of this year鈥檚 winners of the American Academy of Religion Book Award (AAR).

The group鈥檚 annual award 鈥渞ecognizes new scholarly publications that make significant contributions to the study of religion,鈥� according to the . Biernacki鈥檚 book, , published by Oxford University Press, won in the category of constructive-reflective studies, beating out five other finalists.

鈥淟oriliai Biernacki makes a fascinating case for the contemporary relevance of Abhinavagupta鈥檚 11th-century Indian philosophy,鈥� the AAR jury said. 鈥淏y analyzing wonder (camatk膩ra) as rooted in the material rather than in a cognitive faculty, The Matter of Wonder is both striking and original in its approach. The links she draws with viruses and AI in particular make this work pertinent and fresh.鈥�

A faculty member at 欧美口爆视频 Boulder since 2000, Biernacki researches Hinduism, gender, New Materialism and the religion-science interface. She鈥檚 published dozens of book chapters and journal articles, as well as two other books: God's Body: Panentheism across the World's Religious Traditions and Renowned Goddess of Desire: Women, Sex and Speech in Tantra, the latter of which won the Kayden Award in 2008.

"As I was working on this book, reading these medieval Sanskrit authors, I found myself continually marveling at how prescient and cogent these medieval Indian thinkers were, so it felt very important to be able to connect us today to the thought of these writers so many centuries ago," Biernacki says. "Also, feel fortunate to be at the University of 欧美口爆视频, which has been supportive of my work here."

Biernacki鈥檚 fellow recipients this year include , , , , and .

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欧美口爆视频 Boulder alumnus Patrick Hamilton discusses his new book on influential comic book artist George P茅rez during Hispanic Heritage Month

When alumnus  was growing up, he, like many kids, found comfort in comic books. 鈥淚鈥檓 an almost lifelong comics fan, and specifically a fan of 鈥楢vengers鈥�,鈥� Hamilton says.

As Hamilton continued enjoying comics and learning more about the people behind them, he eventually came across the name George P茅rez. It鈥檚 a name you may not immediately recognize, and that鈥檚 a key point Hamilton makes in his new book, , which hit shelves earlier this year.  

鈥淭he main argument of the book [is] that P茅rez had a larger impact on comics than he鈥檚 generally been given credit for,鈥� says Hamilton, an English professor at Misericordia University in Pennsylvania who earned his PhD in English at the University of 欧美口爆视频 Boulder in 2006.

欧美口爆视频 Boulder alumnus Patrick Hamilton (PhDEngl'06), a lifelong comics fan, highlighted the groundbreaking work of Marvel Comics and DC Comics artist George P茅rez in an eponymous new biography.

But in the comic book world, the name George P茅rez and his work turn heads鈥攏ot just for his impact on the art, style and story structure of comics, but because he was one of the first Hispanic artists to become a major name in the industry and helped pave the way for greater diversity in the field.

P茅rez, who worked both as an artist and writer starting in the 1970s, played a significant role in blockbuster series such as  and  for . In the 1980s, he created , which became a top-selling series for publisher . And he developed DC Comic's landmark limited series , followed by relaunching .

Hamilton says P茅rez is also 鈥減retty synonymous鈥� with large event titles, most prominently DC Comic鈥檚 revamp in 2011 and Marvel鈥檚 .

鈥淎nd he developed a reputation for a dynamic and hyper-detailed style, particularly in terms of the number of characters and details he鈥檇 put into a page, that was highly regarded and ultimately influential in the 鈥� 1970s and 1980s and beyond.鈥�

Hamilton says he sees his book as attempting to expand P茅rez鈥檚 legacy.

鈥淒espite his acclaim and prominence, he hasn鈥檛 really been seen as an artist that contributed to the style and genre of comics in ways artists before him 鈥� are seen,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 argue in the book that P茅rez made contributions to the style of comics, not only in the layout of the page and what effects that could achieve, but especially in his way of building what we would call the story world around the characters, where he embraced the possibilities for the fantastic within comics.鈥�

Paving the way

The book also speaks to P茅rez鈥檚 interest in representations of race, disability and gender, the latter of which Hamilton says P茅rez consciously strove to improve in his art over his career.

Artist George P茅rez was reknown for his work with both DC Comics and Marvel Comics. (Photos: DC Comics, left, and Marvel Comics, right)

Hamilton adds that he believes a lot of other Black, Indigenous and artists of color working today likely see P茅rez as 鈥渁n influence and as carving out a space鈥� for them within the industry.

鈥淚 think you can look at the significant number of Hispanic and Latinx creators working in comics today鈥攎any of them as artists鈥攁nd see them as following, in some cases quite consciously, in P茅rez鈥檚 footsteps.鈥�

He adds that P茅rez did much to help define the look and feel of modern superhero comics in the 1970s and 1980s, as did another Latino artist, Jos茅 Luis Garc铆a-L贸pez.

鈥淕arcia-Lopez, who, among other things, created the official reference artwork for DC Comics that is still much in use today. So, you have two Latino creators working in the late 20th century, when the comic book industry was even more predominantly white than it is today, and shaping the look of it.鈥� 

Hamilton says one of the more interesting findings about P茅rez that meshes with how P茅rez has been overlooked is a kind of 鈥渋nvisibility or transparency鈥� in his art.

鈥淚t [his art] is never meant to overshadow and 鈥� is always in service to the story or narrative. What surprised me is how much this was a conscious choice on P茅rez鈥檚 part, that he never wanted his art to draw attention to itself in a way that was detrimental to the overall storytelling. It鈥檚 kind of ironic, and 鈥� surprising, because P茅rez does have one of the most recognizable styles in comics, but his goal as an artist was always to do what鈥檚 best for the realization of the story first.鈥�

at age 67. You can see examples of his and his .

Top image: A group scene of DC Comics characters drawn by George P茅rez (Photo: )

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In book, 欧美口爆视频 Boulder alumnus Silvia Pettem details a little-known chapter of the trailblazing faculty member's story

As a student at the University of 欧美口爆视频, I often passed through the Mary Rippon Outdoor Theater on the way to my classes. I had assumed Rippon was a woman associated with the theater department, but that was not so. I later learned that she had arrived in Boulder in 1878 and became the university's first female professor. After her death in 1935, then-President George Norlin named the theater (then under construction) in her memory.

Publicly, "Miss Rippon" was highly respected by students and faculty. However, unknown to Norlin and the others, she had a secret private life that would have been considered scandalous, had she not hidden her husband and daughter behind a Victorian veil of secrecy.

The long-concealed truth was revealed in 1986 when an elderly man donated Rippon's diaries, account books, and journals to the university's archives. He was Rippon's grandson and revealed that she had had a romantic relationship with one of her students, became pregnant in 1888, secretly married, and took a year's sabbatical in Germany to give birth. 

欧美口爆视频 Boulder alumnus and historian Silvia Pettem (left) wrote Separate Lives about a little-known chapter in the life of influential 欧美口爆视频 Boulder Professor Mary Rippon, namesake of the campus theater.

At the time, there was no rule concerning teacher-student relationships, as it never occurred to anyone to implement one. Rippon was 37, and her husband, Will Housel, was 25. When the baby, Miriam, was born, Housel was still at 欧美口爆视频 in his senior year. 

After graduation, Housel joined his wife and daughter in Europe before Rippon returned to Boulder and continued to teach as if nothing in her life had changed. Housel and Miriam remained in Europe, where he attended graduate school. Initially, Miriam was placed in a series of orphanages. At the age of 4, she was taken to Rippon's extended family in Illinois.

At the time, Victorian-era society expected women with children to be supported by their husbands. If a professional woman married, she would have been accused of taking a job away from a man with a family to support. Rippon had to completely separate her public and private lives in order to keep her job. She continued to teach for 20 more years.

As a revered pioneer woman educator, Rippon appears to have valued career over family, but she may have, instead, realized that she needed to work to financially provide for her daughter's care. 

Eventually, Rippon and Housel divorced. Housel remarried when Miriam was 8 years old and provided his daughter a home, but he lacked an adequate income. On a salary less than her male colleagues, Rippon continued to support her daughter, as well as her divorced husband, his second wife, and, eventually, their four children!

Meanwhile, Rippon was a role model for her female students, a full professor, and even chair of the Department of German language and literature. Except for confiding in two close friends, she took her secret to her grave in Boulder's Columbia Cemetery.

For decades, the only tangible evidence on the 欧美口爆视频 campus of Rippon's secret life was ivy that Housel had planted outside of Old Main, where Rippon held her classes. His sentiment was obvious in a poem he penned his senior year that read in part, "But the ivy is for friendship and it seemeth best of all; 'tis the rose of love and petals that will never fade or fall."

Silvia Pettem鈥檚 In Retrospect column appears once a month in the Daily Camera, where this first appeared. She can be reached at silviapettem@gmail.com. She will be signing copies of Separate Lives: Uncovering the Hidden Family of Victorian Professor Mary Rippon (Lyons Press, 2024) at the

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In a newly published history of the region鈥檚 female monarchs, 欧美口爆视频 Boulder scholar shows the connections between love, grief and madness

Like many of their royal European counterparts of the time, the medieval queens of Spain and Portugal often married for politics, but rarely for love.

Instead, their marriages generally embodied the political intrigue facilitated by personal relationships in hereditary monarchical power structures. During a time of religious conflicts between Christian and Muslim kingdoms, as well as cultural and philosophical developments spurred by the rediscovery of Aristotle, their marriages were more political maneuvering than swooning.

And even when love was involved, it rarely ended well.

N煤ria Silleras-Fern谩ndez

In a newly published exploration of emotion and political power in the medieval Iberian Peninsula, which is composed largely of peninsular Spain and continental Portugal, University of 欧美口爆视频 Boulder scholar N煤ria Silleras-Fern谩ndez, a professor of Spanish and Portuguese, analyzes a time and place and the royal women who navigated the treacherous territory between heart and state.

In her book The Politics of Emotion: Love, Grief, and Madness in Medieval and Early Modern Iberia, Silleras-Fern谩ndez focuses broadly on these powerful emotions through the individual stories of three queens, whose stories in some ways presage the issues that women in politics still face today.

Somewhat confusingly for the reader, several were named Isabel, so Silleras-Fern谩ndez gives each woman a brief distinguishing title: Isabel of Portugal (1428鈥�96), who was the grandmother of Isabel of Aragon (1470鈥�98) and Juana of Castile (1479鈥�1555).

A comparative study of the three women, whom historians had not previously put together, is informative not only because their lives tell us about the politics and culture of their society, but because鈥攄espite facing similar tragedies鈥擩uana, Isabel of Aragon, and Isabel of Portugal鈥檚 lives took very different directions.

鈥楨l amor es un gusano鈥�

According to Silleras-Fern谩ndez, these three women 鈥渟uffered from very intense grief following the death of their spouses.鈥� Their grief was ultimately viewed as excessive, in part because of the cultural attitude towards love鈥� expressed in the poem , Silleras-Fern谩ndez says. 鈥淪he describes love as un gusano, a worm.

鈥淚n medieval times, passionate love was seen as a sort of affliction. When someone was really in love, it was seen as dangerous.鈥�

This is not to say that love had no place in court culture; in fact, according to a historian whom Silleras-Fern谩ndez cites, it was fashionable for Spanish lords to pretend to be in love.

In The Politics of Emotion: Love, Grief, and Madness in Medieval and Early Modern Iberia, 欧美口爆视频 Boulder scholar N煤ria Silleras-Fern谩ndez notes that in medieval times, passionate love was seen as an affliction.

Nonetheless, authentic, passionate love was seen as a personal affliction, a spiritual danger and a political vulnerability. 鈥淧assionate love was even medicalized,鈥� Silleras-Fern谩ndez says, and in a way, it 鈥渨as seen as an affliction that was tied to melancholy,鈥� with unrequited passions causing lovesickness.

When it came to medieval Christian culture in Spain, she explains, 鈥渢here was something called the religion of love. For men, their lady was not merely the object of their desire, as in courtly love; she became more important to them than God.鈥� This was understood as a form of idolatry and therefore a violation of the second of the 10 commandments from the Bible.

Moreover, Silleras-Fern谩ndez says, 鈥渞oyal marriages were arranged for political purposes, so it was common for women not to be in love with their husbands. The idea was that the couple would enjoy some sort of affection and collaborate in ruling the kingdom and producing heirs.鈥�

To the extent that it interfered with remarriage, love was even an obstacle to the political maneuverings of the royalty. Ultimately, then, passionate love 鈥渨as seen as dangerous, and it was not encouraged for royal partners.鈥�

Conflict at court

Isabel of Portugal, who was born in Portugal but became Queen Consort of Castile and Le贸n through her marriage to King Juan II (as opposed to becoming a queen regnant in her own right by inheriting the throne), exemplified the dangers of 鈥渓oving too much.鈥�

According to Silleras-Fern谩ndez, the chronicles of her life suggest an unusually intense love for her husband. The conflict between her and 脕lvaro de Luna, the royal favorite and Constable, is an example of this.

Both Isabel and 脕lvaro exercised significant influence over Juan, Silleras-Fern谩ndez says: 鈥溍乴varo de Luna鈥檚 role as adviser put him in clear competition with the functions of the queen.鈥� Isabel and her faction within the nobility and Juan鈥檚 entourage eventually won out, and she convinced the King to have 脕lvaro executed.

While overtly political, this situation may not seem at first to involve love. However, according to Silleras-Fern谩ndez, 脕lvaro wrote a letter to Juan鈥檚 advisors from prison, asking them to prevent the king from having too much sex, arguing it could compromise his health. This suggests the intimate nature of 脕lvaro鈥檚 interference with the king and queen鈥檚 relationship and demonstrates the importance of love to a queen consort鈥檚 political power.

Perhaps more illustratively, Isabel 鈥渇elt such great pain at the death of her husband that she fell into a sickness so grave and long that she was never able to recover,鈥� Silleras-Fern谩ndez writes, and lived the rest of her life without much political influence.

Mixing politics, religion and grief

Isabel of Aragon, one of Isabel of Portugal鈥檚 grandchildren, also suffered greatly after the death of her first husband. She became Princess of Portugal through her marriage to Crown Prince Afonso, and this marriage was, by all accounts, happy, Silleras-Fern谩ndez says鈥攊f brief.

"Infanta Isabel de Trast谩mara," artist unknown.

Unfortunately, Afonso died young, which caused national grief and inspired a series of consolatory texts by noted clergymen. Isabel of Aragon was 鈥減resented with works explaining that his death should be seen as an opportunity for her to become a better Christian, and that she needed to remember that it was important to love God above anyone else,鈥� Silleras-Fern谩ndez explains.

Like her father-in-law, Jo茫o II, Isabel received letters from important clergymen blaming the bereaved for the death of their loved ones, Silleras-Fern谩ndez explains. Jo茫o was even accused of loving his son more than God, and informed that his son鈥檚 death was a form of retribution for this sin.

Despite Isabel鈥檚 continued mourning, she was a princess and therefore a political asset for the Catholic monarchs, most especially because she could secure a marriage alliance for them. Whether because she did not want to remarry, or because the religious messages in the consolatory letters had heightened her Catholic convictions, she requested, as a condition of her planned second marriage to Manuel I, that all the 鈥渉eretics鈥� be expelled from his kingdom, Portugal.

The exact meaning of 鈥渉eretics鈥� here is unclear, but according to Silleras-Fern谩ndez, 鈥渋t probably meant that she wanted the expulsion of the Jews, the Muslims, and all the recent converts from Judaism to Christianity who had been prosecuted by the Inquisition.鈥�

Regardless of Isabel鈥檚 motivations, it is clear that grief played a role. Hence, Silleras-Fern谩ndez says, grief and other emotions can have serious consequences when they interact with politics and religion, which were closely related in medieval and early modern times.

Juana the Mad

鈥淢ost people knew about Juana,鈥� Silleras-Fern谩ndez says, 鈥渂ecause she is famous as Juana the Mad.鈥� Like Isabel of Aragon, she was a daughter of Isabel the Catholic, and she was the mother of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Like Isabel of Portugal, her grandmother, Juana was ultimately alienated from the political power she once possessed, Silleras-Fern谩ndez explains, spending the rest of her life put away.

鈥淭he difference between her grandmother and Juana鈥檚 eldest sister Isabel was that both of them were queen consorts, while Juana was queen in her own right, and she needed to rule.鈥�

Perhaps the most extraordinary story of Juana鈥檚 grief鈥攁lso incited by the unexpected death of her husband鈥攚as her insistence on personally accompanying the king鈥檚 remains to Granada, a trip of more than 400 miles, while she was in the third trimester of pregnancy. This trip was a perpetual funerary procession, taking more than two years and including religious services at every stop.

Juana is reported to have become ill along the way, and began to not change her clothes, as well as eat and sleep on the floor. After this, her father, King Fernando, sent her to a palace in Tordesillas where she was confined for the rest of her life.

"" by Lorenzo Vall茅s (1866)

When she finally returned from her husband鈥檚 burial, she was in a bad place emotionally and mentally, but her condition improved. 鈥淚f you read the letters that the people who were living with her sent to her son, Charles V, it was obvious that she was feeling better.

鈥淭he problem was that, when you send someone away because you have decided that person cannot rule, you cannot easily reestablish that person as a viable ruler,鈥� Silleras-Fern谩ndez continues. 鈥淣either her father nor her son was interested in rehabilitating Juana because they were already doing Juana鈥檚 job.鈥� They had taken over out of necessity while Juana was gone and did not want to give up power. For her family to continue ruling, she had to be put away.

According to Silleras-Fern谩ndez, what makes her situation different from those of Isabel of Portugal and Isabel the Catholic is that the Isabels had more freedom as queen consorts. Since they were not formal rulers, they were not seen as a threat to the status quo, but 鈥渂ecause Juana had the potential to personally take charge of the kingdom, she was dangerous.鈥�

鈥楤ackwards and wearing high heels鈥�

These three Iberian queens embody the lesson that, as a ruler, 鈥渙ne needed to be perceived as someone could control their emotions, because they served as a mirror for their subjects,鈥� Silleras-Fern谩ndez says. 鈥淎 ruler needed to be in control, and the ruler needed to demonstrate balance and stability鈥攚hat Aristotle called the golden mean.鈥�

It was particularly difficult for women to present themselves this way because, she says, 鈥渁s in the eyes of Aristotle, women were seen as imperfect males. It was harder for them because they were asked to perform like men but were not valued like men.  At the same time, of course, women had to adhere to the standards and preconceptions of the time regarding gender. It鈥檚 a little bit like the old saying that Ginger Rogers had to dance as well as Fred Astaire, but in her case, going backwards and wearing high heels.

鈥淚n many ways, this is a period that is very far from today鈥檚 reality, but you would be amazed how much of the dynamics and prejudices surrounding gender and emotion are similar and how鈥� despite the fact that we live in an age of science鈥攎edicine and health are still socially and culturally constructed. I expect that with recent events, we will see all of these dynamics at play today in the USA over the course of the next four months.鈥�

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In her new book, Microaggressions in Medicine, 欧美口爆视频 Boulder alum and bioethicist Heather Stewart writes that some healthcare professionals are causing emotional and psychological harm

Contrary to what is sworn in the Hippocratic Oath, a new book co-written by University of 欧美口爆视频 Boulder alumna (MPhil'17) argues, those who vow to first do no harm are, in fact, causing harm regularly via microaggressions.

In the recently published , Stewart defines microaggressions as 鈥渃omments, actions, bodily gestures or even features of physical spaces鈥� that subtly communicate bias or hostility toward those in marginalized groups.

In a newly published book, 欧美口爆视频 Boulder alumna and bioethicist Heather Stewart (MPhil'17) argues that the effects of microaggressions in medicine may compound over time.

鈥淢icroaggressions are particularly pernicious forms of bias or discrimination precisely because they鈥檙e frequent and subtle, and so they鈥檙e often disregarded as insignificant,鈥� says Stewart, now an assistant professor of philosophy at Oklahoma State University. 鈥淔rom the perspective of those on the receiving end of microaggressions, however, they can be incredibly harmful, especially as their effects compound over time.鈥�

A common example of microaggression, Stewart says, is misgendering a person who is trans or non-binary, referring to a person who is transmasculine with feminine identifiers such as 鈥渕a鈥檃m,鈥� 鈥淢iss鈥� or 鈥淢rs.鈥�

鈥淲hen done unintentionally, the person committing the microaggression often doesn鈥檛 realize why it鈥檚 harmful, but it鈥檚 also likely that they assume their mistake is a one-off occurrence, and they fail to consider that trans and non-binary people may face misgendering regularly,鈥� Stewart explains.

Stewart, who earned her master鈥檚 in philosophy from 欧美口爆视频 Boulder in 2017, adds that being misgendered, especially routinely, can be 鈥渋ncredibly harmful鈥� to trans and non-binary people鈥檚 senses of who they are and how they want to be perceived and treated in the world. 鈥淔rom that perspective, microaggressions and their consequences really aren鈥檛 micro at all, but touch on core aspects of identity, belongingness and self-respect.鈥�

Feeling unseen

In the book, Stewart and her co-writer, Lauren Freeman, describe several short- and long-term consequences of microaggressions. After a microaggression, they note, the person on the receiving end might feel confused, shocked, disrespected or unwelcomed.

鈥淭hey might feel as if they鈥檙e not being seen, heard, recognized or respected,鈥� Stewart says. 鈥淥ver time, as microaggressions add up and wear on a person, they can cause real harm to one emotionally, psychologically and more. They can cause one to doubt themselves and question how others see them.

鈥淭he goal is to better understand the nature of this distrust so that we can work to form better relations between these communities and the important institutions which govern our lives,鈥� says Heather Stewart.

鈥淚n medical contexts, the stakes can be incredibly high. Frequent microaggressions can cause marginalized patients to lose trust in their healthcare providers, which makes them less likely to communicate openly, and can even lead them to delay or avoid seeking medical care. This obviously has serious consequences for the health and wellbeing of marginalized people and communities.鈥�

While she doesn鈥檛 share details of her personal healthcare experiences in the book, Stewart does say she鈥檚 had 鈥渇irst-hand experience鈥� in not being taken seriously by a healthcare provider and that she鈥檚 faced 鈥渉armful consequences鈥� such as misdiagnoses and delayed diagnoses.

鈥淚鈥檝e certainly been on the receiving end of microaggressions, including being doubted and dismissed when making claims of pain,鈥� she says. 鈥淎 long-term consequence of these experiences has been that my trust in healthcare has been shaken. It takes a lot for me to allow myself to be fully open and vulnerable in healthcare settings.鈥�

But her own experiences aside, Stewart says she sees the book as a way to 鈥渁mplify the voices鈥� of others and their experiences navigating healthcare, and to think about how healthcare can and must do better by them.

A key in solving the problem, Stewart says, is to improve 鈥渟tructural and background conditions.鈥�

鈥淔or example, when healthcare professionals are under intense time pressures and constraints, it can be harder to be fully thoughtful, deliberative and empathetic with patients,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd when healthcare workers haven鈥檛 been given adequate education and training about diverse identities and experiences, they might not realize how their words or actions can be harmful. This points to the need for more robust and inclusive training throughout medical education as well as continuing education.鈥�

In a similar vein, Stewart also is studying marginalized groups鈥� distrust in institutions, specifically distrust that LGBTQ+ communities often have in healthcare institutions.

鈥淭he goal is to better understand the nature of this distrust,鈥� Stewart says, 鈥渟o that we can work to form better relations between these communities and the important institutions which govern our lives.鈥�

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