Amy H. Sturgis's Videos Showing 1-21 of 21

[close] Dr. Amy H. Sturgis explains why now is an excellent time to read (or reread!) The Hunger Games series.

[close] This talk explores the insights provided by Dark Academia literature.

[close] Dr. Amy H. Sturgis makes the case for why you should read The Last Man by Mary Shelley.

[close] Dr. Amy H. Sturgis talks about why Frankenstein still speaks to us today.

[close] This episode of Trash Compactor: A Star Wars Podcast is an interview with Emily Strand and Amy H. Sturgis about their new anthology, Star Wars: Essays Exploring a Galaxy Far, Far Away.

[close] One of the most relevant novels you could read right now was written almost two centuries ago. Mary Shelley’s The Last Man asks what it means to be human while living in unprecedented times. This 1826 classic of apocalyptic science fiction considers the implications of a global pandemic, a rapidly changing environment, and the failures of political and social institutions. Part imaginative autobiography, part science fictional warning, and part ecocritical thought experiment, The Last Man forces us to examine our assumptions about our present and future. In this module we will consider Mary Shelley’s novel in the context of her life, times, and intellectual history. We will also explore the afterlife of The Last Man in critical discussions of the ominously similar challenges we face in the 21st century. In the process, we will discuss the novel’s lasting meanings and contributions as pioneering work of speculative fiction. For more information: https://blackberry.signumuniversity.o...

[close] In this episode, Jessica ("The Duchess") of RULE THE GALAXY hosts with special guests Emily Strand and Dr. Amy H Sturgis. They are the editors of new anthology Star Wars: Essays Exploring a Galaxy Far, Far Away.

[close] This recording from December 10th, 2021. DUNE Description: The Mythgard Movie Club takes a look at Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 adaptation based on the famous 1960s text, and we discuss what we loved, what we loathed, and how the film speaks to the wider genre or thematic elements like race, casting, and creativity.

[close] Amy Sturgis and Melissa Edmundson in conversation about Women's Weird, the odd and unsettling anthology of weird fiction written by women, edited by Melissa Edmundson.

[close] The recording of a guest lecture by Dr. Amy H. Sturgis titled "The Jedi, the Cowboy, and ... Thomas Edison?: Pulp Science Fiction and Star Wars".

[close] If Professor Amy H. Sturgis could be any Star Wars character, she’d choose to be Tahl, the warrior-librarian Jedi. Which character would you be?

[close] For additional sources on this topic, see the "Learn More" bibliography in the YouTube notes below this video.

[close] Who and what inspired the Jedi of Star Wars? For additional sources on this topic, see the "Learn More" bibliography in the YouTube notes below this video.

[close] Does Star War give us insight that fear can actually cost us our liberty in times of crisis? For a bibliography of more works to consider on this topic, visit the "Learn More" notes on YouTube below the video.

[close] In The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen becomes the Mockingjay--a symbol of hope and rebellion for the people of Panem. In today’s world, where new technology enables government surveillance and censorship, citizens are able to fight back by using that same technology to organize and rebel against abuse of power. Both in the fictional dystopia of The Hunger Games and the real, near-dystopian rights violations faced by people across the world today, the ideas of freedom catch fire, spreading faster than governments can stamp them out.

[close] Literature and legend often reflect their culture. Some themes, like that of rulers imposing coercive power, or of individuals rising up against tyrants, are as relevant today as they were in antiquity. Suzanne Collins drew on Greek mythology's story of the Minotaur and on the legend of Spartacus in ancient Rome as she created the Hunger Games series.

[close] The sad history of state-sponsored ethnic cleansing in North America begins with the story of the British expulsion of the Acadians in 1755. Professor Amy Sturgis explains that the Acadians were peaceful French colonists who had prospered in Nova Scotia. The British forcibly removed the Acadians from their homes and scattered them across North America. The expulsion effectively ended the Acadian way of life forever. How might U.S. history have been different if this first ethnic cleansing had never occurred? How might America be different today if the Acadians' property and rights had been respected? Might the Acadian way of life have influenced the United States for the better?

[close] Poet, essayist, and lecturer Ralph Waldo Emerson argued in an 1838 letter to President Martin Van Buren that the forced removal of the Cherokee Nation from its land in Georgia to modern-day Oklahoma was wrong. Emerson's was one of many voices protesting the government's treatment of the Cherokee people.

[close] The Trail of Tears shouldn't have happened. People at the time knew that it was wrong, that it was illegal, and that it was unconstitutional, but they did it anyway. The forced removal of the Cherokee Nation to "Indian Territory" (modern-day Oklahoma) was wrong on both moral and legal grounds. How can the Trail of Tears provide lessons to us today? We can't look aside and ignore the Trail of Tears as an example of something that was just part of the mid-19th century mindset. It is a story about how a group that had power gained at the expense of a minority unable to defend itself. The Trail of Tears set precedents we can only hope to avoid repeating.

[close] The story of John Horse and the Black Seminoles has been largely untold, but it's one that deserves to be remembered and shared.

[close] Based on Amy H. Sturgis's article in REASON Magazine, "Not the Same Old Hickory: The contested legacy of Andrew Jackson."