2. Dr. Vanita Neelakanta on Science Fiction in America
“We live science fiction.” —Marshall McLuhan
This course is designed to introduce students to America's fascination with science fiction, its major
themes and preoccupations, significant authors (Bradbury, Heinlein, LeGuin), genres, and media. It has
been argued that science fiction and “speculative” fiction represents a viable way to make sense of our
everyday world. Our primary focus will be on how these texts help us understand American culture
and politics through encounters with unfamiliar worlds, species, and technology. By the end of the
course, students should be able to critically engage with science fiction, and identify its broad socio-
Dr. Jack Sullivan on Emigres in Hollywood Course
“This course explores Hollywood's “exiles in paradise,” the great European directors who immigrated
to Hollywood, many during the Nazi era, and changed the direction of American movies. These include
Rouben Mamoulian, Fritz Lang, James Whale, Michael Curtiz, and Alfred Hitchcock. The course also
takes in Golden Age Hollywood emigre composers who invented film music: Eric Korngold, Max Stei-
ner, Dimitri Tiomkin, Miklos Rozsa, and Franz Waxman. Bringing the course up to date is a study of
contemporary Hollywood emigres such as Roman Polanski, Ang Lee, and Lasse Hallstrom, whose films
provide a fresh, often startling perspective on American culture.
Dr. Jim Castagnera on Kennedy Assassination Course
On the first night of class, I asked the 30 students, "How many believe that JFK was assassinated as the
result of a conspiracy?" Twenty-nine raised their hands. Assassination conspiracy theories have been
a cottage industry for 50 years with an estimated 1,000 books published on the subject. Suspects have
included the CIA, the Mafia, Anti-Castro Cubans, LBJ, J. Edgar Hoover... or some combination of these
with or without Oswald in the mix. Remarkably, after 50 years of investigation and speculation, no de-
finitive answer has emerged. I don't expect that my 30 students and I will change that. However, each
student is required to create a "case notebook" and to use that notebook to write a final exam, which
4. Meet the Author
Meanings of
Audiences: Comparative Discourses (Routledge)
American Studies Speaker Program
Louis Masur, Professor of American Studies at Rutgers,
speaks Nov. 13 on Lincoln and emancipation at the West-
minster Princeton Campus as part of Jack Sullivan’s “From
to ” class. This talk connects Professor Masur's
new book, , with Spielberg's film.
Professor Masur published a front page piece on the subject
in the week of the film’s
release.
5. Michael Dylan Ferrara (2011) is
now the co-founder and curator for the i = u music
festival in London. which celebrates improvisation
in music and improvisatory collaboration with
dancers, actors, filmmakers and visual artists.
Alex D'Amico (2011)
graduated from Fordham
Law School in May, 2013. He
is now working for a law firm.
Jonathan Slawson(2009) is Director of the“Noatables: Youth Donor Pro-
gram at Carnegie Hall. He can
get Rider students tickets to Car-
negie Hall concerts for only$21.00 if they donate $20.00 tothe hall.
Michele Graczyk (2012) is
Finance Coordinator at Nick-
elodeon.
Samantha Apgar (2010)
is Business Operations Coor-
dinator at the Kimmel Cen-ter in Philadelphia.
6. I have been interning at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens the past few months and am
enjoying a great experience. The school is one of the best archaeological and research facilities in
Greece. As a development, marketing, and event intern, I assist in organizing meetings and dinners, cul-
minating in the annual Managing Committee Meetings held in Chicago this December. I am in regular
contact with chairs of different committees across the country and get to meet some of the most promi-
nent classical researchers in the world. Thus far I have had an amazing time working in the administra-
tive office in Princeton with a wonderful group of fun, diverse people. When I found out I was going to
have my own office overlooking Princeton University I was ecstatic, perhaps overly so. Seriously,
though, how cool is that?! I would love to have a career in the history field and I could not have asked
for anything more than what ASCSA has had to offer. I feel privileged to be associated with such a re-
nowned institution and will always be grateful for the opportunity they have given me.
~Christopher Nini, 2014
For my spring 2013 internship, I worked at Skyhorse Publishing, an independent publishing company
founded in 2006, which publishes thousands of titles in various genres. This internship has now become a
full-time job! My duties include reviewing submissions on various subjects, including history, athletics, and
Green Living. I read submissions from diverse authors, each of whom has a unique style and voice. While
sometimes find it difficult to say why I didn’t like a particular book or writing style, there are times when I
find a book I truly fall in love with. Once I find a book that would be a good match for the company, I ana-
lyze its content and research an assortment of topics pertaining to the book market. This all goes into my
reader’s report.
One of my most interesting projects was helping write a letter to Mayor Bloomberg. After the late
Mayor Koch died, Skyhorse sent Mayor Bloomberg a letter and a book that remembered the late Mayor
Koch. I cannot say how much I appreciate working for Skyhorse Publishing. Before this I had no idea if
publishing was the right area for me, but this internship has shown me the skills I will need to be in the
publishing world and has awakened a passion for this line of work.
A Spectacular Internship
Internship to Full-time job
