Critiques Allan Bloom's "Closing of the American Mind" for idealizing "mind" as a container (casket) open only to indifference or the quest for certitude. Unlike Bloom, teacher educators deal with young people reared in a consumerist world dominated by the electronic media and beset with social realities like AIDS, homeless…

Explores implications of the antagonism between Marxist political economy and cultural studies. Argues that the antagonism is based on a profound misunderstanding of political economy, and that the project of cultural studies can only be successfully pursued if the bridge with political economy is rebuilt. (RS)

Responds to an article in the same issue of this journal. Agrees that cultural studies writers commonly and almost ritualistically distinguish themselves from their "reductionist" cousins, but notes that every few years some political economist attacks cultural studies. Challenges the history of the relation between cultural studies and…

Responds to an article in the same issue of this journal. Finds it strange that the intense dispute between political economy and cultural studies is cast as wholly independent of real political issues. Suggests that the aim of cultural studies is to renew a democratic conversation outside of the media, and to begin renewal in the universities.…

Responds to an article in the same issue of this journal. Suggests that the author is unwilling to establish an entry point in the realm of culture because he privileges the moment of production over that of consumption. Suggests disregarding the demarcation lines separating cultural studies from critical political economy, and both from the…

Responds to articles in the same issue of this journal. Suggests that other commentators continue to misrepresent political economy. Suggests that the conversation on this issue should continue across as wide a civic and civil discourse as possible. (RS)

The purpose of the study is to (a) predict adversarial attitudes toward male-female relationships and (b) explore the relationships between traditional agents of socialization and personal acceptance of negative images in rap videos by African American adolescents. Participants completed psychosocial measures, viewed videos, and completed surveys…

This article offers a critical perspective on the default mode of freshman composition instruction, that is, its traditionally middle-class and white racial orientation. Although middle-classness and whiteness have been topics of critical interest among compositionists in recent years, perhaps the most effective challenge to this hegemony in…

This paper strives to provide an insight into the multifaceted relationships that young people have, examining the social, cultural and institutional discourses, which shape their lives. We set out to discuss, from an empirical poststructuralist perspective, the way in which Irish adolescents write about the reality of their lives and privilege…

Digital storytelling provides an opportunity for children and adolescents to design multimodal narratives that represent and reflect upon their lives and interests. In the article we look at how two English language learners, Diego, a male Mexican-American kindergartener, and Allie Feng, a female Chinese-American junior in high school, drew upon…

Traces the development of British and Australian television criticism from the mid-seventies. Suggests a conscious study of the characteristics of television as a cultural agent and as a text within a sociocultural context. (MS)

Trends in ecstasy use in America during the past decade were reflected in mainstream, American rap-music lyrics between 1996 and 2003. Drawing on communication and cultural studies theory, this article provides a content analysis of 69 rap songs mentioning the club drug ecstasy. The songs are coded according to whether they contain positive, mixed…

A study to assess the information function of pop music in the adolescent socialization process involved approximately 500 students in junior and senior high schools and colleges in a large metropolitan area in the northeast and approximately 400 university undergraduates in an introductory sociology class. In-class, self-administered…

Examines the divergent critical methods that have been used to unravel the complex aspects of television programing in an attempt to understand television in American culture. Proposes the analysis of television content as it relates to cultural history in order to discover "an ultimate sense of reality in America." (JMF)

Substance use and HIV risk behaviors are increasing among African-American youth. Interventions that incorporate youth values and beliefs are needed to reduce this trajectory. Hip-hop plays an important role in the lives of many African-American youth and provides a context within which to prevent risky behaviors. The current study examines the…