Non-Academic Careers for STS Graduate Students: Hopping off the Tenure Track

Science, Technology & Society (STS) graduate programs primarily train graduate students to work in tenure track academic jobs. However, there are not enough tenure track academic jobs to match the supply of STS graduate students, nor does every STS graduate student want to become an academic. As a start to addressing these challenges, we hosted workshops before the 2017 Society for the Annual Meeting of the Society Studies of Science and the 2018 ST Global conference. In those workshops, panelists with PhDs in STS and related fields and working in non-academic faculty careers such as government agencies, non-profit foundations, and industry emphasized that students must showcase how their skills are useful to non-academic organizations. The panelists offered a wealth of stories on how their STS perspective supported their careers, yet most had faced implicit and explicit mentoring from STS faculty that ran counter to their career aspirations. The conversations centered on reframing research and conveying to potential employers how their STS training would support their future careers. A takeaway point that resonated with many participants was the need for STS graduate programs to rethink how they market themselves, recruit students, and critically reflect upon the measures of success. By implicitly steering graduate students solely towards an academic career, STS graduate training will miss an opportunity to make a positive impact on society.     

Effects of different warm-up modalities on power output during the high pull

This study compared the effects of six warm-up modalities on peak power output (PPO) during the high-pull exercise. Nine resistance-trained males completed six trials using different warm-ups: high-pull specific (HPS), cycle, whole body vibration (WBV), cycle+HPS, WBV+HPS and a control. Intramuscular temperature (T_m) was increased by 2°C using WBV or cycling. PPO, T_m and electromyography (EMG) were recorded during each trial. Two high-pulls were performed prior to and 3 min after participants completed the warm-up. The greatest increase in PPO occurred with HPS (232.8 ± 89.7 W, P < 0.001); however, this was not different to combined warm-ups (cycle+HPS 158.6 ± 121.1 W; WBV+HPS 177.3 ± 93.3 W, P = 1.00). These modalities increased PPO to a greater extent than those that did not involve HPS (all P < 0.05). HPS took the shortest time to complete, compared to the other conditions (P < 0.05). EMG did not differ from pre to post warm-up or between modalities in any of the muscles investigated. No change in T_m occurred in warm-ups that did not include cycling or WBV. These results suggest that a movement-specific warm-up improves performance more than temperature-related warm-ups. Therefore, mechanisms other than increased muscle temperature and activation may be important for improving short-term PPO.     

Fifty Years of Super Bowl Commercials,Thirty-Two Years of Spectacular Consumption

Abstract

This article will explore the role and visibility of advertising during the Super Bowl over the years as a model for strategies of modern advertising and the resulting commercialization of US society. It uses the concepts of ‘spectacular consumption’ derived from Guy Debord and the ‘commodity audience’ from Dallas Smythe to frame the commercials’ cultural transformation and influence. The spectacular nature of Super Bowl commercials and the special commodity worth of its audience were not present in the early days of the event, but gained momentum with Super Bowl XVII and its airing of Apple’s ‘1984’ commercial that became mythologized in the advertising industry. After 1984, both the rising inflation-adjusted CPM (‘cost-per-thousand’) and the increased media coverage indicate an increased spectacularization. This also manifested in such phenomena as the influential, decades-long Doritos user-generated content contests and the Greatest Super Bowl Commercials TV specials, and was a forerunner of such post-millennial advertising strategies as branded entertainment and content marketing, all designed to integrate advertising as a legitimate form of entertainment culture and prevent the avoidance of advertising by audiences.     

‘The old days of amateurism are over’: the Samaranch revolution and the return of Olympic tennis

Tennis featured in every Olympics from 1896 to 1924, after which disagreements between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) on matters pertaining to organisational control and the amateur eligibility of players led to tennis being removed from the Olympic Games as a full-medal event until the 1988 Seoul Olympics. This paper traces the steps of the sport’s reinstatement, from when efforts commenced in the 1950s, setting this development in the contexts of: broader political movements, shifting IOC leadership, burgeoning commercialisation of Olympic sport, the concomitant push for professionalisation and the declining influence of amateur ideals within both the Olympic movement and international tennis. Under the leadership of the amateur stalwart Avery Brundage, the IOC stymied attempts to facilitate tennis’s re-entry, challenging both the ILTF on failing to deal with widespread ‘sham-amateur’ practices and the avaricious promoters luring amateur players toward the professional ranks. Brundage and the IOC also strongly condemned the move to ‘open’ tennis and an acceptance of full-blown professionalism. Only a change in leadership, firstly with Lord Killanin and then the progressive reformer Juan Antonio Samaranch, did the IOC recognise the value of tennis within the Olympic movement, which by then had itself become increasingly money-oriented.     

War Games: Ender's Game,The Monuments Men,and Movies for Peace

The popularity of adolescent fantasy movies about cosmic war and the enjoyment of military adventures that we find in World War II movies suggest the unique importance of war-themed culture in fostering solidarity in large, complex, and factionalized societies. War movies offset the power of sub-cultural movements by emphasizing the togetherness to be found in patriotic attachment to the whole society. A review of the history of recent war movies such as Ender's Game and The Monuments Men raises the possibility of a new militarism among young people. However, the persistence of war-weariness indicates that young people may differentiate fantasies of combat from the recognition of the horrors of real war.     

The Big,Bad Wolf: Resisting Corporate Evil in “Damages” and State of Play

Popular culture requires readily identifiable villains. Subcultural groups often serve this role, creating controversies. Controversies based on religion are especially bitter. As a rule, religion in the movies is inoffensively sentimental, but The Da Vinci Code is both popular and provocative, treading on the dangerous ground of Jesus's mortality. An Inconvenient Truth, another unexpectedly popular recent movie, is not as amusing, but it concerns issues Jesus cared more about.     

Outcasts of Echo Park,Heroes of Brentwood: Quinceañera,Keeping Up with the Steins and Coming of Age in Ethnic L.A.

The challenge of maintaining a national identity as a subculture in America is most evident in connection with special occasions, like transition rites. Coming of age is such an event. The continuity and transformation of the subculture is at stake. In American cities, as exemplified by Los Angeles, the ethnic neighborhood becomes a New Old Country. Those who welcome change and those who resist change may belong surprisingly to unexpected categories, and the roles of the generations can also be more nuanced than popular stereotypes suggest.     

After the Fall: Awakening from the Dream in The Rider and Red Sparrow

Two recent movies, The Rider and Red Sparrow, are in contrast to a large number of movies celebrating the triumph of afflicted persons over obstacles that seem insurmountable. Through commitment, hard work, and determination, these characters are able to do the impossible. However, these two movies instead focus on the dire consequences of an inability to overcome obstacles. This change may reflect an increasing pessimism about current challenges and individuals’ ability to meet them.     

Reaping the Whirlwind: The Wind That Shakes the Barley,Liberation and After in the Movies

Popular culture includes stories that define and justify the existence of groups and nations. Among those stories are creation accounts, especially stories of the forming of nations through struggles for liberation from oppression. The useful liberation myths are exemplified by two recent films: V for Vendetta and Children of Men. Another recent film, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, gives a sober and nuanced account of the Irish Rebellion. It includes the ambiguities of liberation events and the problems that arise and continue after the glorious moment of liberation.     

No Company for Old Men: Adventures in Unemployment in The Company Men

Cultural diversity is often attributed to groups in a society from a variety of cultural backgrounds. Assimilation then blends subcultures into a mainstream culture. However, history and circumstance give rise to new groups whose experiences and activities produce new diversity. Big events and big changes give rise to important differences between groups. Popular culture brings new subcultures to the attention of the mainstream. Examples are The Grapes of Wrath, The Best Years of Our Lives, and The Company Men, discussed as a step in bringing awareness of current unemployment issues.