19552 GW Mag 26_Final_singles - Flipbook - Page 11
JANE AUSTEN IN 50 WORDS
“Gentility.” “Delicacy.” “Indolence.” Those words appear throughout Jane Austen
classics like Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. But much of the language
used in Austen’s time has either fallen out of common use or changed valence in
signi昀椀cant and surprising ways. In this Janeite treasure trove, Professor of English
Maria Frawley examines the distinctive language woven through Austen’s signature
stories. An expert in 19th-century British literature, Frawley takes 50 words that
are integral to the fabric of Austen’s 昀椀ction and explores them in short, accessible
and lively entries. With juicy morsels for lifelong Austen lovers as well as new
students of the great writer, Frawley offers new perspectives on Austen’s world,
giving readers the tools to better understand her novels individually and as a whole.
THIS IS RHYTHM:
ELLA JENKINS,
CHILDREN’S MUSIC,
AND THE LONG CIVIL
RIGHTS MOVEMENT
Ella Jenkins was one of the
most in昀氀uential musicians
of the 20th century. Her
songs like “You’ll Sing a
Song and I’ll Sing a Song”
are classics in the world of
children’s music. In a career
spanning more than 60
years, she recorded 40
albums, won a lifetime-achievement
Grammy and became the best-selling
individual artist in the history of
Smithsonian Folkways Records—
including Woody Guthrie and Pete
Seeger. But despite her wide-reaching
in昀氀uence, Jenkins’s civil rights activism
isn’t widely known today. Based on
dozens of interviews and access to
Jenkins’s personal archives, Professor
of American Studies Gayle F. Wald
shares how Jenkins, a “rhythm
specialist” with no formal musical
training and the daughter of Southern
migrants, created a beloved catalog
of songs grounded in values of
community-building, antiracism
and cultural pluralism.
SACRED SISTERHOODS:
A CELEBRATION OF BLACK WOMEN’S
FRIENDSHIPS ON TV AND IN FILM
From creative visionaries like Debbie Allen to TV shows like Living Single, the
1990s saw a dramatic expansion of Black women into creative positions in
entertainment. In Sacred Sisterhoods, Associate Professor of Media and Public
Affairs Imani M. Cheers offers an overdue analysis and elevation of Black women’s
creative authority in popular culture. Editing and contributing to a collection of
essays by academic scholars and media critics, Cheers examines how that shift
introduced a previously invisible range of themes in Black women’s lives to
wide audiences. Focusing on the theme of Black women’s friendship, star voices
from across academia, journalism, the arts and activism offer critical-cultural
commentary and personal re昀氀ections. Their essays explore the evolution of Black
women directors, writers, producers and showrunners from the 1930s through 2023.
FORGOTTEN SOULS: THE SEARCH FOR
THE LOST TUSKEGEE AIRMEN
In Forgotten Souls, Cheryl W. Thompson, an associate
professor of journalism, revisits the stories of the 27 Tuskegee
Airmen who went missing in combat during the 昀椀nal critical
missions over Europe in World War II. An award-winning
NPR investigative journalist, Thompson explores why the
remains of all but two were never found, and the impact their
disappearances had on their families and communities. Thompson’s own father
was among the nearly 1,000 trailblazing pilots trained at the Tuskegee Army
Air Field. In her book, she delves into the true stories of the Black airman who
faced unimaginable racism—before, during and after the war—even as their
courage and aviation prowess saved scores of white airmen from the enemy
and possibly death.
GW Arts & Sciences | BRIEFCASE | 11
