Session Abstract

In 2011 the United States will mark a full decade since the September 11^th terrorist attacks. In these years it has been an animating spirit of American politics and policy; it has remained as a subtext in foreign affairs, domestic concerns and in the two presidential elections that have taken place since then. The panel intends to examine the ways in which American culture has been shaped by the events of 9/11 as well as critical cultural moments that highlight the ways in which the United States and processed and the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. One paper will examine the radical Islamic critique of American culture from the 1950s through the immediate months prior to 9/11. Another will examine the ways in which 9/11 reordered pre-existing cultural dynamics in America and the ways in which African American identity compounded and complicated this process. The third will explore the production of television dramas and Web 2.0 depictions of the War on Terror. Commonly, the panel will examine cultural productions in music and television and the ways in which questions of race, ethnicity, empire, nationalism, religion and national security have been framed.