Looking for America: The Visual Production of Nation andPeople is a groundbreaking collection that explores the“visual” in defining the kaleidoscope of Americanexperience and American identity in the 20th century. Covers enduringly important topics in American history:nationhood, class, politics of identity, and the visual mapping of“others” Includes editorial introductions, suggested readings, a primeron how to "read" an image, and a guide to visual archives andcollections Well-illustrated book for those in American Studies and relatedfields eager to incorporate the visual into theirteaching—and telling—of the American story.

A twelve-lane behemoth cutting through the least scenic parts of the Garden State, the New Jersey Turnpike may lack the romantic allure of highways like Route 66, but it might just be a more accurate symbol of American life, representing the nation at both its best and its worst. When Angus Gillespie and Michael Rockland wrote Looking for America on the New Jersey Turnpike in 1989, they simply wanted to express their fascination with a road that many commuters regarded with annoyance or indifference. Little did they expect that it would be hailed as a classic, listed by the state library alongside works by Whitman and Fitzgerald as one of the ten best books ever written about New Jersey or by a New Jerseyan. Now Looking for America on the New Jersey Turnpike is back in a special updated and expanded edition, examining how this great American motorway has changed over the past thirty-five years. You’ll learn how the turnpike has become an icon inspiring singers and poets. And you’ll meet the many people it has affected, including the homeowners displaced by its construction, the highway patrol and toll-takers who work on it, and the drivers who speed down its lanes every day.

In this surreal graphic novel, Vice President Joe Biden left the gate open at the White House and America’s Dog (Bo) has gone missing. Mom is mad and Dad is busy, so now it’s up to the kids to find him. Teenagers Sasha and Malia navigate an increasingly strange and hostile world in search of their lost dog. But is a lost dog ever really just a lost dog? Like, what if it’s not America’s Dog that’s lost, but America itself?

In 1564, the French attempted to establish a colony, calling it Fort Caroline, along the May River (now St. Johns River). The original site is has been lost. Here, Thornton uses histories, documents, and maps in an effort to locate the elusive Fort Caroline, and to determine if it might be located in Georgia or Florida, which has been historically debated.

The Nation's financial system has collapsed, inflation is out of control, government offices are closed, police, fire departments and the military no longer exist; food shelves are empty, gasoline stations are closed and burning and mobs are running rampant in the streets. One small group living on a barrier island in Florida organizes for their defense and plans for survival in a lawless nation. Lacking sources of food and water, the group led by Stuart Martin plans a cross country trek to an area of the country where they could possibly find a new America that would provide them with what they need to survive. They establish contact with a community in Montana that needs the military assets and training possessed by the Floridians. The cross country trek by the Floridians in a well defended convoy presents many challenges and risks. In the course of the journey, they are subjected to numerous attacks by various sized groups of armed renegades. In time, having incurred some losses, the Floridians arrive at their new homeland in Montana and then organize politically with their new hosts and in time with their new neighbors to form a viable community comprised of five or more western states. The issues then become the form of governance that will predominate with the new leadership. Most of the survivors of the failed nation have a deep distrust of any form of governance. Their leader, Stuart Martin had similar beliefs initially but over time has become convinced that very few citizens have the ability to decide what is best for them and his strong, firm but fair guidance is essential to their survival. He believes all power to govern should be in his hands. Hovering behind Stuart Martin are a few who seek even greater absolute power, for more selfish reasons, to control the fledgling nation and await the opportune moment to take over the reins. Conflicts exist and only time will tell what form the new America will take when it emerges from the political struggles.

The fourteen essays in this collection were drawn from papers presented at the annual conference of the American Culture Association in April of 2006. The widely ranging topics and diverse points of view are typical of papers showcased by this organization of educators, writers, cultural critics and graduate students. These essays each consider the pedagogical parameters by which the art of the United States is defined and, as we are a nation of many voices, they further represent the multicultural identities of America and its citizens. From traditional art historical analysis to post-modernist deconstruction, the authors represented herein explore paintings, prints, sculpture, and architectural objects, in the context of history, philosophy, aesthetics, and political points of view. The writers themselves represent multidisciplinary viewpoints, from art history to literature to architecture and social work. Their papers reflect current scholarship, speaking from the most up to date of pedagogies, and in voices which are both critical and analytical. They further speak for the American Culture Association whose mission it is to explore "all manifestations of the cultures of the Americas."