Vaudeville and the American Dream
Vaudeville was an expressive, innovative, and quirky form of popular entertainment in America that spanned the turn of the twentieth century. Yet, vaudeville was more than mere entertainment for the American mass cultureit was a reflection of the rapidly changing waters of American life. In the era of vaudeville, from the early 1980s to the early 1930s, American enjoyed a time of unparalleled growth and urbanization, increasing diversity, and upward social mobility.
Work while the white folks play: Meta-theater and Greek Chorus in Show Boat
Based on the 1926 Edna Ferber novel of the same name, Show Boat (1937) is an American musical composed by Jerome Kern (1885-1945) with book and lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960). It is regarded as a pioneering development in musical theater; deviating from the contemporary trend of loosely connecting collections of popular songs with an inconsequential plot, Kerns music in Show Boat artfully illustrates a complex story, its characters, and their relationships.
Representation through Documentary: A Post-Modern Assessment
Like photography, documentaries are a representational medium: They record and occasionally reconstruct the everyday reality viewers typically cannot experience themselves.
Women Veterans Face Challenges of Homelessness
Tina Conroy's voice cracks mid-sentence and mid-sob over the phone in the Veterans Affairs office (VA) of Columbia while a comforting voice reminds her she can stop if it becomes too painful. "We had nowhere else to go. We had no money, and it was me and my two children, and my daughter and her family."
Relaunch
In this inaugural issue of Artifacts relaunch, an emerging theme of these essays, stories, and poem is the work of remembering. Some do this by drawing our attention to aspects of history that still affect us decades later even when they are missing from our daily consciousness.
Welcome To Spring Semester 2012
Welcome Back MU Faculty and Students! The staff at the Campus Writing Program kicked off the semester by holding several events in January before classes even started! Thank you to everyone who came back to campus early to participate in one or more of these events. We held a 2-Day Writing Retreat on January 5th…
Environmental Issue
The myriad ways in which environmental conservation, stewardship, and sustainability find expression on MUs campus would probably surprise most people. Global warming, electric cars, renewable energy—these may be controversial matters in our society, but as we watch the slow and uncertain rise of so-new technologies, and follow the political calculations surrounding policy changes shift with the price of oil, on the local level many are taking decisive action.
Pollution, Soil, and Columbia Missouri
Columbia Missouri is getting bigger in every aspect. From parking lots to mega apartment complexes Columbia is expanding its borders constantly. Because of this rapid growth there are many effects of the construction that takes place daily in multiple regions of this city.
Treasure Found in a Trash Heap: Composting at Mizzou
A pile of apple cores, melon seeds, half eaten bread, corn kernels, and broccoli wait on a curb in black trash bags. But this food waste has a different destination than similar trash bags. Instead of being transported to the landfill with all the other dining hall garbage that comes from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, these food scraps will be picked up and taken downtown to the corner of St. Joseph and Ash Street to be composted and then returned to the soil.
HVAC Optimization Study
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) can be a very costly effort when applied in industry. So was thought to be the case at the DRS Technologies facility in West Plains, Missouri. Therefore, the Pollution Prevention Program (P2) in cooperation with the DRS Technology internship program the Cornwell Student Initiative (CSI) decided to initiate a study focusing on the optimization of the plants HVAC systems. The systems were thought to have become misapplied and inefficient resulting in additional energy consumption and excess electric and maintenance costs.