A prize-winning poetry collection that delves into the dark wood of the digital underworld: "Impressive . . . thought-provoking." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)What is the deep web? A locked door. A tool for oppression and for revolution. "An emptying drain, driven by gravity." And in Patrick Johnson's Gatekeeper—selected by Khaled Mattawa as the winner of the 2019 Ballard Spahr Prize for Poetry—it is the place where connection is darkly tran...

Explore the physics behind the world of Star Wars, with engaging topics and accessible information that shows how we’re closer than ever before to creating technology from the galaxy far, far away—perfect for every Star Wars fan!Ever wish you could have your very own lightsaber like Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi? Or that you could fly through space at the speed of light like Han Solo and Poe Dameron?Well, those ideas aren’t as outlandish as you think.

Performance artist and scholar E. Patrick Johnson’s provocative study examines how blackness is appropriated and performed—toward widely divergent ends—both within and outside African American culture. Appropriating Blackness develops from the contention that blackness in the United States is necessarily a politicized identity—avowed and disavowed, attractive and repellent, fixed and malleable. Drawing on performance theory, queer studies, literary analysis, film criticism, and et...

Reviving Ezra is a fictional novel that challenges American believers, educates Western believers, and admonishes the entire body of Christ about what many members of the body of Christ face throughout the world in relation to persecution, martyrdom, and oppression. It not only highlights the plight of persecuted people, but it is also rich in true worship. The novel takes readers through the cost of revival and what is needed to revive a community, a state, and a nation. In this novel, Ez...

The Digital Closet: LGBT*Q Identities and Affective Politics in a Social Media Age discusses how LGBT*Q individuals occupy a precarious space within society as a marginalized community in the United States. They are afforded representation in some venues yet are often invisible. Through social media, LGBT*Q individuals have sought new ways to forge communities and increase their visibility. This rise in visibility afforded individuals means to seek out and distribute information to help in...

The late Dwight Conquergood’s research has inspired an entire generation of scholars invested in performance as a meaningful paradigm to understand human interaction, especially between structures of power and the disenfranchised. Conquergood’s research laid the groundwork for others to engage issues of ethics in ethnographic research, performance as a meaningful paradigm for ethnography, and case studies that demonstrated the dissolution of theory/practice binaries.Cultural Struggles

Thomas Johnson's latest novel launches a gripping two-book dystopian saga: Escape from Apidae.Apidae is a perfect world. This hive society has been engineered with precision and populated by carefully designed citizens known as hive units. Every aspect of life is regulated: ideal health, flawless physiques, uniform appearances, standardized heights, and controlled intellects. Apidae stands for humanity's vision of ultimate superiority....

In this classic fantasy story, Thomas Johnson brings us a sweeping tale of a prince and his valiant quest to restore his land after a deadly attack wipes out half its population.The Royal House of Azarael sends Prince Gabriel on a secret mission to a well-hidden site in the impressive Custelle Range along the western shores of their Continentem, Praespero. While crossing storm-swept seas, his royal vessel falls under a vicious attack. Lord Gabriel esca...

A groundbreaking study of the connections between homoeroticism, cannibalism, and cultures of consumption in American literature and US slave culture.Scholars of US and transatlantic slavery have largely ignored or dismissed accusations that Black Americans were cannibalized. Vincent Woodard takes the enslaved person's claims of human consumption seriously, focusing on both the literal starvation of the slave and the tropes of cannibalism on the part of the slaveho...

Scholars of US and transatlantic slavery have largely ignored or dismissed accusations that Black Americans were cannibalized. Vincent Woodard takes the enslaved person's claims of human consumption seriously, focusing on both the starvation of the slave and the tropes of cannibalism on the part of the slaveholder, and further draws attention to the ways in which Blacks experienced their consumption as a fundamentally homoerotic occurrence.Utilizing many staples of African American...

Interrogating three core assumptions made within the field of media literacy—that media literacy practices empower individuals, support communities, and contribute to engaged citizenship within a democracy—this book presents a new framework for equitable media literacy practices.Using the results of a large-scale research project to interrogate these long-held assumptions and explore the connection between impactful media literacy practices and equity, the authors demonstrate the c...

Steal This University explores the paradox of academic labor. Universities do not exist to generate a profit from capital investment, yet contemporary universities are increasingly using corporations as their model for internal organization. While the media, politicians, business leaders and the general public all seem to share a remarkable consensus that higher education is indispensable to the future of nations and individuals alike, within academia bitter conflicts brew over th...