Dr. Bond H. Benton, assistant professor of communication and a faculty member within the department’s Public Relations program, reports that he has recent had three academic highlights.
The first is an article, “Have You Paid Your Taxes? Bodyslams, Antisemitism, and the Case of Irwin R. Shyster,” which was published in the Journal of Popular Culture, the premier journal of popular culture studies. The piece explores how Anti-Semitism has been presented in the world of professional wrestling.
In addition, he recently had a piece accepted in Studies in Communication Sciences, one of the top communication journals in Europe. The article, “Redemptive Anti-Americanism and the Death of Captain America,” deals with the 2007 “assassination” of comic book hero Captain America from the Marvel Comics franchise, and how that storyline reflected profoundly Anti-American attitudes during the Iraq War.
Lastly, he’s pleased to have collaborated with fellow Communication Professor Tracy Marafiote to publish, “Fatalism, Fear, and Retribution: Japanese Environmentalism in Godzilla vs. Biollante,” which appears in the Journal of Japanese Science Fiction Fantasy. This article examines the 1989 film “Godzilla vs. Biollante” and how it engages Japanese perspectives on fatalism and environmentalism.
