Neo Passing

African Americans once passed as whites to escape the pains of racism. Today's neo-passing has pushed the old idea of passing in extraordinary new directions. A white author uses an Asian pen name; heterosexuals live "out" as gay; and, irony of ironies, whites try to pass as black. Mollie Godfrey and Vershawn Ashanti Young present essays that explore practices, performances, and texts of neo-passing in our supposedly postracial moment. The authors move from the postracial imagery of Angry Black White Boy and the issues of sexual orientation and race in ZZ Packer's short fiction to the politics of Dave Chappelle's skits as a black President George W. Bush. Together, the works reveal that the questions raised by neo-passing—questions about performing and contesting identity in relation to social norms—remain as relevant today as in the past. Contributors: Derek Adams, Christopher M. Brown, Martha J. Cutter, Marcia Alesan Dawkins, Michele Elam, Alisha Gaines, Jennifer Glaser, Allyson Hobbs, Brandon J. Manning, Loran Marsan, Lara Narcisi, Eden Osucha, Gayle Wald, and Deborah Elizabeth Whaley

The United States spends approximately $4 million each year searching for near-Earth objects (NEOs). The objective is to detect those that may collide with Earth. The majority of this funding supports the operation of several observatories that scan the sky searching for NEOs. This, however, is insufficient in detecting the majority of NEOs that may present a tangible threat to humanity. A significantly smaller amount of funding supports ways to protect the Earth from such a potential collision or "mitigation." In 2005, a Congressional mandate called for NASA to detect 90 percent of NEOs with diameters of 140 meters of greater by 2020. Defending Planet Earth: Near-Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies identifies the need for detection of objects as small as 30 to 50 meters as these can be highly destructive. The book explores four main types of mitigation including civil defense, "slow push" or "pull" methods, kinetic impactors and nuclear explosions. It also asserts that responding effectively to hazards posed by NEOs requires national and international cooperation. Defending Planet Earth: Near-Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies is a useful guide for scientists, astronomers, policy makers and engineers.

In this study of racial passing literature, Julia S. Charles highlights how mixed-race subjects invent cultural spaces for themselves—a place she terms that middle world—and how they, through various performance strategies, make meaning in the interstices between the Black and white worlds. Focusing on the construction and performance of racial identity in works by writers from the antebellum period through Reconstruction, Charles creates a new discourse around racial passing to analyze mixed-race characters' social objectives when crossing into other racialized spaces. To illustrate how this middle world and its attendant performativity still resonates in the present day, Charles connects contemporary figures, television, and film—including Rachel Dolezal and her Black-passing controversy, the FX show Atlanta, and the musical Show Boat—to a range of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century literary texts. Charles's work offers a nuanced approach to African American passing literature and examines how mixed-race performers articulated their sense of selfhood and communal belonging.

Techno-heaven or techno-hell? If you believe many scientists working in the emerging fields of twenty-first-century technology, the future is blissfully bright. Initially, human bodies will be perfected through genetic manipulation and the fusion of human and machine; later, human beings will completely shed the shackles of pain, disease, and even death, as human minds are downloaded into death-free robots whereby they can live forever in a heavenly "posthuman" existence. In this techno-utopian future, humanity will be saved by the godlike power of technology. If you believe the authors of science fiction, however, posthuman evolution marks the beginning of the end of human freedom, values, and identity. Our dark future will be dominated by mad scientists, rampaging robots, killer clones, and uncontrollable viruses. In this timely new book, Daniel Dinello examines "the dramatic conflict between the techno-utopia promised by real-world scientists and the techno-dystopia predicted by science fiction." Organized into chapters devoted to robotics, bionics, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and other significant scientific advancements, this book summarizes the current state of each technology, while presenting corresponding reactions in science fiction. Dinello draws on a rich range of material, including films, television, books, and computer games, and argues that science fiction functions as a valuable corrective to technological domination, countering techno-hype and reflecting the "weaponized, religiously rationalized, profit-fueled" motives of such science. By imaging a disastrous future of posthuman techno-totalitarianism, science fiction encourages us to construct ways to contain new technology, and asks its audience perhaps the most important question of the twenty-first century: is technology out of control?

Liquid Crimson Neo Manos, son of Zeus, was to become King of the Realm, governing the Blessed Creatures that roamed the earth. Everything changed when Neo was kidnapped and tortured for over four hundred years at the hands of a vampire. After being turned into one of the monsters he'd come to despise, Neo refused to take his rightful place as king. How could he fairly govern the Realm if he hated what he'd become? In an attempt to make amends to his son, Zeus created a perfect mate for Neo. Michael was everything Neo had ever wanted and everything he knew he didn't deserve. With blood designed only for Neo, Michael quickly becomes the target of Neo's enemies. Soon it will become a daily battle to keep his mate safe and deal with his increasing addiction to the blood flowing from Michael's veins. Blood Trinity For over four hundred years, werewolf mates, Kern and Haig fought and loved side by side. Although they've had a few rocky moments along the way, their love for each other has never wavered. That is, until Kern is kidnapped and forced to mate with the outsider, Audric. Hurt and confused, Haig runs from Neo's Realm and, most especially, Kern. How is Haig supposed to accept another man in his marriage, especially when that man isn't a werewolf at all but a vampire? Centuries spent as the whipping boy to the other vampires in his coven have left Audric hungry for affection. His goal isn't to come between the mated pair of werewolves, but to become part of their family. Unfortunately, his yearning for love and companionship soon threatens to damage that which he desired. Kern hates that his unwilling actions have hurt the only person he's ever loved, but with Haig gone, he's left alone to introduce Audric to a new life on the vineyard. Kern didn't expect to like the puny vampire, but Audric begins to ease his way under Kern's skin. When Haig returns after a two month absence, Kern is afraid his newfound love for Audric might tear apart his marriage with Haig. Three men, two species, one bed. Is it possible to put aside jealousies and establish a new kind of family or will this forced union destroy everything? Crimson Moon After his capture by a rogue vampire coven, Gunnar, alpha werewolf and head of Neo's Realm security, was viciously turned into a vampire. Although Gunnar was eventually rescued, he refuses to accept the vampiric side of himself. Centuries earlier, Ramiro was also changed against his will, but he's learned to accept himself and make the best of his new life. He knows he has his hands full with Gunnar, but there is something about the confused werevamp that pulls at his once-human side. As head of security for the vampire king, Ramiro has the reputation of being a cold-hearted warrior, but he wasn't always that way. As he continues to coach Gunnar through the transition, he begins to yearn for things he hasn't wanted in centuries, love. Gunnar hates being seen as weak by Ramiro. Never has he allowed someone to take care of him, especially someone he considers an equal in battle. Giving in to his body's desires won't come easy, but Gunnar begins to fear for his own sanity if he continues to push the vampire away. Royal Blood Will Nialo be able to put retribution aside in the name of love, or will his anger and untapped power rip The Realm apart? Spiro Manos ruled over the Realm of Blessed Creatures for centuries in his brother's stead. Time spent solving everyone else's problems helped divert his mind from his own. Bound to a powerful but lost god, Spiro has spent a lifetime alone. Although sexual diversions have kept his body satisfied, his soul has never known the touch of the one lover he was born to satisfy. Betrayed and hunted by his brother, Nialo fought valiantly until his mother, Gaia, hid him away. Forced to live life as a jaguar

The authors have grouped the theories into three classical "families" which differ in their views relative to the prime motives underlying human nature. They show how theories are specific examples of more general points of view called paradigms. The theories chosen to represent the three paradigms (the Endogenous Paradigm, Exogenous Paradigm, and the Constructivist Paradigm) were selected because they met four criteria: importance, as judged by academic and research psychologists fertility, as judged by the amount of research the theory has generated scope, as judged by the variety of phenomena the various theories explain family resemblance, as judged by how well each theory represents its paradigm The authors present the "paradigm case" in the lead chapter for each paradigm. This paradigm case is the "best example" for the paradigm. The authors explain why paradigm cases are important, and give them more detailed treatment than other theories in the same paradigm.

This book broadens the scope of inquiry of neo-Victorian studies by focusing primarily on screen adaptations and appropriations of Victorian literature and culture. More specifically, this monograph spotlights the overlapping yet often conflicting drives at work in representations of Victorian heroines in contemporary film and TV. Primorac’s close analyses of screen representations of Victorian women pay special attention to the use of costume and clothes, revealing the tensions between diverse theoretical interventions and generic (often market-oriented) demands. The author elucidates the push and pull between postcolonial critique and nostalgic, often Orientalist spectacle; between feminist textual interventions and postfeminist media images. Furthermore, this book examines neo-Victorianism’s relationship with postfeminist media culture and offers an analysis of the politics behind onscreen treatment of Victorian gender roles, family structures, sexuality, and colonial space.

A beautifully illustrated investigation of Neo-Impressionism in late 19th-century Paris and Brussels This stunning catalogue explores the creative exchange between Neo-Impressionist painters and Symbolist writers and composers in the late 1880s and early 1890s. Symbolism, with its emphasis on subjectivity, dream worlds, and spirituality, has often been considered at odds with Neo-Impressionism's approach to portraying color and light. This book repositions the relationship between these movements and looks at how Neo-Impressionist artists such as Maximilien Luce, Georges Seurat, Paul Signac, and Henry van de Velde created evocative landscape and figural scenes by depicting emptiness, contemplative moods, Arcadia, and other themes. Beautifully illustrated with 130 color images, this book reveals the vibrancy and depth of the Neo-Impressionist movement in Paris and Brussels in the late 19th century.