Maria Moss

Blog posts by Maria Moss:

Time to Say Good-Bye
Our first con­tri­bu­tion, “New Kids on the Blog,” was uploaded on Sep­tem­ber 8, 2014. We were excit­ed to try our hands at blog writ­ing, some­thing none … Continue reading Time to Say Good-Bye →

Travelogues
What exact­ly is a trav­el­ogue? Or, asked dif­fer­ent­ly, what is it not? A trav­el­ogue is not an adver­tise­ment that tries to sell spe­cif­ic des­ti­na­tions to its … Continue reading Travelogues →

“My Name” – Vignettes about You
Vignettes are won­der­ful! Some­times described as a slice of life, vignettes can be so short that they take away the fear of end­ing up with a … Continue reading “My Name” – Vignettes about You →

Special Events You Won’t Want to Miss
What do pornog­ra­phy, fake Indi­ans, the cli­mate cri­sis, and fire­fight­ers in New York City have in com­mon? Well, these are all top­ics of this season’s lec­ture … Continue reading Special Events You Won’t Want to Miss →

Free Verse Poetry or “how to play with unseen rackets”
Any­one can write free verse – or so the say­ing goes. Free verse poems are free from lim­i­ta­tions of meter, rhythm, or rhyme – all aspects … Continue reading Free Verse Poetry or “how to play with unseen rackets” →

Thanksgiving or I’d Rather Not Be Invited
For Thanks­giv­ing, let’s do with­out turkeys, these beau­ti­ful birds that Ben­jamin Franklin called “true Amer­i­can orig­i­nals.” Well, a lot of good that did them! More than … Continue reading Thanksgiving or I’d Rather Not Be Invited →

In Memoriam Bobbie Kirkhart
It is with great sor­row that we announce the pass­ing of Bob­bie Kirkhart. Not only has she been my won­der­ful friend of 35 years, she’s also … Continue reading In Memoriam Bobbie Kirkhart →

One of the Darkest Days in American History: 11’09”01 (2002)
Sep­tem­ber 11, 2021, marks the 20th anniver­sary of the most hor­ren­dous ter­ror­ist attack on Amer­i­can soil. In a series of four coor­di­nat­ed attacks on the World … Continue reading One of the Darkest Days in American History: 11’09”01 (2002) →

A Human or Non-Human Companion? The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
Every so often, a book comes around by an author you’ve nev­er heard about – although you pride your­self on always fol­low­ing new, entic­ing, and award-win­ning … Continue reading A Human or Non-Human Companion? The Friend by Sigrid Nunez →

Chicana/o Quiz
  In order to cel­e­brate Cin­co de Mayo, the – unfor­tu­nate­ly not offi­cial – hol­i­day of Mex­i­can Amer­i­cans in the Unit­ed States, I’d like you to … Continue reading Chicana/o Quiz →

A Project Seminar in Times of Covid-19
Project sem­i­nars are always chal­leng­ing. Since they involve more work than a tra­di­tion­al sem­i­nar, they often attract those types of stu­dents who enjoy a good chal­lenge … Continue reading A Project Seminar in Times of Covid-19 →

How well do you know the United States and Canada? A Quiz
Now that the nation­al hol­i­days of both Cana­da (July 1) and the Unit­ed States (July 4) are upon us, it’s time to check how well you, … Continue reading How well do you know the United States and Canada? A Quiz →

Unusual Friendships: Interspecies Relationships
One not so com­mon top­ic in the broad field of ani­mal stud­ies is the inter­ac­tion between dif­fer­ent ani­mal species. Until recent­ly, any sug­ges­tion that inter­species rela­tion­ships … Continue reading Unusual Friendships: Interspecies Relationships →

Human-Animal Studies – The ASB Editors’ Favorite Picks (Part II)
When we think about rela­tion­ships between human ani­mals and non-human ani­mals, we often think of the rela­tion­ship between guardians and pets. How­ev­er, there’s so much more … Continue reading Human-Animal Studies – The ASB Editors’ Favorite Picks (Part II) →

Dreams Have No Borders: The 8th Indianer/Inuit North American Film Festival
Ask any Native Stud­ies schol­ar in Europe, and they will be well aware of the Euro­pean fas­ci­na­tion with Native peo­ples of North Amer­i­ca – a fas­ci­na­tion … Continue reading Dreams Have No Borders: The 8th Indianer/Inuit North American Film Festival →

Maple Leaf & Stars and Stripes 
We’re in our ninth year of Maple Leaf & Stars and Stripes– if this lec­ture series were a child, it would be in third grade by now. … Continue reading Maple Leaf & Stars and Stripes  →

Improving Robert Frost’s poem, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”
f course the title is face­tious: I cer­tain­ly don’t want to – even if I could, which I can’t – improve one of the best and … Continue reading Improving Robert Frost’s poem, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” →

Thoughts of a Digital Alternative
Since tomor­row is the Nation­al Day of Unplug­ging, we thought it only made sense to relaunch the “Thoughts of a Dig­i­tal Alternative.” Here’s our advice: Use … Continue reading Thoughts of a Digital Alternative →

Arnold Krupat, Changed Forever: American Indian Boarding-School Literature 
The book’s cov­er says it all: It shows Apache stu­dents on their arrival at Carlisle Indi­an School in Penn­syl­va­nia, an off-reser­va­tion school thou­sands of miles away … Continue reading Arnold Krupat, Changed Forever: American Indian Boarding-School Literature  →

1550 San Remo Drive
This almost Bauhaus-style vil­la, over­look­ing the Pacif­ic Ocean, is locat­ed in beau­ti­ful Pacif­ic Pal­isades, just off Sun­set Blvd. In 2016, it went up for sale – … Continue reading 1550 San Remo Drive →

Escaping Fundamentalism: An Interview with Charlene L. Edge (Part II)
After last week’s intro­duc­tion to the seduc­tive pow­er of the fun­da­men­tal­ist cult “The Way Inter­na­tion­al” and the prac­tice of speak­ing in tongues, in this install­ment, read­ers … Continue reading Escaping Fundamentalism: An Interview with Charlene L. Edge (Part II) →

Escaping Fundamentalism: An Interview with Charlene L. Edge (Part I)
In her award-win­ning book Under­tow, Char­lene Edge dis­sects her past as a long-time mem­ber of one of the largest fun­da­men­tal­ist cults in the Unit­ed States, “The … Continue reading Escaping Fundamentalism: An Interview with Charlene L. Edge (Part I) →

A New National Holiday – A Riddle
By all rights, I should be a nation­al hol­i­day in the Unit­ed States. I am not as polit­i­cal­ly incor­rect as Colum­bus Day which Native Amer­i­cans are … Continue reading A New National Holiday – A Riddle →

White Robes, Silver Screens: An Interview with Tom Rice (Part 2)
In this sec­tion of the inter­view, Tom Rice talks more about his book, the sym­bol­ism sur­round­ing the Klan, and the rumors about the Klan’s alleged con­nec­tion … Continue reading White Robes, Silver Screens: An Interview with Tom Rice (Part 2) →

White Robes, Silver Screens: An Interview with Tom Rice
Tom Rice is Senior Lec­tur­er in Film Stud­ies at the Uni­ver­si­ty of St Andrews and the author of White Robes, Sil­ver Screens: Movies and the Mak­ing … Continue reading White Robes, Silver Screens: An Interview with Tom Rice →

How to Haiku Part Two
A long jour­ney ends when farm­ers grab their rifles wolves in Germany   Remem­ber the Haiku rules from last week? If not, check here. As opposed to … Continue reading How to Haiku Part Two →

How to Haiku
I final­ly know why stu­dents don’t like Haikus too many syllables Ooops, some­thing went wrong – right: the last line. It has 6 syl­la­bles but should con­sist … Continue reading How to Haiku →

An Encounter at Canyon de Chelly
It was a clear and sun­ny day in ear­ly April when we arrived with a stu­dent group at Canyon de Chelly (pro­nounced dəˈʃeɪ/ or də·shā′). We had … Continue reading An Encounter at Canyon de Chelly →

Canyon de Chelly, Navajo Nation, Arizona
I first came across White House Ruin in Canyon de Chelly (pro­nounced dəˈʃeɪ or də·shā′) in N. Scott Momaday’s Pulitzer Prize win­ning nov­el, House Made of … Continue reading Canyon de Chelly, Navajo Nation, Arizona →