Sins of the Father: American Culture in a Time of Terror

Susan Jeffords, who teaches in the English and Women Studies Departments, is the author of Hard Bodies: Hollywood Masculinity in the Reagan Era (1994), The Remasculinization of America: Gender and the Vietnam War (1989), and the co-editor of Seeing Through the Media: The Persian Gulf War (1994). She teaches courses in American popular culture, with a particular emphasis on Hollywood film, the Vietnam War, and feminism.

She says, “Throughout American history, narratives about fathers and sons have provided compelling frameworks for understanding who we are as Americans. Whether stories of rebellion, restoration, correction, or continuation, these narratives have structured how we, as a culture, talk about continuity, change, and hope for the future."

In this lecture, Jeffords explores what stories about fathers and sons look like in a post-Sept. 11 environment.