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The American Papers

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The American Papers is the journal of the CSUF American Studies Student Association. Each year, the American Papers Editorial Board, comprised of graduate and undergraduate students, selects the very best papers written for American Studies courses that year, works with authors to edit those essays, and produces a high-quality journal featuring our students' very best scholarship.

Volume 44, 2025-2026

Black and White Everything is Gonna Be Okay American Papers 2025-2026 Cover with a flower in the center Cover of the 2024-2025 American Papers showing chess pieces on a board American Papers 2023-2024 cover showing a tan statue of justice on top of a blue background with smiley faces The American Papers 2022-2023 Cover showing one black head with squiggly lines in the brain and an upside down brown head with squiggly lines American Papers 2021-2022 cover showing cartoons of people reading mixed with items such as a taxi and the Statue of Liberty

 

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Volume 44, 2025-2026

Editors-in-Chief: Sam Semcheshen and Trevor Stoller

Layout Editor: Sasha Westerfield

Editorial Board: Markus Albihn, Sara Chaffin, Emmanuelle De La Cruz, Ayza Martinez, Skyler Randle, Grace Rojas, Mia J. Sandoval

Faculty Advisors: Adam Golub and Alison Kanosky

Table of Contents

  • Building a Legacy: The Cultural Impact of Forest Lawn Memorial Park
    by Sara Chaffin
    AMST 350: Seminar in Theory and Method of American Studies, Professor Dustin Abnet
  • “Bobby, they’re playing our song”: Music and Couple Identity in American Adult Animated TV
    by Markus Albihn
    AMST 401T: Love in American Life and Thought, Professor Sara Fingal
  • The Criminal Courtroom as a Display of Power
    by Mia J. Sandoval
    AMST 405: Images of Crime and Violence in American Culture, Professor Alison Kanosky
  • “It knows how to hunt. But I know how to survive”: Prey (2022) and the Yautja
    by Emmanuelle De La Cruz
    AMST 428: American Monsters, Professor Adam Golub
  • “Who Are You?” Fan Identity, Labor, and Survival in Severance
    by Danielle Swiderski
    AMST 502T: Theoretical Approaches to Studying Popular Culture, Professor Adam Golub
  • All the President’s Dietitians
    by Trevor Stoller
    AMST 332: Science and Modern America, Professor Carolyn Thomas
  • Unknown Love in the Eyes of a Stranger: The V-J Kiss in American Memory
    by Jacqueline Scott Dukes
    AMST 401T: Love in American Life and Thought, Professor Sara Fingal
  • The Racist Roots of American Diet Culture
    by Les Gonzalez
    AMST 401T: Race in American Culture, Professor Susie Woo
  • Dawn of the Dead
    by Arielle Hobbs
    AMST 300: Introduction to American Popular Culture, Professor Adam Golub
  • Coerced Courage: Incarcerated Firefighters
    by Max Maggio
    AMST 405: Images of Crime and Violence in American Culture, Professor Alison Kanosky
  • Rhythms of Resistance: Salsa, Reggaeton, and Puerto Rico’s Struggle with American Imperialism
    by Aissa Bugarin
    AMST 502T: Theoretical Approaches to Studying Popular Culture, Professor Adam Golub

Winner of the 2026 Earl James Weaver Graduate Essay Prize

  • Making All Oz Merrier: Challenging Utopia in Oz
    by Grace Rojas
    AMST 502T: Theoretical Approaches to Studying Popular Culture, Professor Adam Golub

 

RECENT ISSUES

TABLES OF CONTENTS

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SUBMITTING TO THE AMERICAN PAPERS

The editorial board meets every summer to review submitted essays from the last academic year.

The editorial board will read all submissions anonymously, so please take your name off the body of the paper. Include only the paper title and the course for which it was written on the paper itself. In other words, remove your name from the header of the essay.

The American Papers does not accept previously published submissions.

Please include a separate cover sheet with:

  • Your Name
  • Your email and telephone contact information
  • The title of the paper
  • The course and the semester in which it was written
  • The prompt for the paper (if applicable and possible)

Submit your paper either to the American Studies Office (GH-313), or by emailing it to AmericanPapersCSUF@gmail.com. If submitting a hard copy to the American Studies Office, please mark your submission "Professor Alison Kanosky: American Papers." If emailing a copy, you should submit the paper and cover sheet as two separate Microsoft Word files. The subject heading of the email should say "American Papers Submission."

The submission deadline is typically in early to mid June.

Authors will receive a letter notifying them of the Editorial Board's decision in August. Accepted essays must be revised and resubmitted in electronic format at the beginning of the following fall semester.

Any questions? Contact Professor Adam Golub

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