Disgraced: One Book One Campus, 2016-17: Resources for Research

Art, Architecture, and Artists

• Juan de Pareja, or Velázquez's Moor

  • Images and details of the painting on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as some background information on the painter.
  • To find more information, try our Art & Design research guide!

• The Great Mosque of Cordoba

  • (please note: this links to Spanish language site - click the British flag in the top right corner to translate to English if needed)
  • Links to the official visitor's site for the Great Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba.
  • To find more examples of Islamic art and architecture, try our Art & Design research guide!

• Matisse

  • Links to Henri Matisse's summary and works on ArtStory.com, one of many sites where you can find information on his life and work.
  • To find more information on Matisse and his art, try our Art & Design research guide!

• John Constable

  • ​Links to a selection of John Constable's paintings on display at the Tate art museum, as referenced in the play.
  • To find more information on John Constable and his art, try our Art & Design research guide!

• Pierre Bonnard

  • Links to a collection of works and information on Pierre Bonnard at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA).
  • To find more information on Pierre Bonnard and his art, try our Art & Design research guide!

For much more information and examples of art, we suggest you begin your search at the ARTSTOR database.

Books

• The Qur'an

  • Links to Tanzil.net, a digital project to allow users to browse, read, or study the text of the Qur'an
  • To find some background information on Islam, try this Research Starter from the McNairy Library search!

• The Talmud

  • Links to the UPenn Libraries' collection of Judaica electronic texts, including the Talmud in various translations, as well as other texts and commentaries.
  • To find some background information on Judaism, try this Research Starter from the McNairy Library search!

• The Denial of Death

  • Links to the McNairy Library search page for Ernest Becker's Denial of Death. The book is available in the library at call #BD444 .B36. Use the Ask a Librarian button on this page if you need help finding the book!

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For more information on the Qur'an and the Talmud, we suggest you begin your search at the Cambridge Histories Online.

Philosophers and Religious Figures

• Ibn Arabi

  • ​Links to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy's summary on Ibn Arabi's life and work.
  • To find more information on Islamic philosophers, try our Philosophy research guide!

• Mulla Sadra

  • Links to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy's summary on Mulla Sadra's life and work.
  • To find more information on Islamic philosophers, try our Philosophy research guide!

• Aristotle

  • Links to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy's summary on Aristotle's life and work.
  • To find more information on ancient Greek philosophers, try our Philosophy research guide!

• Rumi

  • Links to the Research Starter on Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, available through McNairy Library.
  • To find more information on Islamic poets and poetry, try our Literature research guide!

• Joseph Smith

  • Links to the Research Starter on Joseph Smith, available through McNairy Library.
  • To find more information on Joseph Smith, try our Biography research guide!

• Henry Kissinger

  • Links to the Research Starter on Henry Kissinger, available through McNairy Library.
  • To find more information on Henry Kissinger, try our Biography research guide!​

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For more information on these and other important figures, we suggest you begin your search at the Biography Reference Center.

Political Figures and Events

• The USA Patriot Act (H.R. 3162)

  • Links to the full text of The Patriot Act.
  • For more information on this and other American political resources, try our Government and Political Affairs research guide!

• Pakistan - Colonial Period and Independence​

  • Links to
  • ​​For more information on this and other international political events, try our International Studies research guide!

• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

  • ​Links to the Research Starter on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, available through McNairy Library.
  • To find more information on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, try our Biography research guide!​

• Benjamin Netanyahu

  • ​Links to the Research Starter on Benjamin Netanyahu, available through McNairy Library.
  • To find more information on Benjamin Netanyahu, try our Biography research guide!​

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For more information on these and other important figures and events, we suggest you begin your search at the Virtual Reference Library.

(Other Pop Culture References You Might Enjoy Learning More About!)

• Magnolia Bakery
• The Steve Bartman Incident (Chicago Cubs)
• Annie Hall
• Charvet

Explore these articles to read the unique perspectives of individual Muslim Americans on their identities

• Ayad Akhtar: On Muslim Identity, and Life in America, Washington Post
• Developing Identity as a Muslim Immigrant Woman in America, Huffington Post
• On Humanizing Muslims, Huffington Post
• Muslim American Actor Opens Up About The Roles He Won't Play and What's Missing in Hollywood, Huffington Post
• The Good News About American Islamophobia, Huffington Post

Check out some of these sources to learn more about cultural appropriation and representation in media:

"Happy Warrior"

• "The article discusses cultural appropriation and the author's claim that American moviegoers want to see films featuring ethnically authentic actors, and it mentions how the director and producers of the motion picture "Gods of Egypt" were forced to apologize to the public for casting mostly Caucasian actors to portray Egyptian deities in the film. Actor Gerard Butler, a debate about the skin color of ancient Egyptians, and the theatrical production "Hamilton" are examined."

"Shakespeare On Screen: Othello"

• "The first volume in the re-launched series Shakespeare on Screen is devoted to Othello, offering up-to-date coverage of recent screen versions as well as new critical essays on older, canonical films. An international cast of authors explores not only productions from the USA and UK, but also translations, adaptations and appropriations in Québec, Italy, India, Brazil and Mexico. The volume takes part in the ceaseless cultural investigation of what Othello says about Shakespeare, the past and our present time, supported by an invaluable film-bibliography. Accompanying free online resources include a fuller version of the bibliography and an additional contribution on YouTube versions of Othello. This book will be a valuable resource for students, scholars and teachers of film studies and Shakespeare studies."

"Cultural Appropriation Without Cultural Essentialism?"

• "Is there something morally wrong with cultural appropriation in the arts? I argue that the little philosophical work on this topic has been overly dismissive of moral objections to cultural appropriation. Nevertheless, I argue that philosophers working on epistemic injustice have developed powerful conceptual tools that can aid in our understanding of objections that have been levied by other scholars and artists. I then consider the relationship between these objections and the harms of cultural essentialism. I argue that focusing on the systematic nature of appropriative harms may allow us to sidestep the problem of essentialism, but not without cost."

"To See or Not to See: Race and Theatrical Casting"

• "In nontraditional casting, actors fill roles in which they differ physically from the character they play, most often by race. This practice stretches norms of representation and calls on audiences to suspend their ordinary assumptions about what bodily characteristics convey. Drawing on theater professionals' experiences with and opinions about nontraditional casting based on race or ethnicity, this paper analyzes what such casting decisions reveal about contextual variability in the meanings attached to physical signifiers of race."

"Casting Without Limits"

• "The writer contemplates the possibility of transcending the conventional limits set by theater, particularly with regard to casting roles irrespective of actors' gender, age, race, and body type. He contends that notions of gender, age, race, and body type are reflective of contemporary sociopolitical meanings and are greatly influenced by art, fashion, and popular entertainment. He observes that, although progress has been made to a certain extent in transcending the limits of race and ethnicity in theater, the same cannot be said in the case of gender. He focuses on the possibility of detaching role-characteristics from actor characteristics."

Explore some of these articles to learn more about discrimination against Muslims in the US

• What a Week of Anti-Muslim Discrimination Looks Like, GQ Magazine
• Islamophobia: Understanding Anti-Muslim Sentiment in the West, Gallup.com
• Americans Think Islam is "At Odds" with US Values, See Discrimination Against Muslims, RT.com
• Recent Allegations of Workplace Discrimination Against Muslims in USA, Business & Human Rights Resource Center
• Link Between Islam and Violence Rejected by Many Americans After Boston Bombings: Pew Survey, The Huffington Post
• What Most Americans Think of Islam Today, The Washington Post

Refresh your memory of the history unfolding in the background of the play with these resources on the events of 2011 and 2012

• What It Means to Be an American: Attitudes in an Increasingly Diverse America Ten Years after 9/11, Brookings
• The Top Political Events of 2011, US News
• Timeline: Top News Stories of 2012, Pew Research Center
• The Year in News: 2011, Pew Research Center
• Religion in the News: Islam and Politics Dominate Religion Coverage in 2011, Pew Research Center
• Wikipedia, a summary of the year 2011
• Wikipedia, a summary of the year 2012