Castleton Spartan

Issue date: 10/17/07 Section: News

Thomas Conroy, Castleton State College's department chair of communication and professor, is coming out with a new book.

The book, titled 'Constructing America's War Culture,' will be hitting the shelves by the end of November or the beginning of December. Conroy has worked at Castleton State College for 16 years, and has been working on the book for almost two years, and was a little leery about talking about it before its publication.

"I am superstitious about talking about it until I see it in print," he said, touching his mustache in his office that's surrounded by piles of paperwork a mile high.

'Constructing America's War Culture,' according to the index, is a collection of essays that discusses how the media has "packaged" the current war in Iraq. Conroy worked on this book with several other professors from around the country, and more specifically Jarice Hanson, a professor of communication at the University of Massachusetts.

When asked about Castleton State College's support of professors producing publications Conroy said, "Castleton likes professors to come out with publications, yet the extraordinary heavy load of classes and committee service made it difficult to produce a publication."

Conroy did say the college had helped out by giving him a sabbatical and honoring him as the Castleton State College Honorary Fellow. Academic Dean Joe Mark said he knows of the time constraints on professors that Conroy had mentioned.

"I am impressed when faculty can produce a publication in spite of timely commitments. Teachers are expected to do committee service and be advisors ... Castleton puts teaching first, therefore we do not have high standards for professors to produce publications," Mark said.

Mark, knowing about the constraints on professors, seemed impressed at Conroy's dedication to produce a publication.

"He is an advisor that cares about the whole student, not just what they are doing in class. He is great addition to the community and I can't wait to see it," Mark said.

The book is about 180 pages long and covers a broad selection of subjects. Some include Jessica Lynch, the analysis of movies that have come out about Sept. 11, as well as the Bush administration and how it dealt with covering up aspects of the war in Iraq.

"It's about different cultural and social factors that encourage us to support war," Conroy said.

He went on to discuss some of the factors that encourage us to support war and mentioned the term "NASCAR dads."

Continued...

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