Local Professor Writes 'American Idol' Book

Amanda McClain, Ph.D., an assistant professor of communications at , recently published the book American Ideal: How American Idol Constructs Celebrity, Collective Identity and American Discourses (2011, Lexington Books).

The book analyzes how the popular reality TV show provides audiences with an idealized version of American culture.

The book’s release came just weeks before the start of American Idol’s 11th season on Jan. 18.

“I love American Idol. I love American TV. I find it fascinating,” McClain said. “Television both shapes and reflects American society.”

McClain spent most of her childhood in Bensalem and now lives in Philadelphia. She sits on national pop-culture associations as a television expert.

Other Holy Family University professors have also written publications that are now available in stores and online.

Elizabeth Moore, an assistant professor of English, has published her second non-fiction novel, Heft (2012, W.W. Norton & Company). Heft, a story about love and family found in unexpected places, is available in January.

Moore will share excerpts from Heft during a book reading on the Northeast Philadelphia campus of Holy Family, Monday, February 5, at 12:30 p.m. in Campus Center, Room 115, 9801 Frankford Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia. The community is welcome to attend.

History Professor Cathlyn Mariscotti, Ph.D., wrote an article that appears in the Dictionary of African Biography (2011, Oxford University Press), a major reference book released in December.

Mariscotti’s article explores the Egyptian scholar and writer Ai’shah Abd al-Rahman, whose pen name was Bint al-Shati. Born in 1913, al-Shati was considered an outspoken woman and wrote hundreds of books and more than a thousand articles.

The Dictionary of African Biography is a resource that chronicles the lives and legacies of notable African men and women from all time periods and walks of life. It is edited by two noted Harvard University professors, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Ph.D. and Emmanuel Akyeampong, Ph.D.