About the Journal
The Modest Proposal: A Journal of Books, Opinion, and Comment is a collectively edited e-journal primarily concerned with producing solid, critical writing on a broad range of contemporary issues. It was born out of a healthy respect for a direct engagement with intellectual life both inside and outside the academy. It demands a curious reader with a desire to think beyond their "comfort zone." Above all, it seeks to privilege the continued importance of critical discourse in everyday life through an intrinsic belief in the opinion essay, and, most importantly, that quickly vanishing art known as the "book review." With major newspapers liquidating their cultural writing in favor of advertisers, colorful charts, or "want" ads, concerned citizens must forge new communities elsewhere.
The Modest Proposal (known to the lazy as TMP) took root in 2007. Its initial participants (to begin with, it was a "thought experiment" carried out through several months of rigorous email discourse) desired to produce an electronic periodical that would marry their current intellectual lives with those lovely community virtues that often disappear with geographical distance.
While the audacity of Swift's "modest proposal" still rings in some circles, this Modest Proposal was started on the idea that people of varied professions, with little-to-no free time, could periodically band as one for the cause of publication. Thus, TMP as it is today, a thrice yearly journal fortified by a lively group blog to fill those gaps in content.
The Modest Proposal is always looking for well-wrought writing (WWW!) in a variety of forms. If you are interested in contributing, please see the CONTACT page and email the appropriate editor.
Enjoy!
Kevin Flanagan – General Editor [email]
Bobby Schweizer – Webmaster [email]
About The Contributors
Frank DiTraglia is a PhD candidate in Economics at University of California, San Diego. He received his M.Sc. in Statistics from the University of St. Andrews. He is a keen actor and enjoys the works of Gilbert and Sullivan.
Kevin Flanagan is a PhD student in the Critical and Cultural Studies program (Dept. of English) at University of Pittsburgh. He is editor of Ken Russell: Re-Viewing England's Last Mannerist (Scarecrow Press, 2009). He has contributed essays to Framework, Media Fields Journal, and numerous edited anthologies. A prolific critic, his DVD and book reviews have been published in Film & History, Journal of British Cinema and Television, Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, and several other periodicals in film and the humanities.
Emily Gercke earned her B.S. at The College of William and Mary ('06) and her M.S. at Indiana University ('11), both in Geology. She fancies herself the next Carmen Sandiego and has been spotted hugging glaciers in Antarctica, chasing polar bears in Svalbard and flying on the trapeze in the Dominican Republic. When she is not traveling, she enjoys running, competing in triathlons, hiking, and whatever handcraft has most recently caught her attention.
Jim Goodwin received a Bachelor of Arts in History from the College of William and Mary in 2006. He currently lives in San Francisco, working for a consulting firm in the luxury hospitality industry. His amateur interests include aviation, general science and promoting Enlightenment values.
Andy Jih lives in Pittsburgh, PA where he is currently a project manager for an e-commerce web company. Previously, he was a producer and game designer at a handful of video game and themed entertainment companies where he's worked on console games, theme park rides, and an assortment of other interactive entertainment projects. He holds a Master's in Entertainment Technology and a B.A. in Philosophy, both from Carnegie Mellon University.
Eric Knapp is a native Virginian who matriculated into and subsequently graduated from the College of William and Mary Class of 2006. He is currently working in film and television production in New York City as a freelance production coordinator. This is not, however, his end goal. He enjoys drawing, taking photos, attending flea markets, and riding his bike—hipstery stuff. His plans for the future are to draw t-shirts for a living.
Joseph Maddrey is a pipe-dreamer living and working in Los Angeles, California. He is the author of two books: Nightmares in Red, White and Blue: The Evolution of the American Horror Film (McFarland, 2004) and The Making of T.S. Eliot: A Study of the Literary Influences (McFarland, 2009). The former is the basis of a new feature-length documentary, which he also wrote and produced. Other writing/producing projects include A Haunting (Discovery Channel, 2005 - 2007) and The House Between, John Kenneth Muir's original web-series. Joe's other rants can be found at http://maddrey.blogspot.com.
Adam Miller is a PhD candidate in English at Vanderbilt University. He studies British antiquarianism and the Gothic novel through the lens of thing theory.
Christopher Muir is a PhD candidate in Evolutionary Biology at Indiana University. He attended the College of William and Mary as an undergraduate. He enjoys the outdoors, homebrewing, and piercing arguments.
Roshan Patel lives in DC and works with various conservation and environmental education non-profits. He also gives tours at the National Zoo's elephant house. He started a photography site and has contributed his photographs to Nature, The Washington Post, and various Associated Press articles. Roshan is pursuing conservation photography because of his interest in making nature relevant to people.
Kate Petty was born at home on Valentine's Day, and is waiting for Tom Waits to write a song about that. A graduate of the College of William and Mary and the University of St. Andrews, Kate is the MP fiction editor. Her work has appeared in Ambit and Mslexia, and she is starting her second novel. She currently lives in Washington, D.C.
Gabriel Ricard is editor-in-chief of Feel the Word net 'zine. He is a staff reviewer for Unlikely Stories and has interviewed many of the greats, including Henry Rollins, George A. Romero, and Harvey Pekar.
Bobby Schweizer is a PhD student in Digital Media at the Georgia Institute of Technology (where he also holds his M.S), and received a B.A. in Media Studies and American Studies is from the University of Virginia. He co-authored the book Newsgames: Playing with Journalism (MIT Press, 2010) with Ian Bogost and Simon Ferrari and is interested in videogame studies, space and place, and urban studies.
Jasper Sluijs holds an MA degree in Cultural Studies. Prior to going back to graduate school, Jasper worked as a researcher and editor at V2_ : Institute for the Unstable Media His interests cover online social production, intellectual property, media ownership, post-structuralist thought and intermedial art. In his spare free time he enjoys discussing art and politics while smoking cigars, drinking single malt whiskey and wearing tweed trousers.
Ryan Soloby holds his Master's in Broadcasting, Telecommunications, and Mass Media. He teaches courses on media theory and technology at New York University, Temple University, and Burlington County College. Previously having spent years touring the country in the large multimedia performance group Chromelodeon, he now spends his free time DJing and researching cultural trends with a focus on audio and video game entertainment. He is also an amateur canine psychoanalyst.
Adam Stackhouse is a 2004 graduate of the College of William & Mary, where he majored in American Studies and Film Studies. He is a two-time Emmy Award winning film and live event producer and is the owner of 1693 Productions, based out of Williamsburg, Virginia.
