Tony KolenicKolenik portrait

Areas of Interest

  • Media Studies
  • Religious Studies
  • Nationalism

Biography

M.A. in American Studies. Michigan State University, Summer 2007. B.A. in Social Relations. James Madison. Michigan State University, Spring 2005. My name is Tony Kolenic; I suppose I am the program’s local boy. I grew up in Muskegon, MI, which is approximately 100 miles west of our fair town, on the coast of Lake Michigan. I did my undergrad here at MSU in a residential college called James Madison College, which focused primarily on issues of public policy (social and international) but does so with a heavy background in political theory, writing and rhetoric, as well as international and cultural studies. In this program I was able to take develop my interests in American and world religious practices, study Mandarin Chinese, and independently conduct research in religious and cultural studies.

I recently completed my Master’s Thesis, which was primarily concerned with the ways in which American nationalism used (and continues to use) the structures of religious expression in the varied material responses to 9/11 (spontaneous shrines, consumer goods, as well as the formal built memorials) and how this impacts national memory. I am an incoming Ph.D. student Fall 2007, and though I will be keeping an open mind in the coming year as to exactly what the intricacies of my research will be, I am most interested in the relationship between media, religious expression and nationalism, particularly in relationship to disasters and how the many identities comprising contemporary American culture view their relationships with death, religion, and memory. I am currently working with Dr. Ann Larabee, Dr. Amy DeRogatis, and Dr. David Stowe.