Abstract
We have come to our third volume and many exciting things are happening in our Journal. This first issue starts with our column MJ Studies Today by Elizabeth Amisu and by Kerry Hennigan, who has taken over Elizabeth’s task. Our featured interviews are with Professor Marie Plasse and Isabelle Petitjean. We also published an essay and academic book review by Ivana Recmanová.
The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies asks that you acknowledge The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies as the source of our Content; if you use material from The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies online, we request that you link directly to the stable URL provided. If you use our content offline, we ask that you credit the source as follows: “Courtesy of The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies.”
Content
1. Editorial by Karin Merx
2. ‘MJ Studies Today VII
by Elizabeth Amisu
3. Academic Book Review: ‘‘Xscape Origins: The Songs And Stories Michael Jackson Left Behind’ By Damien Shields‘
by Ivana Recmanová
4. Episode 12 – MJ Academy: The Dangerous Philosophies of Michael Jackson Pt. 2‘
by Karin Merx & Elizabeth Amisu
5. An Interview with Professor Marie Plasse
by The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies
6. MJ Studies Today VIII
by Elizabeth amisu
7. Episode 13 – MJAS Exclusive: Michael Jackson 58th Birthday: MJ & Afrocentricity‘
by Karin Merx & Elizabeth Amisu
8. Performing Michael Jackson’s Fan Identity During the HIStory World Tour in Europe
by Ivana Recmanová
9. MJ Studies Today IX
by Kerry Hennigan
10. An Interview with Isabelle Petitjean
by The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies
1 Editorial
At 58 and 7 years after his untimely passing, Michael Jackson will be remembered as a humanitarian and artist with many genius accomplishments. Author and Editor of the journal, Elizabeth Amisu, has written the first academic book on Michael Jackson and in this issue, we continue this celebration with another interview about her writing, the process and the sections in her book.
We also had the privilege to interview Professor Marie Plasse, which we included in this issue. Elizabeth wrote her last column, but the journal found a new columnist in Kerry Hennigan. We have included her first column in which she writes about the impact of Michael Jackson on popular culture.
Our Michael Jackson Birthday Exclusive is about Afrocentricity. Ivana Recmanova’s contributions in this issue are an excellent essay about the Michael Jackson’s fan community during the HIStory World Tour and an academic book review on Xscape Origins by Damien Shields.The journal included an interview with author Isabelle Petitjean who wrote an academic book on the Dangerous Album Cover.
Finally, we published the episode where we celebrate the book release of Elizabeth Amisu, The Dangerous Philosophies of Michael Jackson: His Music, His Persona, and His Artistic Afterlife
Karin Merx
2 MJ Studies Today VII
by Elizabeth Amisu
August 2016 celebrates the 58th year since Michael Joseph Jackson was born. It’s a touching time for the millions of Michael Jackson fans and students around the world. It is the final column from Elizabeth.
http://michaeljacksonstudies.org/mjstudiestoday8/
3 Academic Book Review: Xscape Origins: The Songs And Stories Michael Jackson Left Behind By Damien Shields
by Ivana Recmanová
Michael Jackson’s second posthumous album, Xscape, was released in 2014 and contains both previously unreleased and already released material. On the standard version, all the songs were remastered by several respectable producers and two songs of the album, Love Never Felt So Good and A Place With No Name, peaked high in international charts. The deluxe version of the album also contains demo versions.
http://michaeljacksonstudies.org/academic-book-review-of-xscape-origins-by-damien-shields/
4 Episode 12 – MJ Academy: The Dangerous Philosophies of Michael Jackson Pt. 2
by Karin Merx & Elizabeth Amisu
This twelfth episode stands in the light of the MJ Academy and the forthcoming book of Elizabeth Amisu, editor of The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies. Karin has Elizabeth as her guest to interview her on The Dangerous Philosophies of Michael Jackson: His Music, His Persona, and His Artistic Afterlife. They talk about the critical essay in the book, the process of writing, the sources Elizabeth used for her research, section one of the book ‘Art as Life’, and the brand new course Teaching Michael Jackson Studies.
http://michaeljacksonstudies.org/episode-12/
5 An Interview with Professor Marie Plasse
by The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies
Professor Marie Plasse of Merrimack College discusses teaching and delivering papers in Michael Jackson Studies professionally.
http://michaeljacksonstudies.org/an-interview-with-professor-marie-plasse/
6 MJ Studies Today VIII
by Elizabeth amisu
August 2016 celebrates the 58th year since Michael Joseph Jackson was born. It’s a touching time for the millions of Michael Jackson fans and students around the world. It is the final column from Elizabeth.
http://michaeljacksonstudies.org/mjstudiestoday8/
7 Episode 13 – MJAS Exclusive: Michael Jackson 58th Birthday: MJ & Afrocentricity
by Karin Merx & Elizabeth Amisu
This thirteenth episode is a celebration of Michael Jackson’s 58th birthday. Karin and Elizabeth’s conversation explores Michael Jackson and Afrocentricity, the predominantly American study of the history of black Africa. They discuss the many ways in which Michael Jackson was aware of, knowledgeable about, and proud of his African-American heritage, and how throughout his career, he gave a strong message in his work about black history in a variety of ways. They also discuss the following eight songs: Bad, Liberian Girl, Remember the Time, Jam, Black or White, Keep the Faith, They Don’t Care About Us, History.
http://michaeljacksonstudies.org/episode-13/
8 Performing Michael Jackson’s Fan Identity During the HIStory World Tour in Europe
by Ivana Recmanová
This essay deconstructs Michael Jackson’s HIStory World Tour performances from the perspectives of Czech diarists, who documented their experience of the tour. Focused on Prague and the representation and reception of Michael Jackson in the Czech Republic, this fascinating article engages in debate about politics, ethnicity, and constructions of difference, while staying close to its rich source material, to create a dynamic picture of Jackson’s reception in Europe in 1996-1997.
9 MJ Studies Today IX
by Kerry Hennigan
September 2016 introduces new columnist, Kerry Hennigan, who takes a look at ‘the impact of Michael Jackson on popular culture’ and ‘the many ways fans have of expressing their appreciation of, and love for him.’
http://michaeljacksonstudies.org/mj-studies-today-ix-14-9-16/
10 An Interview with Isabelle Petitjean
by The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies
This interview is part of our Dangerous album special. In it, the author, Isabelle Petitjean discusses her writing process of the landmark book on Michael Jackson’s Dangerous album and fine art entitled, Dangerous’, from Mark Ryden to Michael Jackson, Dangerous: Pop Culture at the Pantheon of Fine-Arts. This interview is also available in French via the following link: http://michaeljacksonstudies.org/interview-disabelle-petitjean-an-interview-with-isabelle-petitjean.
http://michaeljacksonstudies.org/an-interview-with-isabelle-petitjean/