Max Lopez
Max Lopez
PhD Student
Max Lopez is a PhD student in GW's American Studies department. He holds a BA in American Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. His research experience includes an analysis of War–the iconic Los Angeles Afro-Latino funk band–in the context of popular representations of multiculturalism and the complex relationship between left social movements in the US, universal humanism, and emergent neoliberal politics of identity. He also co-developed a research project with Tessa Risacher on the Rainbow Sign, a women-led San Francisco Bay Area Black Arts center active in the 1970s. That research has informed several notable projects including former Vice President Kamala Harris' memoir and the landmark Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power exhibit during its run at the DeYoung Museum.
If you were an animal, what animal would you be and why?
I would be a hummingbird, because they are the only bird that can fly backward.
Is there one book/piece of media that inspired you to pursue the field of American Studies? If so, which one and why?
I am continually delighted and inspired by The Big Lebowski because it draws together so many elements of the struggle to redefine the US cultural project right before the turn of the 21st century. The film speaks directly to the post-Cold War reconfiguration of frontier ideology, the simultaneous retreat and retrenchment of patriarchal masculinity in the face of feminist gains, and the rise of “the slacker” as a key cultural figure in American popular culture. It also offers a profound meditation on the state of 1960s and 70s countercultural politics in the wake of the Reagan era. It is a rich text to say the least!
Imagine you're up to bat as a Major League Baseball Player. You need a walk-out song. Which would you choose?
“Delirious” by Vistoso Bosses
What are you currently reading?
“D” is for Deadbeat by Sue Grafton