Editorial

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Writing in exploration of this complex topic, the five writers contributing to our annual conference proceedings issue have tackled issues surrounding national identity, reality and myth, and their manifestations in American literature and popular culture. The submissions included here are: "Poetry? A Manifesto in Terminal Progress" by Sandy Alletto, "I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together" by Ashley Heidemann, "You Say You Want a Revolution?" by David Marchuck, "Reel History: Film's Role in Refuting the American Myth" by Steve Tiseo, and "Land of Sin or Land of Salvation: Comparing Concepts of Africa in the Poetry of Phyllis Wheatley and Francis E.W. Harper" by Nicholas Woodward.

The Xchanges journal and the annual conference were made possible through the support of Wayne State University American Studies Program and the Rushton Endowment, an endowment devoted to the exchange of ideas between undergraduate students throughout the university and within the American Studies Program with the goal of spreading the benefits of an interdisciplinary education.

We hope you enjoy this issue of Xchanges. Xchanges' annual Fall issue is comprised of essays submitted by participants in the annual Y|X Conference. The essays are peer-reviewed and are held to a very high standard. The Winter issues of Xchanges serve as a forum for forward thinking American Studies scholarship, by both American and international scholars, and the essays often reconfigure the parameters of the discipline itself. Thank you for supporting the Y|X Conference and Xchanges.