Kathy Shepherd Stolley – författare

Celebrity culture, health care, and travel attract attention in America’s media-saturated society. These worlds curiously intersect in the study of medical tourism. Although the US touts some of the finest and best-known medical facilities in the world, many jet-setting A-list celebrities, who can well afford the finest of health care, seek treatment far away from home, popularizing international sites, physicians, and procedures. These travelers, whose every move is chronicled by the media, both reflect and influence health care concerns in America. An analysis of these high-profile cases of celebrities with both life-threatening and non life-threatening conditions sheds light on the link between medical tourism and celebrity, showing how health care and entertainment intersect, and the American public responds. The Intersection of Star Culture in America and International Medical Tourism: Celebrity Treatment argues that celebrity cases and media content drive awareness of medical tourism among Americans at a time when the medical system is under intense scrutiny. By popularizing international sites for treatment, procedures not available in the US, and different approaches to patient care, media narratives present options for health care, triggering dialogue on one of America’s most important human welfare issues.

The relationship between humans and animals has always been strong, symbiotic and complicated. Animals, real and fictional, have been a mainstay in the arts and entertainment, figuring prominently in literature, film, television, social media, and live performances. Increasingly, though, people are anthropomorphizing animals, assigning them humanoid roles, tasks and identities. At the same time, humans, such as members of the furry culture or college mascots, find pleasure in adopting animal identities and characteristics. This book is the first of its kind to explore these growing phenomena across media. The contributors to this collection represent various disciplines, to include the arts, humanities, social sciences, and healthcare. Their essays demonstrate the various ways that human and animal lives are intertwined and constantly evolving.

Applying various disciplinary perspectives with overlapping themes, contributors to this volume analyze the intersections of Disney studies and animal studies, demonstrating how common themes and issues transcend the context of Disney culture.Through detailed analyses, contributors examine the roles played by animals in Disney culture, identifying recurring themes – like animal rights advocacy, the animal as Other, and the bond between humans and their dogs – that speak to the complex saga of human–animal relationships across time and cultural contexts.Ranging from Disney’s early-career projects like Silly Symphonies and World War II propaganda to both animated and live-action features including Alice in Wonderland (1951), Luca (2021), and Home on the Range (2004), and even representations of animals found at the theme parks, this volume offers a comprehensive study of the menagerie from insects and mice all the way up to lions and elephants.