xt75hq3rz56b https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt75hq3rz56b/data/mets.xml University of Kentucky. Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies Kentucky University of Kentucky. Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies 2000 volumes. Call Number: LD2762.9 .K38c. Accession Number: 2018ua049 journals LD2762.9 .K38c English Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies  Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection University of Kentucky Odyssey Magazine Research -- Kentucky -- Periodicals Education -- Research -- Periodicals Research -- Kentucky Odyssey: The Magazine of University of Kentucky Research and Graduate Studies, Spring 2000 text images Odyssey: The Magazine of University of Kentucky Research and Graduate Studies, Spring 2000 2000 2000 2026 true xt75hq3rz56b section xt75hq3rz56b THE MAGAZINE OF UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY RESEARCH AND GRADUATE STUDIES ° SPRING 2000

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PENNY—WISE
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SOLYING THE CASE
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Technology

Designing sensors and antennas of the future

 

hopping one day at Home Depot,

Craig Grimes noticed a man who

had just pulled a set ofdrill bits off
the rack by the exit door. As the man took
a couple of steps toward the door, with the
unpaid—for merchandise, Grimes thought
about the alarm that would sound if the
shopper decided to dash out of the store
just then. For Grimes at that moment, a
new research interest was born.

“I started thinking about the little white
tags attached to store merchandise and
how, if they’re not deactivated, these
markers interact electromagnetically with
the ‘interrogation coils,’ as I call them. It’s
this interaction that sets off an alarm,”

says Grimes, an associate professor of
electrical engineering at the University of
Kentucky. These coils, a few meters apart
and situated in front of an exit door, are
now so commonplace, Grimes adds, that
we hardly give them a thought. “I began
to consider how these anti—theft markers
work and whether or not this technology
could be extended to chemical and envi—
ronmental sensing.w

Developing new uses for sensors is only
one of Grimes’s wide—ranging research
interests. He is also breaking new ground
in the field of antenna technology, he’s
working to characterize and control thin—
film materials and devices, and he’s re—

cently ventured into the young science of
nanotechnology—working to understand
the properties of nanotubes.

Grimes admits he’s always had a healthy
curiosity, but says his path into science
wasn’t a clear and direct one.

“As an undergraduate, l was really un—
focused. I started out as an accounting
major, switched to econ, then industrial
engineering, then mechanical engineer-
ing,” Grimes says. “Then I dropped out
and kind ofspent a couple ofyears skiing.
l was kicked out of the University of Texas
as an undergrad because my GPA was so
low.”

Grimes ultimately ended up driving a

 

2 ODYSSEY

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ODYSSEY

CRAIG GRIMES FOLLOWED IN HIS
FATHER’S FOOTSTEPS TO BECOME AN
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING PROFES-
SOR. THE TWO HAVE COLLABORATED
ON ANTENNA RESEARCH SINCE 1 983
WHEN CRAIG WAS A STUDENT AT
PENN STATE. DALE GRIMES IS CUR-
RENTLY A VISITING PROFESSOR IN
THE UK DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS.

schoolbus in Austin, and the reality of the
job drove him back to the university class-
room. “1 got serious about my career while
driving a bus for $4.85 an hour," he says.
“That job put things into crystal clarity."

Grimes left Austin in 1983 and headed to
Penn State, where his father was a professor
of electrical engineering and chairman of
the department. “I still couldn’t make up
my mind what 1 wanted to focus on, so my
dad, in exasperation, told me that ifl was
incapable of picking something, I might as
well go into electrical engineering. And here
1 am."

Grimes got serious at Penn State, earning
both a 8.8. in electrical engineering and a
BS. in physics in 1984. By then, his under-
graduate experience at the University of
Texas had begun to fade into the past like an
image in the rearview mirror ofa schoolbus.
But Grimes wasn’t finished with Austin yet.
“I went back to the University of Texas in
'84 to do my graduate work," he says. He left
Austin again in 1990, this time with both a
master‘s degree and a PhD. in electrical
engineering.

Grimes came to UK in the fall of 1994 as
an assistant professor ofelectrical engineer—
ing and was promoted with tenure to associ-
ate professor last summer. His work is
currently funded by four grants from NSF,
two from NIH, two from the US. Air Force
Office of Scientific Research, one from the

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KEAT GHEE ONG, AN ELECTRICAL
ENGINEERING DOCTORAL STUDENT,
TESTS AN ANTENNA INSIDE AN ELEC-
TROMAGNETIC ANECHOIC CHAMBER.
THE CHAMBER WALLS ARE DESIGNED
TO ABSORB ALL ENERGY, WHICH AL-
LOWS THE ANTENNA TO BEHAVE AS IF
IT WERE IN OUTER SPACE. THE PYRA-
MID SHAPE OF THE CHAMBER WALLS
HELPS TO PREVENT UNWANTED RE-
FLECTIONS OF THE ENERGY BACK OUT
INTO THE CHAMBER.

 

4 ()1) YSSIL' Y

 

 

Department of Education, and one from
NASA for a combined $3 million. Grimes
supervises a staffoftive postdocs and seven
graduate students who work with him on
his sensor and antenna research.

Sensors:
simple and sophisticated

When Grimes talks about the sensors he
and his research associates are developing,
he does so with unrestrained enthusiasm.
“We’re just talking about a small piece of
mostly iron and nickel,“ he says, “but it
supports a really sophisticated technology.
And one ofthe beauties of this technology
is that it‘s inexpensive—one of these sen—
sors that identifies your package as you
leave a store costs about a penny.“ A kilo—
gram ofthe basic material, enough to make
several thousand sensors, comes in a roll

(imagine a reel oililm that would snap into
a movie projector) and costs about $100.
Triggered byastandard electromagneticcoil,
sensors work without batteries or attach—
ments ol‘any kind.

As any of us who took Physics 101 may
recall, electrical current can produce mag—
netic effects, and vice—versa. [Fan electrical
current runs through a wire, a magnetic
compass near that wire will move. A moving
compass will generate electricity in a nearby
wire. This relationship between electricity
and magnetism, discovered by the Danish
experimenter Christian Oersted, is generally
seen as one ofthe highlights of19‘h—century
physics. “It is by this effect that we detect
and monitor our sensors," Grimes says. “The
sensors we use in our research—we com—
monly refer to them as ribbons—are com-
posed of iron and nickel, with a little

  

phosphorous, silicon and boron thrown
in,” says Grimes.

How do the sensors work? “Our sensors
are the magnetic equivalent of a church
bell,” Grimes explains. “Ifyou hit the bell
with a hammer, you’ve transformed ki—
netic energy into an elastic wave that de—
forms the bell, which rings at its resonant
frequency.” This frequency is inherent in
the size of the bell—from the boom ofa
cathedral bell to the tinkle ofa hand—held
dinner bell.

“Our sensors ‘ring’ magnetically,”
Grimes explains. “Instead of hitting a hell
with a hammer, we magnetically pulse a
sensor by passing a current through
a wire—wound coil to generate a mag—
netic field.” The energy that is in the
magnetic field is absorbed by the
sensor, which causes it to mechani—
cally deform, like the bell. But in—
stead ofsending out acoustic waves,
the ribbon generates magnetic waves.

“Using a pick—up coil, we listen to
the sensor and determine its reso—
nant frequency. By looking at
changes in its resonant frequency, we can
gather environmental information,"
Grimes explains.

“Just as a church bell will change its
resonant frequency in response to tem—
perature, pressure, or mass load—consider
the effect ofa coat of paint on a bell—s0
does the resonant frequency of our mag—
netic sensor,” he explains.

Sensors in your car
and in your Cheerios

For the past four years, Grimes has been
developing sensors with an eye toward vari—
ous practical applications of this technol—
ogy. He and his team have fine—tuned
sensors to measure several different envi—
ronmental parameters, including pressure,
temperature, the Viscosity of liquids, the
surface tension of liquids, and mass load.
“One immediate application that I’d think

would interest the motor industry would be
the use of a reliable, inexpensive sensor to
monitor oil viscosity in cars,” says Grimes.
“The sensor, which would cost only pen—
nies, would tell drivers when they needed to
change the oil in their car.

“In one application of the technology,
we coat the sensors with a thin layer of
ceramic aluminum—oxide,” Grimes says.
“Aluminum—oxide changes mass in response
to humidity levels, thereby changing the
resonant frequency of the adjoining sen—
sor.” The result is a disposable, inexpensive
humidity sensor that can be monitored
from inside sealed packages.

Grimes and his research team
have built a working antenna
100 times more efficient than
what anyone thought possible.

The cereal industry could be one of the
first customers for Grimes’s new technol-
ogy. If a sensor were placed, for example, in
each box of Cheerios as it was hustled down
a conveyor belt, temperature, humidity and
moisture—the natural enemies of crispness
and freshness—could be monitored from
inside each sealed box. The sensors could be
monitored in the warehouse or in the gro—
cery store. “In this way, product freshness
could be assured,” Grimes says. “The spoiled
food products could be weeded out easily.”

As this technology advances, a grocery
employee might one day take a hand-held
tester down the cereal aisle to “pulse” the
boxes on the shelves. Depending upon the
response ofthe sensors, the employee would
know whether or not a box of cereal was
fresh enough to sell.

Another application of the sensor tech—
nology Grimes has developed could be in

 

ODYSSEY

the medical field. Grimes and research asso—
ciates Chaohui Tong and Qingyun Cai
developed a glucose—responding polymer
to detect sugar levels. A polymer is a plastic—
like material designed to capture certain
organic molecules, in this case the glucose—
sugar molecule. Thin layers of these poly—
mers are applied to the magnetic sensors.
Once the sensor is prepared, Grimes tests it
by alternately immersing the sensor in high
or low solutions of glucose to see how it
responds.

“What is very exciting about this tech—
nology is that a small magnetic sensor could
be placed under the skin of someone with
diabetes, under the skin ofhis hand,
for example, and glucose concen—
tration could then be measured by
the patient simply passing his hand
in front of a pick—up coil,” says
Grimes. “You would get an imme—
diate reading, thereby providing a
quick bloodless and painless
method for diabetics to take sugar—
level readings.” Currently, some—
one with diabetes has to prick the
end ofa finger and draw a drop ofblood to
analyze sugar concentration.

Another medical application would ben—
efit patients diagnosed with an ulcer. For a
doctor to measure how acidic a patient's
stomach contents are, current practice in—
volves having the patient swallow a tube
that remains attached to an external ma—
chine. This procedure, to say the least, isn’t
very user—friendly.

“Instead of having patients swallow this
long tube, they could swallow a tiny sensor
encased in a pill," Grimes explains. “The
sensor inside the pill could immediately
and continuously be monitored as it passes
through the digestive tract. The pill would

cost around a nickel and as it went down it

continued on page 6

th'Slz'ARCII AX!) GRAIN, A TE STIYDIES 5

 

  

would measure pH and pressure.” To de—
velop and commercialize this sensor tech—
nology, Grimes formed a company in 1998
called SenTech Corporation. The corpora—
tion recently received an NIH Small Busi—
ness Innovative Research award for
$ 100,000 to support Grimes and Nick N ickls,
a professor of internal medicine at the UK
medical center, in this sensor research.

Downsizing antennas

A separate research program of Grimes’s is
focused on developing efficient, electrically
small antennas. Antennas are used to trans—
mit and receive electromagnetic energy,
such as sunlight and radio waves. “Current
antenna technology is stymied,” says
Grimes, “because for efficient operation
antennas have to have a physical dimension
roughly equivalent to the wavelength of
energy being radiated. This size—wavelength
relationship is a tremendous problem if you
want to operate at low frequencies or use
miniature antennas.”

Low—wavelength electromagnetic waves
would be of tremendous value for radar
mapping of the sea floor, prospecting, or
simply locating buried pipes. However, gen—
eration of low—frequency, long—wavelength
electromagnetic waves that can effectively
penetrate earth or sea water would require
an antenna several miles long.

A project proposed in the 19803 by the
U.S. Navy illustrates the scope of this prob—
lem. Some navy engineers contemplated
building an antenna across the length of the
Upper Peninsula of Michigan to enable
communication with submerged subma—
rines. This gargantuan antenna was never
built, but the fact that this project (Project
Sanguine) was seriously proposed is an ac—
knowledgment of the antenna size problem.

And the limitation of known antenna
technology is not so esoteric as deep—sea
communications. Today, the largest single
item in a cellular telephone is the antenna.
Furthermore, some types of tumors have

“A small magnetic
sensor could he
placed under the skin
of someone with
diabetes, under

the skin of his hand,
for example, and
glucose concentration
could then be
measured by the
patient simply
passing his hand in
front of a pick-up coil.”

been found to self—destruct when directly
exposed to low—frequency radiation. How-
ever, because extremely large antennas are
needed to generate these waves, destruction
of tumors using low—frequency energy has
not become a practical reality.
uInterestingly enough, while antenna
technologl is faced with this severe opera—
tional constraint, mother nature is not,”
Grimes says. “Atoms, for example, effi—
ciently radiate energy at wavelengths sev—
eral hundred times greater than the physical
size of the atom. What does mother nature
know that antenna engineers do not?"
This was the question that Dale Grimes,
Craig’s father, set out to answer in the mid—
19605 as a professor at the University of
Michigan. (He is now retired and a visiting
professor in the Department of Physics
here at UK). Craig began working with his
father on this problem in 1983 when still a

student at Penn State. After several decades
of work, the two came to understand just
how an atom emits energy.

“The trick then became transferring our
understanding of how an atom operates to a
working model on a macroscopic scale of
dimensions, something, for example, the
size of a breadbox," Grimes says. Many
mathematical questions first had to be an—
swered. Then, idealized, spherical math—
ematical functions had to be transferred
into a working antenna.

“The other key obstacle is how you con—
vince a funding agency to give you some of
their research dollars to enable the actual
doing,n Grimes says. “Keep in mind, this is
a very controversial path of research. Effi—
cient, electrically small antennas were de—
clared impossible several times over the past
50 years by several very famous scientists.
The fact that mother nature was doing it
every day, all around us and in us, has
continually been dismissed as ‘quantum ef—
fects.m

Grimes was pleased that his funding pro—
posal to the US. Air Force Office of Scien—
tific Research was met with a lot ofinterest.
Arje Nachman, an Air Force physicist with
a strong medical background, thought
Grimes was on to something. “It was Dr.
Nachman's opinion that we were on the
right path, and with his support AFOSR
provided us the resources to do the work,“
Grimes says.

The further good news, Grimes happily
reports, is that he and his research team have
built a working antenna 100 times more
efficient than what anyone thought pos—
sible. It consists of three cross—pieces of
copper wire attached at 90—degree angles,
and looks, frankly, like something a child
might accidentally build.

Grimes agrees. “Yes, it looks rudimen—
tary, but it supports very precise field sym—
metrics that enable the antenna to behave as
ifit were more than 100 times larger. Need—
less to say, we've applied for a patent.” He

 

6 01) )'SSE Y

 

 

  

 

 

adds that if all goes well, commercial fabri—
cation and production could happen rela—
tively soon. “The next few years will be an
interesting ride.”

The funding challenge

Grimes admits that his research, especially
his antenna work, is controversial, and he
says such leading—edge work can often fail
to attract funding support, especially among
more “conservative” funding agencies. “For
half a century now, very respected scientists
in the electromagnetics community have
said that building functional, electrically
small antennas is impossible, and this has
become something ofa mantra to the an—
tenna community,” Grimes says. “When
we would argue theory with some people,
things would get a little touchy at times.”

But as Grimes and his antenna team
continued to develop and refine a convinc—
ing mathematical framework for the devel—
opment of smaller antennas, funding
agencies began to pay more and more atten—
tion.

“By our best count, Craig has written and
submitted 46 grant proposals since coming
to UK," says Fitzgerald Bramwell, vice presi—
dent of Research and Graduate Studies.
“Fifteen of these have been funded and
eight are pending. That’s an extremely im—
pressive success rate, and it reflects the
interest his work continues to generate at
various funding agencies around the coun—

”
”Y

Grimes concedes that grant writing takes
a lot ofhis time but says it’s simply part of
the “professorial landscape.” He says that
one reason for his funding success is his
writing skills. “You need to have good ideas
and be able to convey those ideas effectively
to the reviewers of your proposal,” Grimes
says. “Ifyou don’t you don’t get far. It’s a
very competitive environment.”

“Craig’s willingness to invest an enor-
mous amount of time working with fund-

ing agencies is remarkable,” says Joe Fink,
UK assistant vice president for Research and
Graduate Studies. Fink cites Grimes’s Air
Force funding as one example of this resolve.

“Craig went to Washington and spent a
day sitting down with Air Force officials to
go through the theory with them, just sat in
one room all day and talked with physicists
and mathematicians,” says Fink. “At the
end of the day, they said, ‘Well, you got the
math to work and nobody else has been able
to do that, so we’ll give you some money to
see if you can build such an antenna.) This
is a feather in the cap of the Air Force
scientists, too, I think, who were willing to

listen and support a unique project like
this.”

As a result of both his
sensor and antenna work,
Grimes has six patents
pending. “I have a great
deal of time, emotional
and mental energy
involved with all of
them, and hope to
see the ideas
captured in these
patents translated to
commercial
products.”

Strong
recognition for
Grimes’s work came
recently in the form of
a prestigious 1999 NSF
CAREER Award.
Formerly called the
Presidential Young
Investigator Award, this
support is given to
outstanding scientists at or
near the beginning of their ea; 3%
careers. Grimes will receive l

from NSF $210,000 for four years.

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The cereal industry could
be one of the first
customers for Grimes’s new
technology. If a sensor
were placed, for example,
in each box of Cheerios as
it was hustled down a
conveyor belt, temperature,
humidity and moisture—the
natural enemies of
crispness and freshness—
could be monitored from
inside each sealed box.

“Craig Grimes is in the vanguard of
relatively young and extremely talented fac—
ulty who are assuming the leadership of the
research enterprise for the College of Engi—
neering and the university," says Thomas
Lester, dean of the college. Lester says that
in addition to Grimes’s innovative research,
his approaches to funding have also been
novel. “It’s unusual for an electrical engi—
neer to attract funding from, for example,
the National Institutes ofHealth, but Craig
has been successful in doing this." The
engineering dean adds that since medicine
is relying more and more upon technical
devices to assist in quality of life and in
treating diseases, such “crossover" funding
will likely become more prevalent.

 

All in the family

Anyone who takes a backward glance at
Grimes’s life might conclude that he should
have known all along that he was destined
to become an engineering professor. “My
father was a professor of engineering, and
all ofour family and friends were professors
and scientists. My sister is a professor, my
brother—in-law is a professor, my cousin is a
professor, and my uncle is a professor.”
Grimes adds that although he grew up

around “a lot of science,” he wasn’t indoo

 
  
 

  

 

trinated in any formal sense. “It wasn’t like
my father and i would get together after
dinner and he’d teach me quantum phys—
ics, but there might well have been an
osmosis effect,” he says.

And Grimes is happy to mention yet
another “very bright scientist" now in his
immediate family—his wife Beth Dickey,
an assistant professor of materials engi-
neering at UK. “Ofcourse, I chose my wife
wisely,” Grimes says, laughing. “She cer—
tainly is one ofthe best scientists l have ever
met. She is also an excellent writer, so it is
a pleasure to collaborate with her on grants."
Grimes says the two recently had a DOE
grant funded for which they were co—Pls,
and they have two grant applications cur«
rently under review.

“One ofmy six patents pending is a joint
invention between Beth and me,” Grimes
says. “She is able to ask very thought—
provoking questions. For example, while
we were stuck in traffic a few months ago,
she asked a couple questions about how
one could align carbon nanotubes into
useful electronic structures. Once the ques-
tion emerged, we considered different so—
lutions. By the time we got out of traffic,
we had the complete invention worked
out. ‘:+

 

 

8 ODYSSEY

   
 

 

  
 

’ Solving the Case 0!

Who Loved
P9 ular
LI erature

ooks line oppos-

ing walls of Professor

John Cawelti’s office
on the 12th floor of the
Patterson Office Tower.
On the sagging time-
warped shelves, classics
are crowded in with liter—
ary criticism and paper—
hacks. William Faulkner
keeps company with Vir—
ginia Woolf, Goethe’s

 

sonal printer.

The Professor

Fauslis wedged betweenjames
Joyce and Ralph Ellison, a dog—
** eared Dante threatens to slip
from the top shelf. Photographs,
artwork and awards decorate
the remaining wall space. In
the back of the room are the
academic tools of today‘s
scholar—a computer and per-

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
     
       
    
     
     
     
     
     
   
     
     

JOHN CAWELTI
BELIEVES THAT
THE LINES
BETWEEN
“SERIOUS” AND
“POPULAR” LITERA-
TURE WILL BECOME
MORE COMPLEX.
“THAT CAN
ALREADY BE SEEN IN
THE WORKS
OF WRITERS LIKE
PAUL AUSTER,
THOMAS PYNCHON,

AND DON DELILLO.”

     
      
 
   

RESEARCH AND GRADUATE STUDIES 9

  

 

    

tered among the hundreds of books are
more than a few written by the professor
himself, and their subject matter is not at all
what you would expecr.

Cawelti is an expert in what is now known
as popular literature. The 70-year—old
teacher has spent a lifetime deriving in—
triguing insights from mysteries, westerns,
and horror stories. For years, however,
Cawelti‘s specialty was not an obvious
choice. When he began his work, popular
literature was considered “sub—literature,”
of little serious concern, suitable only as
entertainment for the masses.

This was particularly true in 1960 when
Cawelti received his PhD. from the Uni—
versity of Iowa. Forty years ago Cawelti was
all set to follow in his predecessors’ foot—
steps, scrutinizing the works of recognized
literary greats and passing this knowledge
along to future scholars.

The young professor did just that in fact,
beginning his career as an instructor in
humanities teaching literature, art, music
appreciation, and “Great Books” courses at
the University of Chicago. In his spare
time, though, Cawelti read for relaxation
and found he was more likely to pick up a
mystery than a Shakespearean play or Vic—
torian novel. His “downtime” read-
ing habits, like a slow
burning fuse,
seemed to

  
  
 
  
 
  
  
  
 
 
 
  
  
 
  
 
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

be moving him toward some quietly explo—
sive realization, and a series of“accidents"
would turn that realization into a life—long
pursuit.

“In graduate school, I had taken a course
in what was then called American Civiliza—
tion and would now be called American
Studies,“ Cawelti recalls. “The course was

thought it was an oversimplification, but it
got me thinking.”

Cawelti was slowly realizing the impor—
tance of popular literature in modern life,
and he admits that the seeds of this interest
had been sown years before. “I remember
very vividly the hours I spent as a child
listening to “The Lone Ranger” show on

“I remember very \i\i(ll_v hours I spent as a child listening to ‘The

[one Ranger’ show on the radio three times a week from station

\VXYA in Detroit. Though I’ve long since forgotten what hap-

pened on :my pmticultu‘ program, I have never forgotten the

\igorous clarity of the form itself.”

a combination ofliterature and history, so
I was already interested in the idea of the
cultural significance ofliterature.”

This idea was reflected in Cawelti‘s first
book, Apostles ofthe Self-Made Man, pub-
lished in 1968. It examined the changing
concept of success in America, particularly
the ongoing struggle between conflicting
benchmarks of success—financial wealth
and power versus self—fulfillment.

“I traced the pattern ofideas about

success,“ Cawelti says. “I started in
the late 18‘h century with Ben—
jamin Franklin’s ideas and con—
tinued into then contemporary
works such as The Power ofPosi-
title Thinking. My main concern
was not the works themselves but
how the ideas in those works
evolved."

About that time, Cawelti hap—
pened upon an essay by a sociolo—
gist at the University of Chicago
that further whetted his interest in
the intersection of popular litera—
ture and cultural significance.

“I ran across an essay by a col—
league about westerns,” Cawelti re—
calls. “It was the first work I had seen
dealing with westerns and society. I

the radio three times a week from station
\WXYZ in Detroit,” Cawelti says. “Though
I‘ve long since forgotten what happened on
any particular program, I have never for—
gotten the vigorous clarity of the form
itself."

This genre becamethe subject ofCawelti’s
first book, titled The Six—Gun Mystique.
This book has been in print since it ap-
peared in 1970 and has gone through two
major revisions. The most recent version
appeared last year as The Six-Gun Alystique
Sequel.

“To my great surprise at the time, my
work was greeted with interest and support
by my colleagues at the University of Chi—
cago,“ he says. “I expected them to look
down their noses at me. particularly the
oider professors, but they didn't." The value
of what he was doing was further verified
when he was invited to the summer home of
his colleague Ronald Crane, one of the
founders of the Chicago School of Criticism
and a distinguished scholar of ISA—century
literature.

mWhen I walked into Crane’s summer
home, I saw that he had a wall covered with
bookshelves, like in his apartment in Chi—
cago," says Cawelti, “But the bookcases of
his summer home were not filled with the

 

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 leather—bound classics found in
the Chicago apartment. Instead,
they held westerns and detective
stories.

“I began to realize then that
people were really interested in
these forms of literature,” Cawelti
says. “I began to see them as
artistic creations in their own
right and wanted to know what
makes them good.”

Perhaps more importantly, he
also found that these forms of
literature provide insight into
cultural trends. Westerns, for
example, deal with the relationship be—
tween the characters and the land.

“Our images of America and what it
means to be an American are complicated,”
Cawelti says. “We see these feelings re—
fracted in the western. They reflect our
ambivalence about the conquest of the fron—
tier, and, therefore, tend to include a nos—
talgic look back to what we believe was a
simpler era.”

Westerns also deal with the clash of cul—
tures, and our discomfort with how this is
handled in the western has made it harder
for us to see them in their original form,
according to Cawelti. The result is two—
fold. First, westerns have become much less
important than they once were, and, sec-
ondly, new westerns are now more likely to
be an art f