Sheri Parks

Our relationship with the terrorism threat 12 years after 9/11 and two weeks after the Boston Marathon bombings, with Midday contributorSheri Parks, associate dean of the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Maryland.

The women who died trying to shield first-graders at Sandy Hook Elementary from a gunman’s bullets now share a place in American legend along with the first-responders of 9/11. The iconic images of women protecting children provide a reference point for our look at the steadily growing influence of women in not only the gun debate but a range of national and global issues beyond those that concerned the soccer moms. Midday’s American culture commentator Sheri Parks leads our discussion of women and politics, after Newtown and the 2012 election.

Quentin Tarantino’s incendiary film on slavery has garnered two Oscar nominations, including best picture, and it has sparked a lot of controversy. What happens when Tarantino, the director of Pulp Fiction and Inglorious Basterds, takes on the horrible institution of slavery with a paean to the spaghetti western?

Midday on American culture commentator Sheri Parks discusses the status of conservative media following President Obama's re-election.

One week after we learned of the horror of Newtown, we talk about it on the air, from 12-2 pm. Culture commentator Sheri Parks on "the nurturing heroism of the female teachers." Psychiatrist Gordon Livingston on the psychological implications of America's long love affair with the gun and with violence in general as a solution to human problems. Also joining us: singer Milla Hniang with an original song about and for the children of Sandy Hook.

If you’re one of the Doomsday disciples who believe December 21st marks the “end of days,” then you don’t have to worry about last minute Christmas shopping. Why do the Mayan Prophesy and the apocalypse continue to be an obsession for so many? Midday's American culture commentator Sheri Parks debunks the notion that the Mayan calendar predicted the end of the world on December 21st.

We take a look at reality television’s depiction of rural America with Sheri Parks, Midday culture commentator and associate dean and professor of American studies at the University of Maryland College Park. Original air date: November 1

A look at reality television's depiction of rural America with Sheri Parks, associate dean and professor of American studies at the University of Maryland College Park, Maryland.

Our culture commentator Sheri Parks weighs in on Wednesday night’s debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney, the first of three as we enter the final stage of the campaign.

A look at the role first ladies play in presidential politics with culture commentator Sheri Parks, associate dean and associate professor of American studies at the University of Maryland College Park, Maryland.