
Gas Mask Nation
Feelings of loss, horror, and anxiety are among the emotions most often associated with war, but in her latest book Weisenfeld challenges readers to consider a more nuanced reality. Gas Mask Nation (The University of Chicago Press) explores the pleasurable visual culture of Japanese civil air defense (called bōkū). Through a variety of artworks, photographs, cartoons, posters, and more, Weisenfeld highlights the pleasure, desire, wonder, creativity, and humor that were present throughout Japanese culture during World War II.

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September 2025
Stuntman Kent De Mond ’07 is on fire; Endowment tax fallout; Pilot Michael Holl ’03 trains Qataris