Simulation in Media and Culture: Believing the Hype, is a new edited collection by Robin DeRosa which considers the role and function of "simulation" in contemporary culture. Drawing on theories of the simulacra from Jean Baudrillard, the collection looks at the hyperreal-the state of being more real than the real-in television, film, gaming, and cultural identity. DeRosa's collection covers diverse content: from celebrity socialites to cooking shows on TV; from Arnold Schwarzenegger to Jesus Christ on the big screen; from Farmville to Extreme Championship Wrestling in the world of games; and from the new German avant-garde to Florida Studies in its treatment of postmodern identities and cultures. Robin DeRosa's Simulation in Media and Culture: Believing the Hype asks new questions-ethical, entertaining, and epistemological-about how we can understand the shifting nature of the real.

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 are a case study in hysteria and group psychology, and the cultural effects still linger centuries later. This critical study examines original trial transcripts, historical accounts, fiction and drama, film and television shows, and tourist sites in contemporary Salem, challenging the process of how history is collected and recorded. Drawing from literary and historical theory, as well as from performance studies, the book offers a new definition of presenting history and uses Salem as a tool for rethinking the relationships between the truth and the stories people tell about the past.