[A new semester
is upon us, and with it came a new Spring Preview series. Leading up to this
special weekend post on book updates, plans, and hopes!]
I was hoping to
have a bit more information about the publication date for my next book, We
the People: The 500-Year Battle over Who is an American (Rowman &
Littlefield’s American Ways series), by this weekend’s post than I do. I
believe it will come out sometime in the spring, but will keep you all posted
on specifics as soon as I have them!
In the meantime,
I’ll reiterate what I said in that hyperlinked post: of all five of my books to
date, this is the one for which I believe it’s most vital that I share it with
as many audiences, communities, conversations as possible. I’ll thus be doing
everything I can to find opportunities and connections for book talks, and
would really appreciate any and all ideas and suggestions (whether specific or
general, fully formed or preliminary) that you might have for such
possibilities. Feel free to comment here or email me, and thanks so much in
advance!
Finally, one
last optimistic (perhaps utopian) hope. To say that we’re in a divided moment
is to significantly understate the case. Pretty much every public scholarly
project seems to be received within that divided frame, seen as part of the 21st
century’s culture war debates. And I know that arguing for an inclusive vision
of America, in contrast with an exclusionary one, would seem to locate my book
firmly within one side of such divisions and debates. But I would say the
opposite: the exclusionary histories I highlight affect and implicate us all;
we are all living in and with their legacies; and the inclusive alternatives on
which my chapters focus offer inspiring American figures, stories, and texts
that we all can and should embrace as the best of who and what we’ve been and
can be. No, my book won’t speak to overt white supremacist bigots; but I still refuse
to believe that’s more than a vocal and still too powerful minority of
Americans, and I do believe and hope that this project can speak to the rest of
us. One more reason I want to share it as widely as possible!
Next series
starts Monday,
Ben
PS. Spring
previews or plans of your own to share? I’d love to hear them!
No comments:
Post a Comment