Sunday, September 2, 2012

September 2, 2012: August 2012 Recap

[A recap of the month that was in American Studying.]
August 1: Sister Activism: The series on American siblings continues with the inspiring Grimké Sisters.
August 2: Two Small Boys: On my next pair of American siblings, William and Henry James (and on my sons).
August 3: Wholly American: My final post in the series, on Barack Obama’s half-siblings.
August 4-5: Crowd-Sourcing American Siblings: The next crowd-sourced post, drawn from responses to the week’s series. (You can still add yours!)
August 6: Two Talented, Troubling Americans: A series on Americans abroad begins with this repeat of a post on Tom Ripley and Jason Bourne.
August 7: Quiet but Dangerous: The week’s next American abroad, Graham Greene’s title character, and American foreign policy.
August 8: Not That Innocent: On the double-edged satire of Mark Twain’s Innocents Abroad.
August 9: Cultural Turistas: Americans in Mexico in John Sayles’ Men with Guns.
August 10: Tortured Travelers: My last post in the series, on the tortured young Americans abroad in Hostel and Taken.
August 11: Rachel Collins’ Guest Post: Professor Rachel Collins writes about Undercover Boss and class-passing narratives in America.
August 12: Crowd-Sourcing Americans Abroad: A crowd-sourced post on the week’s topics—share your thoughts, please!
August 13: They Call Me Mr. Mom: A series on fatherhood in America begins with the Michael Keaton movie and the question of how and whether we’ve changed in the decades since.
August 14: Southern Sons: On what fathers and sons help us see in the Southern Renaissance.
August 15: Birthday Best Redux: In honor of my 35th birthday, 35 of my favorite posts from the last year on the blog.
August 16: Fathers of Their Country: On the myths and narratives of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln as father figures.
August 17: Missing Fathers: My last post in the series, on missing African American fathers in the Moynihan Report, two novels, and Boyz in the Hood.
August 18-19: Crowd-Sourcing American Dads: The series ends with another crowd-sourced post—and another chance to add your take!
August 20: Bad Memories, Part One: First in a series on how we remember dark American histories, on the Salem Witch Trials.
August 21: Bad Memories, Part Two: Next in the series, on three different ways to remember Wounded Knee.
August 22: Bad Memories, Part Three: On three innovative choices through which authors have tried to capture the Middle Passage.
August 23: Bad Memories, Part Four: How works in three different genres help us remember the Japanese internment.
August 24: Bad Memories, Part Five: My last post in the series, on how different figures and texts remember the My Lai Massacre and the Vietnam War.
August 25-26: Crowd-Sourcing Bad Memories: The series ends with the fullest crowd-sourced post yet—and a few comments have been added to the week’s posts since, too. Check ‘em out and add your own!
August 27: Books That Shaped American Studier, Childhood: A series on books that shaped my identity and perspective begins with a couple childhood favorites.
August 28: Books That Shaped American Studier, Young Adult: The series continues with an author and work that got me out of my comfort zone.
August 29: Books That Shaped American Studier, High School: On a book that helped greatly expand my sense of what literature could be and do.
August 30: Books That Shaped American Studier, College: On one of the works that, eventually, inspired and contributed to a new career opportunity and path.
August 31: Books That Shaped American Studier, Grad School: My last post in the series, on a work that reminds me of how excitingly far I still have to go.
September 1: Crowd-Sourced Shaping Books: The series and month extend one more day, with some crowd-sourced thoughts on books that have shaped us.
Next series begins tomorrow,
Ben
PS. Thoughts on any of these topics? Things you’d like to see on the blog? Guest posts you’d love to contribute? Lemme know!
9/2 Memory Day nominee: Romare Bearden, the African American painter, collage artist, cartoonist, set and costume designer, and more whose day job as a social worker both informed his unique and powerful works and makes his ability to produce them that much more impressive still.

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