September 30, 2012: September 2012 Recap

[A recap of the month that was in American Studying, which this time began a couple days late—see the August 2012 Recap for September 1 and 2!]

September 3: Labor Day Special: In honor of Labor Day, I took the day off but provided links to five posts in which I discuss work, the labor movement, and related American questions.

September 4: Fall Forward, Part One: A series on my fall projects and plans begins with this website, and all the ways you can contribute to it!

September 5: Fall Forward, Part Two: On my fall plans to bring a couple of my most-taught courses into the digital age—and how you can help!

September 6: Fall Forward, Part Three: On my fall efforts to design an online exhibition on 21^st century immigrant American writers—and how you can help!

September 7: Fall Forward, Part Four: On the book I’m writing this fall, and a central question for which I’d love your thoughts and input!

September 8-9: Fall Forward, Part Five: The last in the fall series, on three ways you can get involved, this fall and beyond, with the New England American Studies Association.

September 10: Isabella Stewart Gardner: A series inspired by Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum kicks off with a post on Ms. Gardner herself.

September 11: John Singer Sargent: On the American painter who was Gardner’s closest friend and a very significant artist in his own right.

September 12: The Boston Cosmpolitans: On the justifiable critiques of yet unquestionable inspirations provided by Gardner, Sargent, and their peers.

September 13: An Education by Henry Adams: On what all Americans can learn from Henry Adams’ international life and writings.

September 14: Augustus Saint-Gaudens: Last in the series, on the sculptor and memorial creator whose cosmopolitan legacy is particularly impressive.

September 15-16: Crowd-Sourcing the Gardner: A crowd-sourced set of responses to the week’s series and ideas on its places, figures, themes, and connections.

September 17: American Hope Part One: A series inspired by my current book project kicks off with some thoughts on Shawshank, Obama, and the challenges of hope.

September 18: American Hope Part Two: Taking James Kloppenberg’s lead, I highlight two American voices and traditions to which Obama’s images of hope can be connected.

September 19: American Hope Part Three: On Franklin Roosevelt, Cinderella Man Jim Braddock, and narratives of hope in the Great Depression.

September 20: American Hope Part Four: On the Wilmington Massacre, The Marrow of Tradition, and the counter-intuitive but definite urgency of hope.

September 21: American Hope Part Five: On the question of whether we can and should still trust to hope, and what it means if we can’t.

September 22-23: Crowd-Sourced Hope: The next crowd-sourced post, with more American Studiers’ responses and ideas on the week’s topics and questions.

September 24-29: Grad Student Crowd-Sourced Post Extraordinaire!: In honor of my friend Jeff Renye’s dissertation defense, a week-along opportunity for graduate students (and their friends) to share the great work they’re doing.

Next series begins tomorrow,

Ben

PS. What would you like to see in this space in the months to come?

9/30 Memory Day nominee: Ann Jarvis, the Methodist social worker and activist whose Civil War Mother’s Day Work Clubs and post-war Mothers’ Friendship Day became the inspiration for a nationally recognized Mother’s Day holida\y (created at the urging of her daughter Anna).