On two undergraduates carrying the AmericanStudies torch for an impressive
new generation.
Another inspiring part of my work for this year’s NEASA conference was as
the chair of the MacFarlane Prize Committee. The MacFarlane Prize, created to
honor Lisa
MacFarlane, is awarded annually for outstanding undergraduate American
Studies work; this year we awarded two, one for an essay and one for a senior
thesis. The two winners exemplify two distinct but equally vital sides to the
discipline:
1)
The thesis winner, Julia Falkowski of
Connecticut’s Trinity College, wrote about a historical and traditional
Americanist topic: the interconnections and influences between 19th
century authors Sarah Josepha
Hale and Edgar Allan Poe.
In so doing, and in bringing a number of different disciplinary approaches and
lenses to bear on these two complex figures, she demonstrated just how much
there remains to say about our literary, cultural, and national history,
particularly when American Studies helps us to say it.
2)
The essay winner, Sara Gilford of New York’s Barnard
College, focused on a much more contemporary topic: the use and abuse of
post-9/11 narratives in both American culture and educational curricula. But
her essay was informed by ongoing American narratives and histories, making it
just as contextualized and rich in its analyses as Julia’s was in the other
direction. The best AmericanStudies scholarship can of course inform present
debates and issues, and Sara’s essay exemplified that potential.
Give me hope for the future, these folks and their many great fellow
submitters do. Next follow up tomorrow,
Ben
PS. What do you think?
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