Saturday, November 2, 2013

November 2-3, 2013: October 2013 Recap

[A recap of the month that was in AmericanStudying.]
September 30: NEASA Conference Follow Ups: The Blog: A series of reflections on the 2013 New England ASA conference starts with our now-annual pre-conference blog.
October 1: NEASA Conference Follow Ups: The Site: The series continues with our pitch-perfect host site, the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center.
October 2: NEASA Conference Follow Ups: Diverse Voices: A panel discussion that reflects the conference’s impressively diverse contributors, as the series rolls on.
October 3: NEASA Conference Follow Ups: MacFarlane Prize Winners: Two undergraduates carrying the AmericanStudies torch for a new generation of scholars.
October 4: NEASA Conference Follow Ups: Plenary: The series concludes with the three impressive folks whose voices we were fortunate enough to have on our plenary panel.
October 5-6: What’s Next for NEASA: Three ways you can get involved with the New England ASA, wherever you are!
October 7: Legends of the Fall: Young Adult Lit: A series on American images of falls (seasonal and symbolic) starts with two dark and compelling YA novels.
October 8: Legends of the Fall: American Pastoral: The series continues with the Philip Roth novel that symbolizes the loss of innocence in its quietest moment even more than in its brash overtones.
October 9: Legends of the Fall: The Body and Stand By Me: The novellas that’s explicitly about the “fall from innocence” and the film adaptation that’s decidedly less so, as the series rolls on.
October 10: Legends of the Fall: Presumed Innocent: The multiple layers of revelations and guilt at the heart of great mystery fiction.
October 11: Legends of the Fall: American Pie: The series concludes with the distinct cultural meanings of a ballad that’s all about the loss of innocence.
October 12-13: Crowd-sourced Falls: Fellow AmericanStudiers weigh in on the week’s posts and themes. Add your thoughts!
October 14: John Sayles’ America: Secaucus and the ‘60s: A series on AmericanStudying Sayles begins with a film that reinforces but also challenges narratives of a pivotal decade.
October 15: John Sayles’ America: Brother and Race: The series continues with a quote we would do well to think about, and a film that would help us to do so.
October 16: John Sayles’ America: Matewan and Work: The film that doesn’t need subtlety, but could use a little more of it nonetheless, as the series rolls on.
October 17: John Sayles’ America: Passion and Home: On whether you can indeed go home again, and why it makes for a great story in any case.
October 18: John Sayles’ America: Five Runners-Up: The series concludes with a handful of even more Sayles-errific goodness!
October 19-20: Northeast MLA Excitement!: A weekend trip to the site of next spring’s NeMLA conference led me to think about the many exciting things we’ve got going on—all of which could use your input!
October 21: Book Talks Thoughts: MOCA: On the unbelievably ideal and inspiring site for my first public book talk.
October 22: Book Talks Thoughts: U of Maine: On two distinct and equally compelling spaces and connections in the Pine Tree State.
October 23: Book Talks Thoughts: URI Diversity Week: A wonderful event at which I was fortunate enough to give a talk, and the two panel conversations there that challenged and enriched my ideas.
October 24: Book Talks Thoughts: Harrisburg: On the importance and power of audiences, both captive and really really not.
October 25: Book Talks Thoughts: Next Up, San Fran!: On what I was most looking forward to for this weekend’s trip to and talk in the Bay Area.
October 26-27: Book Talks To Come: Five more upcoming talks, and one thing I’m especially excited about for each.
October 28: Symbolic Scares: The Wendigo: A series on the meanings behind our scary stories starts with a cultural and cross-cultural terror.
October 29: Symbolic Scares: Sleepy Hollow: The series continues with the original American scary story that’s also an ironic origin story.
October 30: Symbolic Scares: Last House on the Left: The film that’s scarier for where it takes its audience than how it frightens us, as the series rolls on.
October 31: Symbolic Scares: The Lost Boys: On entirely superficial pop entertainments, and what they can still symbolize.
November 1: Symbolic Scares: The Shinings: The series concludes with the two very distinct versions of one scary story, and the American narratives they each symbolize.
Next series starts Monday,
Ben
PS. Topics you’d like to read about on the blog? Guest Posts you’d like to write?

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