September 1, 2014: Fall Forward: 2014 NEASA Conference

[As I did a couple years back, I wanted to start the fall semester by highlighting a few of the things I’m working on and looking forward to this fall. I’d love to hear about what you’ve got going on for the final few months of 2014 as well!]

Anticipating the next gathering of New England AmericanStudiers.

I’ve been blogging about NEASA for about as long as I’ve been blogging, and for good reason: no organization or community has contributed as much to my sense of what AmericanStudies means, is, and can be at its best than the New England American Studies Assocation. My year as NEASA President, including the first annual Spring Colloquium and culminating in the 2011 conference at Plimoth Plantation, amplified immeasurably not only my sense of the field and scholarly community, but also my own goals for my work, career, and life. In short, NEASA is one of my very favorite things, and I look forward to any chance to highlight and advocate for it.

This fall offers the next such chance, in the upcoming (October 17-18) NEASA Conference at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island. NEASA President Jeffrey Meriwether, Vice President Gretchen Sinnett, and the entire conference committee and NEASA Council have come up with a wonderful conference theme and focus: Emancipations: Lineages, Legacies, and Limits. Inspired by an RWU exhibit on Abraham Lincoln and the 150^th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, the conference program has, as NEASA conferences always do, expanded to include numerous other histories, themes, disciplines, perspectives, and voices. While that program is finalized, you can and should still consider joining us in Bristol next month: we offer a discountedregistration rate for Attendees, and it promises to be a wonderful AmericanStudies weekend!

Moreover, if you’re an AmericanStudier living in the greater New England region (ie, not just the New England states, but the upper Mid-Atlantic as well; and for that matter, anyone anywhere in the country can stay connected and contribute to NEASA online and through email), I urge you to connect to NEASA—perhaps by running for the Council (we have an election every December to fill a number of seats), in any case by connecting with Gretchen (who will be next year’s President) and staying informed about the organization’s ongoing work and plans. Can I promise that your NEASA experiences will be as inspiring and career-changing as mine have been? Maybe not—but I do guarantee that you’ll experience a wonderful community of scholars that represents the best of what this discipline has to offer.

Next fall plan tomorrow,

Ben

PS. What’s on your autumn agenda?