January 28-29, 2017: January 2017 Recap

[A Recap of the first month of 2017 in AmericanStudying.]

January 2: Ellis Island Studying: Castle Garden: An Ellis anniversary series starts with what didn’t change from New York’s prior immigration station, and what did.

January 3: Ellis Island Studying: The Changing Facility: The series continues with three historic turning points in the immigration station’s space and role.

January 4: Ellis Island Studying: The Questions: Three particularly complex and telling types of questions from the list of 29 asked of Ellis arrivals, as the series rolls on.

January 5: Ellis Island Studying: Quarantine: How Ellis Island continued yet changed the long history of New York harbor quarantine stations.

January 6: Ellis Island Studying: Myths and Realities: The series concludes with why it’s vitally important to remember Ellis, and the less and more productive ways to do so.

January 7-8: 21^st Century Ellis Islands: A special weekend post on three contemporary sites that (in very different ways) could be described as 21^st Century Ellis Islands.

January 9: Spring 2017 Previews: American Lit I: A spring semester preview series kicks off with reading and applying Christopher Columbus in the age of Trump.

January 9: Special Guest Post: Oana Godeanu-Kenworthy on Thomas Haliburton and 19^th Century Populism: A special addition to the blog, in which I cross-post a wonderful piece by Dr. Godeanu-Kenworthy from the great early Canadian history blog Borealia.

January 10: Spring 2017 Previews: First-year Writing II: The spring previews series continues with the challenge of controversial content in a skills-focused writing course.

January 11: Spring 2017 Previews: The American Novel to 1950: Three contemporary topics that six classic novels help us analyze, as the series rolls on.

January 12: Spring 2017 Previews: Adult Learning Class on Inspiring Contemporary Voices: A request for suggestions and nominations for my next adult learning course!

January 13: Spring 2017 Previews: NeMLA Conference: One conversation we’ll definitely have at March’s Northeast MLA conference in Baltimore, and one I very much hope we do.

January 14-15: Spring 2017 Previews: Book Plans: The series concludes with three projects on which I’ll be working as the spring and 2017 unfold—would love to hear about yours, or other spring plans, in comments!

January 16: The Real King: My annual MLK Day post, on the limits to how we currently remember King, and how to get beyond them.

January 17: Luke Cage Studying: Pop and Luke: A series on the wonderful Netflix superhero show starts with my favorite character, superhero tropes, and the barbershop.

January 18: Luke Cage Studying: Mariah and History: The series continues with the great Alfre Woodard’s Mariah and the complexities and ambiguities of Harlem history on the show.

January 19: Luke Cage Studying: Taking the Rap: Two compelling layers to the most overt musical reference in a show full of them, as the series rolls on.

January 20: Luke Cage Studying: #BlackLivesMatter on TV: The series concludes with where Luke differs from two recent TV engagements with the movement, and why that matters.

January 21-22: A Tale of Three Inaugurations: A special post in which I try to respond to the most frightening inauguration of my lifetime the only way I know how.

January 23: NASAStudying: Sputnik and von Braun: A series on the 50^th anniversary of the Apollo I tragedy starts with the wartime origins of the US space program.

January 24: NASAStudying: NASA’s Origins: The series continues with three moments and figures that contributed to the space agency’s starting points.

January 25: NASAStudying: Kennedy’s Speech: The Cold War limits and yet compelling possibilities of the famous “moon shot” speech, as the series rolls on.

January 26: NASAStudying: John Glenn and Hidden Figures: The astronaut, the hugely popular film, and the value and limits of additive revisionist histories.

January 27: NASAStudying: Apollo I: The series concludes with two lessons from Apollo I on the 50^th anniversary of its tragic fire.

Next series starts Monday,

Ben

PS. Topics you’d like to see covered in this space? Guest Posts you’d like to write? Lemme know!