[This week I
start my 14th year at Fitchburg State. For that momentous occasion,
I decided to focus in this fall preview series on one thing that has evolved
for each class I’m teaching, and one that’s a bit more longstanding. Leading up
to this special weekend update on a few ongoing and upcoming events!]
First, I have to
admit that the original focus for this scheduled update post was a bit too
optimistic, as I don’t yet have a definite update for my fifth book, Exclusion
& Inclusion: The Battle to Define America. Thanks to my awesome agent Cecelia Cancellaro the
manuscript is out with a publisher, so I’m hoping I might have news soon and
will of course keep you all posted! But for now, here are updates on a few
other good things:
1)
An Upcoming Lecture: As I mentioned in
Thursday’s post, I’m giving a talk
on immigration histories and Celeste Ng’s Everything
I Never Told You to help kick off Fitchburg and Fitchburg State’s Community Read events for
the year. If you’re in the Fitchburg or Mass. area, the talk is open to the
public and I’d love to see you there!
2)
NeMLA Deadline: If you’d like to join us at the 50th NeMLA
Convention in Washington, DC next March, you’ve got a few more weeks to submit abstracts. I’m the new
American
Lit Director, so let me know any questions or thoughts, and I hope to see
you in DC!
3)
NEASA Colloquium: On September 29th
at Boston University, the New
England American Studies Association will host its annual fall Colloquium. This
one will be focused on the theme of Community, and as usual should offer a
range of practical and productive conversations for graduate students, junior
faculty, and everyone interested in American Studies, academia, and public
scholarship (among other topics). I’m the new NEASA President, so let me know
any questions and I hope to see you at BU!
4)
A Great New Blog: My most recent Guest
Poster, Kathleen Morrissey, has started an awesome new blog of her own, Nerdy Vegan Fitness. The
blog is as multi-layered, thoughtful, self-reflective, and inspiring as
Kathleen herself, so check it out and help support a great new voice in the
blogosphere!
5)
Soccer: For something completely different, this
Saturday I start a new season of soccer coaching, this one for my older son’s 7th
and 8th grade travel team. We open with an away game in Newton, the
first such travel game for both him and me, and I’ll be meeting the team’s 21
(!) players for the first time just a few minutes before the game. So send some
good thoughts my way around 12:45 on Saturday if you would!
Next series
starts Monday,
Ben
PS. What do you
all have going on this Fall?
No comments:
Post a Comment