Saturday, September 8, 2018

September 8-9, 2018: Other Fall 2018 Updates


[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?

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