February 2-3, 2019: January 2019 Recap

[A Recap of the month that was in AmericanStudying.]

December 31: 2019 Anniversaries: The Moon Landing?: A series on upcoming 2019 anniversaries starts with 50^th anniversary moon landing conspiracy theories.

January 1: 2019 Anniversaries: The Palmer Raids: The series continues with the 100^th anniversary of the wartime raids that helped inaugurate federal surveillance and intrusions.

January 2: 2019 Anniversaries: President Grant: The 150^th anniversary of one of our more corrupt but also more inspiring presidencies, as the series rolls on.

January 3: 2019 Anniversaries: The Panic of 1819: A short- and a long-term legacy of one of our biggest financial crashes on its 200^th anniversary.

January 4: 2019 Anniversaries: Slaves in Jamestown: The series concludes with what we’ve learned about America’s first enslaved Africans on the 400^th anniversary of their arrival.

January 5-6: 2019 Predictions: A special weekend post offering a trio of predictions for the year ahead.

January 7: Cuban and American Histories: Fidel Castro: A CubanStudying series kicks off with two ways to AmericanStudy Castro on the 60^th anniversary of his assumption of power.

January 8: Cuban and American Histories: José Martí: The series continues with the cross-cultural life, writings, and legacies of one of the island’s most inspiring figures.

January 9: Cuban and American Histories: Remington and the Spanish American War: What happens when the pen and the sword work together, as the series rolls on.

January 10: Cuban and American Histories: Fulgencio Batista: Remembering two sides to a Latin American despot beyond the most overt histories.

January 11: Cuban and American Histories: The Marielitos: The series concludes with three ways to contextualize the 1980 exodus of 125,000 Cubans to the US.

January 12-13: Cuban American Literature: A special weekend post on three recent Cuban American literary works that expand and enrich our histories.

January 14: Spring Previews: 20^th Century African American Literature: A Spring semester series kicks off with three texts I’m excited to teach for the first time in a new (to me) course.

January 15: Spring Previews: Ethnic American Literature: The series continues with what’s always been and remains complex and crucial about a long-time favorite course.

January 16: Spring Previews: American Literature II: Three short texts I’m adding to one of my most frequently taught courses, as the series rolls on.

January 17: Spring Previews: The (Short) Short Story Online: The newest twist in my ongoing evolution as an online educator.

January 18: Spring Previews: English Studies Capstone: The series concludes with the possibility of flipping a classroom, and a request for input!

January 19-20: Books Plans: A special weekend post on goals and hopes for my forthcoming book, We the People: The 500-Year Battle over Who is an American.

January 21: The Real King: My annual MLK Day special post on the limits to how we currently remember King, and some ways to start moving beyond them.

January 22: African American Life Writing: Olaudah Equiano: An MLK week series kicks off with a controversial autobiography that should be required reading whatever its genre.

January 23: African American Life Writing: Nat Love: The series continues with an autobiography that captures both the myths and realities of the frontier and the American Dream.

January 24: African American Life Writing: Sojourner Truth: A voice captured in a famous speech and a life lived well beyond it, as the series rolls on.

January 25: African American Life Writing: Three Recent Works: The series concludes with a trio of recent works that reflect 21^st century African American autobiography.

January 26-27: Crowd-sourced Af Am Life Writing: My most recent crowd-sourced post, featuring the responses and nominations of fellow AmericanStudiers—add yours in comments, please!

January 28: Great (Sports) Debates: Who Invented Baseball?: A Super Bowl week series kicks off with the mythic story and contested histories of who invented baseball.

January 29: Great (Sports) Debates: LeBron or Michael?: The series continues with two layers to the best basketball player debate, and my vote for a third option.

January 30: Great (Sports) Debates: Fighting in Hockey?: The way not to argue for continuing a violent tradition, and some possible ways to do so, as the series rolls on.

January 31: Great (Sports) Debates: Soccer in America?: Why soccer hasn’t quite taken off in America, and why that question itself might be exclusionary.

February 1: Great (Sports) Debates: Banning Football?: The series and month conclude with a couple layers to a 2015 campus-wide debate that continues into this Super Bowl weekend.

Next series starts Monday,

Ben

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