[A Recap of the
month that was in AmericanStudying.]
March
30: 80s Comedies: Airplane: An April Fool’s series kicks off with what
makes a successful comic parody, and what makes a truly great one.
March
31: 80s Comedies: Ghostbusters: The series continues with two distinct ways
to analyze science and the supernatural in the classic horror comedy.
April
1: 80s Comedies: Back to the Future: What the time-traveling comedy gets wrong
and what it gets right, as the series laughs on.
April
2: 80s Comedies: Home Alone: The interesting and very American layers
beneath the silly surface of the mega-hit Christmas comedy.
April
3: 80s Comedies: Working Girl: The series concludes with one inspiring and
two more frustrating female characters in a socially thoughtful dramedy.
April
4-5: Dolemite is … the Subject of This Post: A special post on two ways a
wonderful recent comic film thoughtfully engages cultural history, and one way
it falls a bit short.
April
6: Poets We Should All Read: Frances Ellen Watkins Harper: A National
Poetry Month series kicks off with three of Harper’s many compelling and vital
poems.
April
7: Poets We Should All Read: Martín Espada: The series continues
with a few complementary ways the Puerto Rican poet portrays his heritage.
April
8: Poets We Should All Read: Joy Harjo: The significance of a Native
American Poet Laureate and why Harjo goes way beyond it, as the series reads
on.
April
9: Poets We Should All Read: Li-Young Lee: The power of a single perfect
poem and the need to go beyond it nonetheless.
April
10: Poets We Should All Read: Robin Jewel Smith’s Suggestions: The series
concludes with a mini-Guest Post, as one of our most talented young poets
nominates other current poets we should all read.
April
11-12: Crowd-Sourced Poets We Should All Read: But wait, there’s more—including
more nominees of mine and a ton from fellow PoetStudiers—add yours in comments,
please!
April
13: Arab American Stories: Estevanico: A National Arab American Heritage
Month series kicks off with the enslaved explorer who helps revise our
understanding of early American histories.
April
14: Arab American Stories: Yarrow Mamout: The series continues with the
Early Republic figure who became an iconic image of the new nation.
April
15: Arab American Stories: Omar ibn Said: How an inspiring figure and text
have finally started to enter our collective memories and why there’s still
more to do, as the series rolls on.
April
16: Arab American Stories: Muhammad Ali “Nicholas” Said: How a striking
American life and book help us engage with a few key historical questions.
April
17: Arab American Stories: Abdallah Ingram: The series concludes with the inspiring
individual who exemplifies the contributions of Arab American communities to
our nation and world.
April
18-19: 21st Century Arab American Writers: A special weekend
post highlighting a handful of the many talented and influential Arab American writers
and works in our current moment.
April
20: Patriots’ Day and Critical Patriotism: My annual Patriots’ Day post, on
the only time and way we can be genuinely patriotic.
April
21: Models of Critical Patriotism: “What to the Slave is the 4th of
July?”: A critical patriotism series kicks off with the stunning speech
that challenges us as much today as it did 165 years ago.
April
22: Models of Critical Patriotism: “Eulogy on King Philip”: The series continues
with one speech that offers two complementary modes of critical patriotism.
April
23: Models of Critical Patriotism: Suffrage Activists at the Centennial
Exposition: National divisions and critical patriotism at America’s 100th
birthday celebration, as the series rolls on.
April
24: Models of Critical Patriotism: America is in the Heart: The series
concludes with an author and book that both introduce under-narrated histories and
redefine American identity.
April
25-May 1: Update on Of Thee I Sing!: A special week-long update on the
status of and a few takeaways from my next book, on competing visions of
American patriotism.
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!
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