[A Recap of the
month that was in AmericanStudying.]
May
4: American Epidemics: The 1918-20 Influenza Pandemic: My first direct
engagement with COVID-19 starts with lessons from the most parallel historical
pandemic.
May
5: American Epidemics: Yellow Fever: The series continues with the epidemic
that almost changed the course of American history, and why it didn’t.
May
6: American Epidemics: Xenophobic Fears: The long history of associating
disease with immigrant communities, as the series rolls on.
May
7: American Epidemics: Typhoid Mary: An iconic, complex, and somewhat
misunderstood figure, and her symbolic American contexts.
May
8: American Epidemics: The Measles: The series concludes with three telling
stages to a frustratingly persistent disease.
May
9-10: American Epidemics: COVID-19: A special post, on two very different
sides to life in a pandemic and the crucial, fraught questions that remain.
May
11: Spring 2020 Tributes: Lisa Gim and My English Studies Department: A
very different semester recap series kicks off with a tribute to my department chair
and colleagues.
May
12: Spring 2020 Tributes: Librarians: The tributes continue with the
inspiring and vital work being done by librarians, at FSU and everywhere.
May
13: Spring 2020 Tributes: Kisha Tracy and Collective Efforts: A colleague
who truly models how much we’re all in this together, as the tributes roll on.
May
14: Spring 2020 Tributes: Aruna Krishnamurthy and Unions: My colleague and
friend who embodies how much we all need unions and solidarity, in times like
these as in every moment.
May
15: Spring 2020 Tributes: Social Media Communities: The series concludes
with the communities and conversations that kept me going during this locked
down spring.
May
16-17: Spring 2020 Reflections: One more Spring semester recap, three
takeaways of mine from the most unprecedented teaching experience of my career.
May
18: LibraryStudying: The Library Company of Philadelphia: A series for the
NYPL’s anniversary starts with a groundbreaking, democratizing American
library.
May
19: LibraryStudying: The Boston Public Library: The series continues with
three distinct but interconnected influences on the BPL’s development.
May
20: LibraryStudying: Childhood Libraries: Standout moments from my own
childhood experiences and seeing them echoed and extended by my sons, as the
series reads on.
May
21: LibraryStudying: Little Free Libraries: Why it’s hard to criticize a
recent bibliographic trend, and one way I would do so nonetheless.
May
22: LibraryStudying: Working at Libraries: The series concludes with three
moments where libraries and archives have contributed greatly to my writing and
career.
May
23-24: LibraryStudying: The NYPL: For its anniversary, how three historic
New Yorkers contributed to the NYPL’s evolution.
May
25: Remembering Memorial Day: A Memorial Day series kicks off with my
annual post on remembering the holiday’s Decoration Day origins.
May
26: Decoration Day Histories: Frederick Douglass: The series continues with
a fiery 1871 speech that expressed the worst and best of Decoration Day.
May
27: Decoration Day Histories: Roger Pryor: The invitation and speech that
mark two frustrating shifts in American attitudes, as the series speaks on.
May
28: Decoration Day Histories: “Rodman the Keeper”: An under-appreciated
literary work that helps us remember how the holiday remained constant for certain
Americans.
May
29: Decoration Day Histories: So What?: The series concludes with three
reasons to remember Decoration Day alongside Memorial Day.
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!
No comments:
Post a Comment