Saturday, May 30, 2020

May 30-31, 2020: May 2020 Recap


[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!

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