[It was delayed by a week (leading to the cancellation of Spring Break), and its format may well change by the time this series airs (as of this writing my four regular classes will be hybrid, as they were in the Fall), but a new semester starts this week nonetheless. So this week I’ll preview some of what’s different and what will be the same in my Spring 2021 courses!]
On three scholarly projects on my radar this Spring:
1) Of Thee I Sing: The due date for my 6th book has been pushed back a couple times—it will now be at the publisher in a couple weeks, and available for general purchase in March. But my plan to talk about the project, and the contested history of American patriotism, at any and every opportunity hasn’t changed, and so I hope that such virtual talks—at bookstores, at libraries and archives, at museums and historic sites, with classes and colleagues, with reading or discussion groups, and more—will be a big part of my Spring. I’d love to hear your thoughts on any and all such opportunities, whether here in comments or by email. Thanks!
2) 1893: Just a couple days before I’m drafting this post I signed a contract (once again with Rowman & Littlefield, natch) for my next book, discussed in that hyperlinked post and now with the working title 1893: The World’s Columbian Exposition and the Remaking of America. I’m so excited to spend a good bit of my free time this Spring researching and writing the stories of the many prominent Americans whose lives, texts, and identities intersected with the 1893 World’s Fair. I’ve already learned some great sources and resources about and around the Exposition from colleagues near and far, and would love to hear your ideas, whether here in comments or by email. Thanks!
3) America the Atlas: Meanwhile, I’m excited to be working as the main scholarly advisor to another interesting project, a coffee-table type book that will tell the story of American history through maps (especially) and images. I’ve already been fortunate enough to recruit a diverse and impressive group of scholarly contributors to help structure and flesh out the book’s ten chapters (which move from the earliest peoplings up through our contemporary moment), but I could always use additional ideas for maps, images, communities, sections, and histories we’d want to include in a project ike this. Share ‘em here or, y’know, by email—thanks!
January Recap this weekend,
Ben
PS. What do you think? Spring courses or work you wanna share?
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