Saturday, October 30, 2021

October 30-31, 2021: October 2021 Recap

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

October 4: AmericanFires: The Armory Fire: A series inspired by the Chicago fire’s 150th anniversary kicks off with a Civil War tragedy that sheds light on one of our more complex histories.

October 5: AmericanFires: The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire: The series continues with two distinct, equally inspiring communal responses to one of our most destructive disasters.

October 6: AmericanFires: The Triangle Fire: Two legacies of and one evolving question about a horrific industrial disaster, as the series rages on.

October 7: AmericanFires: The Hindenburg: A justifiably famous context for the airship disaster, and a more ambiguous but equally compelling question.

October 8: AmericanFires: The Great Chicago Fire: The series concludes with a link to my Saturday Evening Post column on lessons from the fire’s 150th!

October 9-10: AmericanFires: Wildfires and Climate Change: A special weekend post on the longstanding history of defining environmental disasters, and why that’s not sufficient to understand our current crisis.

October 11: SitcomStudying: Sitcom Dads: For Lucy’s 75th anniversary, a sitcom series starts with the clichéd extremes of sitcom dads and the men in the middle.

October 12: SitcomStudying: Friends: The series continues with three dark sides of the mega-successful 90s sitcom.

October 13: SitcomStudying: Grace and Frankie: Two ways the Netflix sitcom pushes our cultural boundaries and one way it happily does not, as the series laughs (tracks) on.

October 14: SitcomStudying: Wandavision: One way the innovative Marvel show embodies the best of sitcoms, and one way it reflects the worst.

October 15: SitcomStudying: Why We Love Lucy: On its 75th anniversary, why the groundbreaking sitcom’s comfortable familiarity actually reflects its most radical elements.

October 16-17: Crowd-sourced SitcomStudying: The series concludes with one of my more multi-vocal crowd-sourced posts in a long time—add your thoughts in comments!

October 18: Work in Progress: Graduate English Chair: A series on some of the balls I’m juggling this Fall starts with the crises and changes I’m facing in a new role, and how you can contribute!

October 19: Work in Progress: Lesson Plan for CT Humanities: The series continues with the next stage in the happily long afterlife of a very early online piece of mine.

October 20: Work in Progress: SSN Boston: A tribute to the three amazing folks with whom I work in my role as SSN Boston Chapter co-leader, as the series continues.

October 21: Work in Progress: NEASA and NeMLA: Some of the ways you can get involved with my two favorite scholarly organizations!

October 22: Work in Progress: Two Sandlots: The series concludes with a quick update on my next book and its new subtitle!

October 25: GhostStudying: The Turn of the Screw: My annual Halloween series kicks off with two cultural fears lurking beneath Henry James’ gripping ghost story.

October 26: GhostStudying: Beloved: The series continues with a surprisingly timely post on the psychological and historical sides to Toni Morrison’s haunting masterpiece.

October 27: GhostStudying: Haunted Sites: Three of America’s many symbolic haunted sites, as the series scares on.

October 28: GhostStudying: Ghostly Contacts in Cinema: AmericanStudies lessons from three films about contact with the afterlife.

October 29: GhostStudying: Ghost Stories: The series concludes with psychological and historical layers to the enduring appeal of ghost stories. Happy Halloween!

Next series begins 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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