[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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