Saturday, May 14, 2022

May 14-15, 2022: Spring Semester Reflections: Adult Ed and Two Sandlots

[The Spring 2022 semester was in some ways more “normal” than the last few have been, but in many other ways just as difficult, if not indeed more so. But y’all know me well enough to know that I’m not going to focus on the challenges in this week’s series, but rather on individual discussions in each of my classes that reminded me of why we do what we do!]

As I highlighted in this semester preview post, I decided to focus my two adult learning courses this semester on my book project in progress, Two Sandlots: Baseball, Bigotry, and the Battle for America. Partly I wanted to circle back here to note how incredibly helpful that turned out to be, and to make the case to all my fellow educators not only for teaching in such adult learning programs (as I’ve done many times and always will), but also for sharing our scholarly and writing works in progress with these kinds of classes and communities. Their responses and questions, takeaways and connections, could not have been more meaningful nor more crucial as I continued to work (with my agent Suzy Evans) on the proposal and sample chapters for this project. But I also wanted to highlight one particular part of the book about which I learned a great deal more in order to teach it in these courses: the Massachusetts and New England origins of baseball! I then had the chance to share those histories as part of an Opening Day Saturday Evening Post Considering History column, yet another inspiring effect of my continued connection to adult learning communities.

Next series starts Monday,

Ben

PS. What do you think? Spring semester reflections (in all tones) you’d share, or upcoming projects you’d highlight?

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