[On August 15th, this AmericanStudier celebrates his 46th birthday. So as I do each year, here’s a series sharing some of my favorite posts from each year on the blog, leading up to a new post with 46 favorites from the last year. And as ever, you couldn’t give me a better present than to say hi and tell me a bit about what brings you to the blog, what you’ve found or enjoyed here, your own AmericanStudies thoughts, or anything else!]
Here they
are, 41 favorite posts from the 2017-2018 year on the blog:
1)
Famous
Virginians: Arthur Ashe: I enjoyed researching all the posts in last
year’s post-Cville series, but this one on three influences on the legendary athlete
stands out for me.
2)
#NoConfederateSyllabus: Working
on this document with my colleague and friend Matthew Teutsch was a highlight
of the last year—it’s still evolving, so check it out and contribute, please!
3)
Pledge
Posts: Protesting the Pledge: Both of my sons have continued their acts of
civil disobedience, and to say that they are now more salient than ever is to
understate the case.
4)
The Worst
and Best of Allegiance: Salient enough, even, that I’m highlighting
a second post from that same series!
5)
Crowd-sourced
Legends of the Fall: Some of the best crowd-sourced posts are
those that feature multiple topics and threads, as this great one on both
autumn and falls from innocence reflects.
6)
Early
Civil Rights Histories: The Little Rock Nine: Better remembering American heroes
like the Little Rock Nine is more crucial than ever, and here I highlighted
three complementary ways we can do just that.
7)
LongmireStudying:
Standing Bear: Not the last time the wonderful TV show will appear on this
list!
8)
Indigenous
Performers in Popular Culture: Two of these folks I knew virtually nothing
about before researching this post—and the third is Graham Greene!
9)
Guest
Post: Nancy Caronia on Italian Americans and Columbus Day: A
complex and crucial topic, handled with thoughtfulness and passion by a
colleague and friend—describes all of my great Guest Posts, and doubly so this
one!
10)
Children’s
Histories: The Forbidden Temptation of Baseball: A new
young adult novel that can add importantly to our collective memories of the
Chinese Exclusion Act era.
11)
7 Years of
Scholarly Blogging: Matthew Teutsch: Connecting to fellow public scholars
has been one of the very best parts of this blog for me, so I’m gonna highlight
all of the posts in this week’s series to try to return that favor!
12)
7 Years of
Scholarly Blogging: Emily Lauer on NYsferatu
13)
7 Years of
Scholarly Blogging: Robert Greene II
14)
7 Years of
Scholarly Blogging: Rob Velella
15)
7 Years of
Scholarly Blogging: AmericanStudier
16)
Veterans
Days: The Harrisburg Veterans Parade: One of those stunning moments that embodies
both the worst and best of America, the exclusionary yet inclusive sides on
which I’m focusing in my new book project.
17)
Curry,
LeBron, and Sports in the Age of Trump: Another one of those posts that has
become only (if frustratingly) more relevant since I wrote it.
18)
80s
AlbumStudying: Thriller and Dualities: Any time you have the chance to
write, and then to highlight, a post on Michael Jackson’s Thriller, you do so!
19)
Reconstruction
Figures: The Fisk Jubilee Singers: Some of my favorite posts here have
allowed me to learn a great deal more about topics for which my knowledge was
shamefully lacking. This is a very good example of that phenomenon!
20)
Longmire
Lessons: Walt and Cady: Back to Longmire one more time, for a
(SPOILERiffic) examination of where we leave some of the show’s wonderful
characters.
21)
Reviewing
Resistance: Fitchburg State University: For a series on the year in #Resist,
it was fun to think about some of the many ways my campus is doing its part!
22)
Gay Rights
Histories: The Society for Human Rights (1924): Speaking of shamefully
lacking knowledge, I knew exactly nothing about this pioneering activist
organization before researching this post and series.
23)
Gay Rights
Histories: Fitchburg State’s Exhibition: Much closer to now and to home, it
was fun to think about why this FSU exhibit impressed me as much as it did.
24)
Famous Boy
Scouts: Michael Jordan and Hank Aaron: Did you know that these two
legendary but contrasting athletes were both Boy Scouts?
25)
Learning
to Love Mariah Carey: My annual Valentine’s series concluded with
my newfound and deep admiration for the musical icon.
26)
Anti-Favorites:
The Geary Act: We really, really really, need to better remember the horrific
excesses of the Chinese Exclusion Act era.
27)
Boston
Massacre Studying: My Sons’ Thoughts: You didn’t think I’d miss a chance
to share this Guest Post of sorts featuring my sons’ takes on the Boston
Massacre, didya?
28)
Black
Panther Studying: Erik Killmonger: I haven’t stopped thinking about
Michael B. Jordan’s Black Panther
character since I saw the film.
29)
Great
American Novel Studying: Recent Contenders: There’s no such thing as The Great
American Novel—but it makes for a fun debate, and an even funner way to
highlight deserving books like this handful of recent classics.
30)
NeMLA
Recaps: Back to the Board: I’m so glad to have returned to the
Northeast MLA Board that I have to share this post on my reasons for doing so
one more time!
31)
AssassinationStudying:
Squeaky Fromme: Why a seemingly silly potential assassin was anything but.
32)
Scholarly
Tribute: Erik Loomis: A series on the Haymarket Affair concluded
with a tribute to one of our best labor historians and public scholars.
33)
Hap &
Leonard Studying: Redefining Lynching: As of this writing the wonderful
SundanceTV show Hap & Leonard has
been cancelled—but no matter what we have three amazing seasons to return to,
highlighted by season two as I detail in this post.
34)
Nursing
Histories: Medal of Honor Medics: The chance to highlight a few of the
amazing Vietnam War Medal of Honor recipients made for a great end to this
pre-Memorial Day series.
35)
BlockbusterStudying:
The Last Jedi: The latest in a series of posts through which I critique Yoda,
praise Luke, and rethink the American mythos that is Star Wars.
36)
McCarthyism
Contexts: McCarthy’s Lies and Rise: Joe McCarthy rose to destructive
power by lying all the time, and nearly destroyed the country with his
continued falsehoods. Seems worth remembering.
37)
The
Supreme Court and Progress: Loving v. Virginia: Loving
Day is one of my favorite American moments, and has so much to teach us about
both our past and our present.
38)
Summer
Class Readings: “Of the Passing of the First-Born”: This
chapter from Du Bois’s The Souls of Black
Folk is one of the toughest and most important American texts I know.
39)
Representing
Race: Seven Seconds: If you haven’t yet seen this Netflix
original show, I highly recommend it, for all these reasons and more.
40)
KennedyStudying:
Chappaquiddick: Posts that challenge my own ideologies and perspectives are ones
I always try to highlight in these series, and this one did just that.
41)
17th
Century Histories: Jamestown’s First Slaves: But so too are posts that help us
unearth American histories and stories we all need to better remember, which
remains my #1 priority in this blog and one I can’t wait to continue in the
year to come!
New
birthday best post tomorrow,
Ben
PS. You
know what to do!
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