[For this
year’s Thanksgiving series, I wanted to express thanks for a handful of
opportunities I’ve had to connect with scholarly communities this Fall. Leading
up to a special tribute to my two most important scholarly influences!]
I’ve
written many times in this space, most fully in this
tribute post, on what the Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA) in
general and the NeMLA
Board in particular have meant for my career. NeMLA is quite simply my
favorite scholarly community, and its influences have extended far beyond (both
in time and in reach) my years of service on the Board or even my attendance at
the annual Convention (which will continue next Spring in Boston).
Just a couple weeks ago I got to experience a particularly exciting such
extended influence, when—invited by NeMLA
Executive Director Carine Mardorossian, who is also an English Professor at
the University of Buffalo—I had the privilege of giving a talk in the Buffalo English
Department’s Juxtapositions
lecture series. It was a great chance to build on prior book talks for Of Thee I Sing, but in keeping with the
series’ overt interdisciplinary focus I pushed myself to work with cultural
works I hadn’t considered for the book, including 1960s music and 1980s films.
I really loved the chance to think about all the layers of culture and society
that these debates over patriotism can help us examine and engage, and am so
grateful to Carine, Buffalo, and these ongoing NeMLA connections for
exemplifying scholarly community once more.
Special
tribute post this weekend,
Ben
PS. Communities
(or anything else) you’re thankful for this year?
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