July 27-28, 2024: July 2024 Recap

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

July 1: Models of Critical Patriotism: “What to the Slave is the 4^th of July?”: A July 4^th series inspired by my book Of Thee I Sing kicks off with a stunning speech that challenges us as much today as it did 172 years ago.

July 2: Models of Critical Patriotism: “Eulogy on King Philip”: The series continues with a speech that offers two complementary models of critical patriotism.

July 3: Models of Critical Patriotism: Suffrage Activists at the Centennial Exposition: National divisions and critical patriotism at the nation’s 100^th birthday celebration, as the series rolls on.

July 4: Models of Critical Patriotism: America is in the Heart: An author and book that both introduce under-narrated histories and redefine American identity.

July 5: Models of Critical Patriotism: MLK and Baldwin, Kaepernick and the 1619 Project: The series concludes with a link to my Saturday Evening Post Considering History column on the long legacy of African American critical patriotism.

July 6-7: Critical Patriotism in 2024: And a special weekend follow-up on protests that exemplify critical patriotism, protests that don’t quite, and why it’s not as simple as that.

July 8: Found Footage Stories: History of New York: For the 25^th anniversary of the Blair Witch Project, a series on found footage stories kicks off with a humorous text that was way ahead of its time.

July 9: Found Footage Stories: The “Introduction” to “Rip Van Winkle”: The series continues with a silly and a serious layer to Washington Irving’s continued use of found footage frames.

July 10: Found Footage Stories: House of Leaves: The limitations and possibilities of scary stories, as the series discovers on.

July 11: Found Footage Stories: Illuminae: Two ways to contextualize a bestselling dystopian YA series that relies on found footage.

July 12: Found Footage Stories: Horror Films: The series concludes with the longstanding appeal and the limits of faux-realism.

July 13-14: Found Footage Stories: The Blair Witch Project: For the film’s 25^th anniversary, a special weekend post on three Blair Witch legacies.

July 15: ElvisStudying: Elvis and Sinatra: In honor of an iconic date in his history, a series on Elvis Presley kicks off with the differences between influential and interesting.

July 16: ElvisStudying: Elvis Films: The series continues with takeaways from three stages in Presley’s iconic film career.

July 17: ElvisStudying: Graceland: Mythic facades, the realities behind them, and a third way to look at Elvis’ historic home, as the series rocks on.

July 18: ElvisStudying: The Presidential Medal of Freedom: The important national honor as a unifying occasion or a partisan instrument.

July 19: ElvisStudying: First and Last: For that iconic anniversary, on how we can understand Elvis’ profound changes, and why they’re not the whole story.

July 20-21: ElvisStudying: Representing the King: The series concludes with quick takeaways from a handful of the countless cultural depictions of Elvis.

July 22: Revisiting the Canon: Ernest Hemingway: In honor of Hemingway’s 125^th birthday, a series on revisiting canonical authors kicks off with three phenomenal Hem short stories.

July 23: Revisiting the Canon: James Fenimore Cooper: The series continues with historical and literary reasons to revisit a challenging early bestseller.

July 24: Revisiting the Canon: Nathaniel Hawthorne: How two of our most over-taught texts can still be under-appreciated, as the series reads on.

July 25: Revisiting the Canon: Mark Twain: Reading and thinking about a long-past author as a contemporary commentator.

July 26: Revisiting the Canon: William Faulkner: The series concludes with how a classic author’s struggles can be as illuminating as his triumphs.

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!