February 1-2, 2014: January 2014 Recap

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

December 30: 2013 in Review: The Marathon Bombing: A series on 2013 stories I didn’t cover on the blog starts with the year’s biggest and darkest Boston event.

December 31: 2013 in Review: Nelson Mandela: The series continues with ways to AmericanStudy the iconic 20^th century leader.

January 1: 2013 in Review: The Pope: Three American connections for the radical new pontiff, as the series rolls on.

January 2: 2013 in Review: Iran: The challenges and importance of remembering the complex, interconnected histories of the US and our most prominent current adversary.

January 3: 2013 in Review: Aaron Hernandez: The series concludes with the histories and perils of our national love affair with gangsters.

January 4-5: Ani DiFranco and Slavery: A special addition to the series, in response to a very recent event and controversy.

January 6: San Fran Sites: Angel Island: A series on Bay Area places and stories starts with the value of seeing a complex American site in person.

January 7: San Fran Sites: Palace of Fine Arts: The series continues with the deeply strange and yet also inspiring artistic site.

January 8: San Fran Sites: Alcatraz: Why it’s not so great to turn a prison into a tourist site, and why it might be okay, as the series rolls on.

January 9: San Fran Sites: Muir Woods: The arguments for experiencing a natural wonder in solitude, and why it’s fitting to do so more communally as well.

January 10: San Fran Sites: Remembering Chinatown:  The series concludes with some thoughts on the past, the present, and a way to bridge the gap.

January 11-12: Ben Mangrum’s Guest Post: A special Guest Post from one of the founding editors of the great new Ethos Review site.

January 13: Spring 2014 Previews: A Fantastic Intro: A series on what I’m looking forward to this semester starts with the life skills my Intro to Sci Fi/Fantasy course helps teach.

January 14: Spring 2014 Previews: Novel Perspectives: The series continues with the narrators we like and those we don’t in my Post-1950 American Novel course.

January 15: Spring 2014 Previews: A New Awakening: The most persistent challenge I face in my teaching and how I revised my Am Lit II syllabus in response, as the series rolls on.

January 16: Spring 2014 Previews: Writing Our World: What I’m comfortable with for my new Writing II class, and what I really need your help with!

January 17: Spring 2014 Previews: The Book Talks Resume: The series concludes with three upcoming book talks that will take me to new places, literally and philosophically.

January 18-19: Crowd-sourced Spring Previews: Responses to the week’s posts and some of what my fellow AmericanStudiers are looking forward to this spring—add your previews in comments!

January 20: The Real King: My annual MLK Day post kicks off a series on engaging with the complex histories behind the Civil Rights Movement.

January 21: Civil Rights Histories: Rosa Parks: The series continues with the good, better, and best ways to remember an iconic figure and moment.

January 22: Civil Rights Histories: Murders in Mississippi: Two cultural representations of a tragic event, and what each leaves out, as the series rolls on.

January 23: Civil Rights Histories: George Wallace: Why we can’t remember a lifetime through its worst moments, but why we do have to focus on them nonetheless.

January 24: Civil Rights Histories: Yuri Kochiyama: The series concludes with the inspiring American life that pushes way past racial binaries and ethnic categorizations.

January 25-26: Crowd-sourced Civil Rights: Another crowd-sourced post, this one drawn from the civil rights responses and connections of fellow AmericanStudiers.

January 27: Football Focalizes: Concussions and Hypocrisy: A Super Bowl-inspired series starts with the hypocrisy at the heart of 21^st century football fandom.

January 28: Football Focalizes: Racism and Forgiveness: The series continues with the controversial story that’s partly inspiring, and partly not so much.

January 29: Football Focalizes: Rape and Recognition: Questions that we’ll never entirely answer, and why it’s vital to ask them nevertheless, as the series rolls on.

January 30: Football Focalizes: RGIII and Winning: On winning and losing, success and failure, and iconic American figures and narratives.

January 31: Football Focalizes: The Bigger Question: The series concludes with a bigger question about the role of football and sports in 21^st century America.

Next series starts Monday,

Ben

PS. Topics or themes you’d like to see covered in future series? Guest Posts you’d like to write? Lemme know!