February 2-3, 2019: January 2019 Recap

[A Recap of the month that was in AmericanStudying.]December 31: 2019 Anniversaries: The Moon Landing?: A series on upcoming 2019 anniversaries starts with 50th anniversary moon landing conspiracy theories.January 1: 2019 Anniversaries: The Palmer Raids: The series continues with the 100thanniversary of the wartime raids that helped inaugurate federal surveillance and intrusions.January 2: 2019 Anniversaries: President Grant: The 150th anniversary of one of our more corrupt but also more inspiring presidencies, as the series rolls on.January 3: 2019 Anniversaries: The Panic of 1819: A short- and a long-term legacy of one of our biggest financial crashes on its 200th anniversary.January 4: 2019 Anniversaries: Slaves in Jamestown: The series concludes with what we’ve learned about America’s first enslaved Africans on the 400thanniversary of their arrival.January 5-6: 2019 Predictions: A special weekend post offering a trio of predictions for the year ahead.January 7: Cuban and American Histories: Fidel Castro: A CubanStudying series kicks off with two ways to AmericanStudy Castro on the 60th anniversary of his assumption of power.January 8: Cuban and American Histories: José Martí: The series continues with the cross-cultural life, writings, and legacies of one of the island’s most inspiring figures.January 9: Cuban and American Histories: Remington and the Spanish American War: What happens when the pen and the sword work together, as the series rolls on.January 10: Cuban and American Histories: Fulgencio Batista: Remembering two sides to a Latin American despot beyond the most overt histories.January 11: Cuban and American Histories: The Marielitos: The series concludes with three ways to contextualize the 1980 exodus of 125,000 Cubans to the US.January 12-13: Cuban American Literature: A special weekend post on three recent Cuban American literary works that expand and enrich our histories.January 14: Spring Previews: 20th Century African American Literature: A Spring semester series kicks off with three texts I’m excited to teach for the first time in a new (to me) course.January 15: Spring Previews: Ethnic American Literature: The series continues with what’s always been and remains complex and crucial about a long-time favorite course.January 16: Spring Previews: American Literature II: Three short texts I’m adding to one of my most frequently taught courses, as the series rolls on.January 17: Spring Previews: The (Short) Short Story Online: The newest twist in my ongoing evolution as an online educator.January 18: Spring Previews: English Studies Capstone: The series concludes with the possibility of flipping a classroom, and a request for input!January 19-20: Books Plans: A special weekend post on goals and hopes for my forthcoming book, We the People: The 500-Year Battle over Who is an American.January 21: The Real King: My annual MLK Day special post on the limits to how we currently remember King, and some ways to start moving beyond them.January 22: African American Life Writing: Olaudah Equiano: An MLK week series kicks off with a controversial autobiography that should be required reading whatever its genre.January 23: African American Life Writing: Nat Love: The series continues with an autobiography that captures both the myths and realities of the frontier and the American Dream.January 24: African American Life Writing: Sojourner Truth: A voice captured in a famous speech and a life lived well beyond it, as the series rolls on.January 25: African American Life Writing: Three Recent Works: The series concludes with a trio of recent works that reflect 21st century African American autobiography.January 26-27: Crowd-sourced Af Am Life Writing: My most recent crowd-sourced post, featuring the responses and nominations of fellow AmericanStudiers—add yours in comments, please!January 28: Great (Sports) Debates: Who Invented Baseball?: A Super Bowl week series kicks off with the mythic story and contested histories of who invented baseball.January 29: Great (Sports) Debates: LeBron or Michael?: The series continues with two layers to the best basketball player debate, and my vote for a third option.January 30: Great (Sports) Debates: Fighting in Hockey?: The way not to argue for continuing a violent tradition, and some possible ways to do so, as the series rolls on.January 31: Great (Sports) Debates: Soccer in America?: Why soccer hasn’t quite taken off in America, and why that question itself might be exclusionary.February 1: Great (Sports) Debates: Banning Football?: The series and month conclude with a couple layers to a 2015 campus-wide debate that continues into this Super Bowl weekend.Next series starts Monday,BenPS. Topics you’d like to see covered in this space? Guest Posts you’d like to contribute? Lemme know!