April 2011 Recap

April 1: Taking Flight: Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt battle it out for the title of "Most Inspiring Flight by an American Woman."April 2-3 [Tribute post 9]: Three Strikes: An Opening Day tribute to three great baseball novels.April 4: A Story You Can't Refuse: The powerfully AmericanStudies choices and stories at the heart of The Godfather, Part II.April 5: What If?: Alternative histories of the disputed 1876 presidential election and its aftermath.April 6: Speaking Freely: On the Westboro Baptist Church and the more widespread anti-gay bigotry that is far too frequently disguised as "Christianity."April 7: For Which It Stands?: Repeat of a late November post on the complex and important histories of the Pledge of Allegiance.April 8: Praise, Worthy: James Agee and Walker Evans' Let Us Know Praise Famous Men and the false dichotomy between modernist and political writing in America.April 9-10: Big Pimping: A follow up to my February 27th post on the upcoming NEASA conference, and some shameless promotion of same.April 12: What Would Change 1, Language: The first of four posts inspired by the official release of my second book, each considering a different aspect of our national narratives that would change if we define the core of American identity as cross-cultural transformation. This one focused on arguments about "English as the national language."April 13: What Would Change 2, "All-American": The second book-inspired post, this one on oft-used and little-examined phrases like "All-American."April 14: What Would Change 3, Mixture: The third book-inspired post, this one on images and narratives of racial and cultural mixture.April 15: What Would Change 4, The Melting Pot: The fourth and final book-inspired post, this one on one of our most persistent national narratives.April 16-17: Birthday Presence: My younger son's 4th birthday leads me to blog about four complex and significant births in great works of American art.April 18: The Hard Way: George R.R. Martin leads me to think about the easy and facile vs. the hard and genuine forms of patriotism.April 19: Fools Rush In?: Some hard questions on what public scholars can and should do in times of prominent propaganda and lies—and how Albion Tourgée can help us answer them.April 20: A Good Day at a Good Gig: Five consecutive events remind me of how great my job is.April 21: Picturing War: Tim Hetherington, Matthew Brady, and the complexities of war photography and journalism.April 22: Where in the World?: The frustrating nonsense behind and yet deeper and more significant AmericanStudies meanings of Birtherism.April 23-24: Reasons to Believe: On atheism, America, and AmericanStudies.April 25: The Doctor Is In (Print): Repeat of a late November post on William Carlos Williams' medical career and writings.April 26: Do No Harm: Medical professionals, the torture regime, and the question of whether and how Americans can remember our darkest histories.April 27: Guest Post of Sorts: James Fallows' pitch-perfect response to the latest developments in the Birther saga.April 28: On Not Wincing: W.E.B. Du Bois, Barack Obama, and why critiques of affirmative action are wrong on multiple significant levels.April 29: This Space for Rent: AmericanStudier Ben hands the keys over to NEASA President Ben so he can share a publicity message about the fall NEASA conference.