February 3-4, 2024: January 2024 Recap

[A Recapof the month that was in AmericanStudying.]

January1: 2024 Anniversaries: New Netherland in 1674: A New Year’s series beginswith the 350th anniversary of a handover that changed a lot—but notnearly everything.

January2: 2024 Anniversaries: The First Continental Congress in 1774: The seriescontinues with three lesser-known delegates from the First Continental Congresson its 250th anniversary.

January3: 2024 Anniversaries: The 1874 Midterms: On the importance but not theinevitability of historical turning points, as the series commemorates on.

January4: 2024 Anniversaries: J. Edgar Hoover in 1924: What J. Edgar Hoover immediatelybrought to his new role as the Director of the Bureau of Investigation 100years ago.

January5: 2024 Anniversaries: 1974 Films: The series concludes withAmericanStudies contexts for five of the many great films released 50 yearsago.

January6-7: 2024 Anniversaries: The 1824 Election: But wait, a special weekendpost on the controversial presidential election that might and might notforeshadow our moment.

January8: AmericanStudying Columbia Pictures: Three Origin Points: A series on thestudio’s 100th anniversary kicks off with three pre-1924 startingpoints.

January9: AmericanStudying Columbia Pictures: The Three Stooges and Friends: Theseries continues with why the Stooges were just the tip of the iceberg when itcame to comic shorts.

January10: AmericanStudying Columbia Pictures: Technicolor: Three films throughwhich Columbia finally entered the technicolor age, as the series screens on.

January11: AmericanStudying Columbia Pictures: Jungle Jim: A longstanding B-movieseries that reflects Hollywood’s multimedia influences in all directions.

January12: AmericanStudying Columbia Pictures: Matt Helm and Casino Royale: Theseries concludes with a pair of ways that the studio tried to make up forlosing out on Bond.

January13-14: Vaughn Joy’s Hollywood Histories: I couldn’t share a Hollywood historiesseries without paying tribute to the best public scholar working on those histories.

January15: Spring Semester Previews: First-Year Writing II: A Spring semester seriesfocused on why we teach & study the humanities kicks off with the skills atthe heart of first-year writing.

January16: Spring Semester Previews: American Literature II: The series continues withthe many core American reasons to teach our literary histories.

January17: Spring Semester Previews: Intro to Sci Fi/Fantasy: The crucial importanceof diversifying speculative fiction syllabi, as the series learns on.

January18: Spring Semester Previews: The Short Story Online: How all-online courseshelp us share the humanities with broader and more varied audiences.

January 19: Spring Semester Previews: Grad HistoricalFiction: The series concludes with my latest grad course and a request forconnections to our grad programs!

January20: MLK Day and the Humanities: The first of two weekend follow-ups, an MLKDay tribute to his many connections to the humanities.

January20-21: Ava DePasquale’s Guest Post on Grey Dog: And the second, my latestgreat Guest Post from an awesome FSU English Studies alum!

January22: AmericanStudying Groundbreaking Women: Judith Sargent Murray: A seriesfor the 175th anniversary of Elizabeth Blackwell’s MD kicks off withthe Gloucester home that was both prison and liberation for Judith SargentMurray.

January23: AmericanStudying Groundbreaking Women: Elizabeth Blackwell: The series continueswith three institutions that help tell the story of the groundbreakingphysician on her 175th anniversary.

January24: AmericanStudying Groundbreaking Women: Nelly Bly: A rightly famous workof groundbreaking investigative journalism and one that should be, as theseries trailblazes on.

January25: AmericanStudying Groundbreaking Women: Pauli Murray and Black Women in theLaw: Linking to a Saturday EveningPost column of mine on the latest in a long line of groundbreaking AfricanAmerican women and the law.

January26: AmericanStudying Groundbreaking Women: Shirley Chisholm: The seriesconcludes with two telling political efforts beyond Chisholm’s groundbreakingpresidential campaign.

January27-28: AmericanStudying Groundbreaking Women: 21st Century Icons:But the groundbreaking continues, so here are six 21st century womencarrying on the legacy.

January29: Quirky American Traditions: Pumpkin Chunkin: A Groundhog Day series onquirky traditions kicks off with the very American balance between the localand the national.

January30: Quirky American Traditions: National Hollerin’ Contest: The seriescontinues with the challenges of preserving traditions, and how the intertubescan help.

January31: Quirky American Traditions: Ostrich Racing: Three ways to contextualizea very strange “sports” tradition, as the series celebrates on.

February1: Quirky American Traditions: Nenana Ice Classic: What a unique Alaskantradition can tell us about both Alaska and traditions.

February2: Quirky American Traditions: Groundhog Day: And the series concludes withtwo ways to explain why we celebrate this quirkiest of American holidays.

Super Bowlseries starts Monday,

Ben

PS. Topicsyou’d like to see covered in this space? Guest Posts you’d like to contribute? Lemme know!