March 30-31, 2024: March 2024 Recap

[A Recapof the month that was in AmericanStudying.]

March4: National Park Studying: Yosemite: For the Department of the Interior’s175th birthday, a National Park series kicks off with six figureswho helped shape Yosemite.

March5: National Park Studying: Blackstone River Valley: The series continueswith two interesting comps for one of our newest Parks.

March6: National Park Studying: Everglades: The very American story of the womanwho helped save the ‘Glades, as the story tours on.

March7: National Park Studying: Mesa Verde: Two distinct but complementary sidesto a foundational AmericanStudier moment.

March8: National Park Studying: Acadia: The series concludes with a few tellingmoments in the Maine Park’s Franco-American history.

March9-10: National Park Studying: National Historic Parks: A special weekendpost on a few of the many great National Historic Parks—with many more in a Saturday Evening Post column linked atthe end!

March11: NeMLA Reflections: Opening Address: A series on the latest great NeMLAconference kicks off with the opening speaker’s multilayered public scholarlywork.

March12: NeMLA Reflections: NeMLA Reads Together: The series continues with twotakeaways from the latest example of NeMLA’s wonderful community endeavor.

March13: NeMLA Reflections: My Panel on Nostalgia & the 50s: Three of themany excellent conversations I got to be part of on Vaughn Joy’s panel on “nostalgicextremism.”

March14: NeMLA Reflections: Guilty Pleasures Panels: Two interestingthroughlines from a pair of provocative interconnected sessions.

March15: NeMLA Reflections: Community Connections: The reflections conclude withthree ways NeMLA 2024 connected to its host city.

March16-17: NeMLA Reflections: A Special Organization: A weekend tribute to afew of the reasons why NeMLA is such a special organization.

March18: American Magic: Fakir of Ava: In honor of Houdini’s 150thbirthday, a MagicStudying series kicks off with three ways the first famousAmerican magician paved the way for the profession.

March19: American Magic: Thurston and Kellar: The series continues with a pairof magicians who help us think about competition and collaboration.

March20: American Magic: Orson Welles: Two ways to AmericanStudy a fascinatinglast act in a legendary career, as the series tricks on.

March21: American Magic: Penn & Teller: Three telling influences on one ofthe most famous magic acts of the last half-century.

March22: American Magic: 21st Century Evolutions: The seriesconcludes with a handful of contemporary talents who reflect how magic hasevolved.

March23-24: American Magic: Harry Houdini: On Houdini’s 150th, threelesser-known layers to our most famous magician.

March25: What is Game Show Studying?: 30s and 40s Origins: For Jeopardy!’s 60th anniversary,a Game Show Studying series kicks off with three stages in the genre’sexperimental early decades.

March26: What is Game Show Studying?: Quiz Show Scandals: The series continueswith three ways to contextualize the fixing scandals that dominated the gameshow world in the late 50s.

March27: What is Game Show Studying?: Dating Games: A more straightforward and amore subtle context for a pair of groundbreaking dating games, as the seriesplays on.

March28: What is Game Show Studying?: Deal-Making: AmericanStudies contexts forthree generations of deal-making shows.

March29: What is Game Show Studying?: Jeopardy!: The series concludes with twoways the legendary game show echoes the genre’s histories, and one way it standsout.

AprilFool’s series starts Monday,

Ben

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