December 28-29, 2024: December 2024 Recap

[A Recapof the month that was in AmericanStudying.]

December2: McCarthy’s America: Mythic Patriotism: A series for the 70th anniversaryof the Senate’s censure of McCarthy starts with an excerpt from my most recentbook.

December3: McCarthy’s America: Chambers, White, and Hiss: The series continues withespionage, railroading, & the true complexity of historical nuance.

December4: McCarthy’s America: Edward R. Murrow: The special report that helped beginMcCarthy’s fall & embodies the best of journalism, as the series rolls on.

December5: McCarthy’s America: Roy Cohn: The figure who embodies American hypocrisies—andsomething even worse.

December6: McCarthy’s America: Censure: For the 70th anniversary of thatcensure vote, three quotes that sum up the process that led up to it.

December7-8: McCarthy’s America: 21st Century Echoes: The seriesconcludes with throughlines, overt and overarching, and what we must learn fromthem.

December9: Hawaiian Histories: Three Shifts: For the 150th anniversaryof a Hawaiian King’s state visit, a HawaiianStudying series kicks off withthree moments through which the islands’ history shifted.

December10: Hawaiian Histories: King Kalākaua’s Visit: The series continues with threestriking moments in the course of that state visit.

December11: Hawaiian Histories: Annexation: Two prior pieces through which I highlightedthe worst of America’s involvement with Hawaii, as the series surfs on.

December12: Hawaiian Histories: Pablo Manlapit: The Filipino American labor leaderwho reflects Hawaii’s defining diversity.

December13: Hawaiian Histories: The Varsity Victory Volunteers: The seriesconcludes with a post-Pearl Harbor group who embody the best of the war, Hawaii,and America.

December14-15: Hawaiian Histories: Hawaii in American Culture: A special weekendpost on a handful of cultural representations of the islands.

December16: Fall Semester Reflections: 20C Af Am Lit: For my Fall semester reflectionsI wanted to focus on moments that embody the best of our conversations andcommunities, starting with an inspiring semester-long moment in Af Am Lit.

December17: Fall Semester Reflections: First-Year Writing: The series continueswith the frustrations of generative AI and a moment in which we engaged withthem together.

December18: Fall Semester Reflections: Senior Capstone: A Halloween moment thatreminded me of why I do what I do, as the series reflects on.

December19: Fall Semester Reflections: Online American Lit: A great example of whyI use creative exam prompts in my literature courses.

December20: Fall Semester Reflections: Women’s Circle Breakfast: The series concludeswith the latest example of my always inspiring experiences with public talks.

December21-22: Spring Semester Previews: A special weekend post on a few of themany reasons why I’m looking forward to the Spring semester (but not quite yet).

December23: 2024 in Review: The Climate Crisis: 2024 was one hell of a year, moreor less literally. So I wanted to start my annual year in review series with acouple of the most challenging crises, including the one that scares me themost.

December24: 2024 in Review: AI: The series continues with another trend that scares& frustrates me in equal measure.

December25: 2024 in Review: The Celtics: Turning to more positive topics, aChristmas special on my favorite family moment from 2024.

December26: 2024 in Review: Women Rock: How badass women in music defined the year’scultural stories.

December27: 2024 in Review: Moo Deng: The series and year conclude with the babyhippo who’s better than we deserve, but what we desperately need.

New Year’sseries starts Monday,

Ben

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