Don’t miss these invaluable discussions featuring leading scholars
[link removed]
CounterCurrent: NAS Launches Webinar Series on American History and Literature
Don’t miss these invaluable discussions featuring leading scholars
CounterCurrent is the National Association of Scholars’ weekly newsletter, bringing you the biggest issues in academia and our responses to them.
[link removed]
Category: History, English; Reading Time: ~2 minutes
------------------------------------------------------------
** Featured Webinar Series - The American History Series and The Great American Novel Series ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Last week, I discussed ([link removed]) how education reformers tend to be much better at critiquing the status quo than they are at proposing and pursuing effective solutions. Thankfully, a handful of dedicated reforms are increasing the movement’s expectations, such as Professor Scott Yenor’s six-step plan ([link removed]) to equip academics and concerned citizens with the tools they need to combat “social justice” education at the local level. Today, I’d like to pick up where I left off.
We at the National Association of Scholars find it important to ensure that higher education stays true to its mission: to educate and to seek truth. We hold America’s colleges and universities accountable through research, writing, events, and public information campaigns. But what if we also took matters into our own hands and directly taught the content Americans need to know? Do we wish that our institutions of higher learning would cease to abdicate their educational duties and do this instead? Absolutely. Ought we wait for them to do so? Surely not.
This is the reasoning behind NAS’s two new webinar series, which aim to cover the events of American history and the works of American literature that were most instrumental in shaping our nation. We’ve called them The American History Series and The Great American Novel Series.
We began The American History Series ([link removed]) on February 3, 2021 with an examination of the year 1619 ([link removed]) . This, as you would probably infer, was largely a reaction to The New York Times’ pseudo-scholarly historical revisionism known as The 1619 Project ([link removed]) , a highly influential body of work to which we have been responding for some time ([link removed]) . We then discussed 1620 ([link removed]) , a far more plausible and historically tenable alternative to 1619 as “the true beginning of America.” The event featured NAS President Peter W. Wood, who recently wrote a book comparing these two visions of America’s fledgling years, 1620: A Critical Response to the 1619 Project
([link removed]) .
We have since followed up these first two discussions with webinars on 1776 ([link removed]) , King Philip’s War ([link removed]) , 1787 ([link removed]) , and, today, the Whisky Rebellion ([link removed]) . Future events will include 1800: Republicans, Federalists, and Party Transition ([link removed]) (May 27th), 1803: Corps of Discovery: Lewis & Clark's Expedition West (June 8th), and 1815: The Miracle at New Orleans (June 22nd). Registration pages will be up soon, so keep an eye on your inbox.
Meanwhile, we kicked off The Great American Novel Series ([link removed]) last Tuesday with an examination of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man ([link removed]) . The event featured Wight Martindale Jr., Herbert William Rice, and Mark Shiffman discussing how this masterwork of fiction defies classification and continues to capture readers’ imaginations as much as when it was first written. Future installments of this webinar series will feature Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose ([link removed]) (June 1st) and Phillip Roth’s American Pastoral (July 1st).
Whether you’re like me and received a shoddy-at-best American history and literature education in your formal schooling, or if you want to brush up on the fundamentals and gain new insights from some of the nation’s leading scholars, we’re confident that both of these webinar series will be well worth your attention. If you are unable to participate in these discussions live, recordings will be posted on NAS’s website ([link removed]) and YouTube channel ([link removed]) after each event. Don’t miss these invaluable events!
Until next week.
David Acevedo
Communications & Research Associate
National Association of Scholars
View Our Webinar Recording Archive ([link removed])
Register for 1794: The Whiskey Rebellion and Sovereignty in the Early American Republic ([link removed])
Register for "Angle of Repose" by Wallace Stegner ([link removed])
For more on our American history and literature webinar series:
[link removed]
June 01, 2021
** Great American Novel Series: "Angle of Repose" by Wallace Stegner ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
NAS
What does Stegner's writing tell us about the nature of place and the importance of understanding one's history? Join NAS on June 1st at 2 pm as we discuss this important American novel.
[link removed]
May 27, 2021
** 1800: Republicans, Federalists, and Party Transition ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
NAS
Join us on May 27th at 2 pm ET as we discuss the transformative election of 1800.
[link removed]
May 11, 2021
** 1794: The Whiskey Rebellion and Sovereignty in the Early American Republic ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
NAS
Join NAS today at 2 pm ET as we discuss the details of the Whiskey Rebellion's causes and the response of the federal government in its infancy.
[link removed]
May 05, 2021
** The Great American Novel Series: Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison) ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
NAS
Watch the recording of our webinar on Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, featuring Wight Martindale, Herbert William Rice, and Mark Shiffman.
** About the NAS
------------------------------------------------------------
The National Association of Scholars, founded in 1987, emboldens reasoned scholarship and propels civil debate. We’re the leading organization of scholars and citizens committed to higher education as the catalyst of American freedom.
============================================================
Follow NAS on social media.
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Twitter ([link removed])
** YouTube ([link removed])
** Website ([link removed])
** Donate ([link removed])
| ** Join ([link removed])
| ** Renew ([link removed])
| ** Bookstore ([link removed])
Copyright © 2021 National Association of Scholars, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website, membership or donation forms, contact forms at events, or by signing open letters.
Our mailing address is:
National Association of Scholars
420 Madison Avenue
7th Floor
New York, NY 10017-2418
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.
