| In the closing scene of Lonesome Dove, the television mini-series
based on Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, a newspaper reporter
remarks to Capt. W. F. Call, “They say you are a man of vision.” “A man
of vision, you say,” the ex-Ranger responds as the faces of his friends
killed in a grandiose cattle drive from Texas to Montana flash on the screen.
“Yeah, a hell of a vision.” Since James Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking
tales, the West has provided a canvas upon which artists and writers, and
motion picture and television directors, have painted their visions of
a mythic past that both reflect and shape popular consciousness. Together,
they form what Pulitzer Prize winning historian William Goetzmann describes
as “The West of the Imagination.”
The 2003 Program Committee especially invites papers that explore imagery
and popular culture of the American West. Possible topics include, the
idea of the West; images of groups and legendary individuals; western art;
motion pictures and television; literature; pageants, festivals, celebrations,
and monuments; tourism; folklore; national and state parks; and photography.
In keeping with the theme “The Boundless West,” the program committee encourages
papers that examine images of race, gender, and ethnicity in the American
West. It also welcomes proposals that examine the disparity between imagery
and myth and historical realities. In an effort to include the broadest
spectrum of disciplines and scholarship, the committee solicits papers
from Westerners, academic and public historians, and the interested public.
Join us in Fort Worth to explore your vision of the American West. Submissions
are encouraged for roundtable discussions, entire sessions, and individual
papers. When submitting an entire session, include an abstract that outlines
the purpose of the session and designate one panelist as the contact person.
Each paper proposal, whether individual or in a session, should include
a one-page abstract, along with a one-page c.v., and address, phone, and
e-mail for each participant. The program committee assumes that all listed
persons have agreed to participate. Program committee co-chairs for 2003
are Bruce J. Dinges, Arizona Historical Society, and Shirley A. Leckie,
University of Central Florida. Send all submissions by August 31, 2002,
to Prof. Shirley A. Leckie, 2003 WHA Program Committee, Department of History,
University of Central Florida, 554 Colbourn Hall, Orlando, FL 32816-1350.
E-mail sleckie@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu. |