2008 Summer Seminar in Literary and Cultural Studies
The Department of English, the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, and West Virginia University present the 2008 Summer Seminar:
“Exploring the Family Drama: Race, Gender, Memory, and Narrative”
Seminar Leader: Philip J. Deloria, University of Michigan.
Dates: June 5-8, 2008
The histories of specific families have offered writers evocative passageways, leading to a past that transcends the biographical, yet remains at a more intimate scale than that commonly employed in broad social and cultural analysis. With a structure that allows focused explorations of particular times and places, family history also allows extended consideration of change over time and the relations between the “small” of the family and the “large” of social and cultural context. At their best, family histories can sometimes offer stories that tell their own analysis, allowing the power of the narrative to replace the voice of scholarly or literary interpretation. In this seminar, we will dwell on race and gender in recent family history narrative. Beginning with questions of “mixed race” among American Indian people—long figured as a white-Indian history—we will also consider crossings along the Native-African American “color line,” paying particular attention to the gender relations that simultaneously structure these histories.
Philip J. Deloria is Professor of History and American Culture at the University of Michigan. He specializes in issues of culture and representation as well as environmental and Western American history. His publications include Indians in Unexpected Places (University Press of Kansas, 2004) and Playing Indian (Yale University Press, 1998).
Format:
The seminar will begin with a public lecture at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday and conclude at noon on Sunday. There are five, two-hour sessions during the seminar. In late April, registered participants will be provided with a list of readings to be completed before arrival at the seminar. Seminar sessions will be devoted to intensive discussion of the readings, with ample opportunities for further reading and informal discussions between sessions.
Seminar Site:
West Virginia University is located in scenic north central West Virginia about 75 miles south of Pittsburgh, PA and 200 miles west of Washington, DC. Rooms are available in Stalnaker Hall. Built in 1919 and renovated in 1993, this residence hall is on the National Historic Register. The hall features suites of two double rooms with a common bathroom. One local hotel is within walking distance for those who prefer non-dormitory housing.
Registration Fees:
Graduate Students $250
Faculty $350
The seminar is limited to 50 participants.
To reserve a place in the seminar, a $100 deposit must be received and/or postmarked by Friday, April 25, 2008.
Click here for a registration form suitable for printing
For more information, mail Marsha Bissett at marsha.bissett@mail.wvu.edu