[Students] FW: American Studies Association of Texas

[Kim Jefferies]

Call for Submissions: 56th Annual American Studies of Texas Conference

 

Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas, is hosting this
year's American Studies of Texas's annual conference, being held on
November 15-17, 2012.

 

As a conference theme, ASAT looks to local writer Larry McMurtry--born
in Wichita Falls and raised in rural Archer County--for inspiration.
Early in his career, McMurtry (in)famously sported a t-shirt that read
"Minor Regional Novelist." In retrospect, what are we to make of
McMurtry's  joke? Surely, McMurtry's Academy Award and Pulitzer Prize,
at the very least, invalidates his "minor"-ness. But what of his
regionalist viewpoint, an idea that McMurtry's shirt seemingly
criticizes?

 

Have attitudes regarding how regionalism changed in the last few
decades, particularly considering today's "flatter" world and its
incessant interconnectedness? In other words, is an author's (or
scholar's or artist's) keen sense of place a characteristic of
provincialism, or, rather, is a regionalist's perspective more often a
source of insight, if not profundity?

 

While our conference welcomes proposals on or related to the topic
above, we are also aware of the broad umbrella of American Studies.
Therefore, in the spirit of inclusiveness, as we have in past
conferences, ASAT not only expects, but also welcomes papers unrelated
to our conference theme.

 

NOTICE: The proposal deadline has been extended.

 

Paper proposals should be emailed in a Word attachment to asat at mwsu.edu
<mailto:asat at mwsu.edu>  by November 5, 2012. These abstracts should be
approximately 250 words and be accompanied by a CV or short biography.

 

ASAT prides itself on being a "grad student friendly" organization.  And
in keeping with a recent policy, we will provide a $50 expense stipend
to those presenters who travel more than 75 miles. (If your proposal is
accepted, you will receive a stipend form to fill out, and then you will
get reimbursed following your presentation.)

 

 Texas Singer-Songwriters: A Discussion

November 15, 2012, 7:00 pm.

Midwestern State University's Museum of Art

The American Studies Association of Texas, along with MSU's Speakers and
Issues Series, presents a panel discussion of Texas singer-songwriters,
focusing on their aesthetic and economic importance to our state's
culture.

Panel:

Jan Reid, author of The Improbable Rise of Redneck Rock, a seminal work
that chronicled the early days of the Austin music scene.

Abby Abernathy, founder of Yahoo Productions and originator of Archer
City's Late Week Lazy Boy Supper Club, a songwriter circle that featured
many of today's best Texas singer-songwriters.

Kathleen Hudson, professor of English at Schreiner University and author
of Women in Texas Music: Stories and Songs and Telling Stories, Writing
Songs: An Album of Texas Songwriters.

Jimmie Dale Gilmore, lead singer of The Flatlanders, the legendary
Lubbock-based band. Gilmore also has recorded nearly a dozen solo albums
including Heirloom Music (2011), Come On Back (2005), and Spinning
Around the Sun (1993). On Friday evening at 7:00, Gilmore will perform a
solo set of his songs, also at the museum.

Greg Giddings, assistant professor of English at MSU and current
vice-president of ASAT will moderate the discussion.

 

If you have any questions, please contact Richard Tuerk,
Richard.Tuerk at tamuc.edu <mailto:Richard.Tuerk at tamuc.edu> . 

 

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