[nativestudies-l] [Fwd: Exploring the Family Drama Seminar]

[Lisa Brooks]

A colleague at West Virginia University asked me to forward this on. 
Grad students might want to take advantage of the travel fellowships offered by the university.

<please circulate>

"Exploring the Family Drama: Race, Gender, Memory, and Narrative"
June 5-8, 2008
West Virginia University

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.

Seminar Leader
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.
He has published a number of books and essays, including _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 by Friday, April 25, 2008.

Limited Scholarships for Graduate Students
(priority given to minorities and underserved populations)
               
To apply:
1) Send a brief narrative about why you would like to attend the seminar (max. 500 words)
2) Send two letters of recommendation

Deadline: April 10, 2008

Send materials to: 
Ellesa High
Department of English
1503 University Ave.
P.O. Box 6296
Morgantown, WV  26506-6296

*Scholarship will cover registration fee and provide $125 for travel expenses. Housing with local participants
may be available for scholarship recipients. Recipients will still be responsible for $100 deposit, which is due 
by April 25, 2008.


For further information, please see:
http://english.wvu.edu/about_the_department/summer_seminar



-- 
Lisa Brooks
Assistant Professor of History and Literature
and of Folklore and Mythology
Harvard University
Barker 122 
12 Quincy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138