Great Lakes History Conference

Friday, October 22, 2021
1:00 p.m.
Robert C. Pew Grand Rapids Campus
Students

History of the Great Lakes History Conference

The Great Lakes History Conference has convened annually in Grand Rapids for over forty years, with colleagues from the region, as well as across the world, joining us for a wide range of themes that encompass historical research, pedagogy, and interdisciplinary inquiry. Internationally renowned scholars including Dagmar Herzog, Omer Bartov and Jan Gross have delivered keynotes at conferences focused on war and genocide, gender and trauma, the teaching of history, new approaches to world history, and other topics.

This year our keynote speaker is:

William Woys Weaver: The Pretzel as Commensality: Breaking Bread and the Communal Table

For most Americans, the pretzel is a crisp, salty snack that is baked and exported to the rest of the US from Pennsylvania, long known as the Pretzelvania. However, while the pretzel was first brought into the Keystone State during the late 1600s by German-speaking bakers, its role in social customs traces back to the European roots of this highly symbolic food. The pretzel was not only food but an agent for transmitting tradition. The speaker, William Woys Weaver, is an internationally-known scholar studying food, heirloom gardening, and kitchen garden history.

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Location Information

Loosemore Auditorium at the Richard M. DeVos Center

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Hosting Department, Organization, or Business

History Department

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This event was added to the calendar by LakerLink Registered Student Organizations (rso@gvsu.edu) on Wednesday, October 6, 2021 and was last updated on Saturday, October 23, 2021 at 6:02 p.m.