The 29th Annual Great Lakes History Conference will take place October 29-30 with dozens of panel discussions, a keynote speech on Saturday by a noted authority on the American West, and a special lecture on Friday by acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ric Burns.
The two-day conference is sponsored by the History Department of Grand Valley State University, with most events held at the Eberhard Center, 301 W. Fulton St. in downtown Grand Rapids. This year's theme is "Challenging Historical Borders: Exploring Intersections between Nations, Regions, and Disciplines" -- examined in 37 panels by more than 90 presenters. (Registration information at end.)
Keynote speaker Patricia Limerick
Patricia Nelson Limerick will deliver the keynote address,
"The Applied Historian to the Rescue: Energy, the Environment,
and the Escape from Polarization" on Saturday afternoon.
Limerick's work on the American West has helped redefine the field,
particularly her book, The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of
the American West(1987). She is currently director of the Center
of the American West at the University of Colorado, where she plays a
major role in spreading academic knowledge beyond the university and
bringing together historians, public policymakers, and scientists.
Documentary filmmaker Ric Burns
A public lecture by noted documentary filmmaker Ric Burns will be
held at 8 p.m. on Friday, October 29, at Grand Valley's DeVos Center,
Loosemore Auditorium, 401 W. Fulton St. in Grand Rapids. Burns will
talk on "Making History on Film: New York City as the Empire of
Dreams and the City at the Center of the World." He is expected
to illustrate his talk with a film presentation.
Burns' lecture is open to the public free of charge.
Burns is one of the most successful producers of historical documentaries whose work has appeared on national public television for nearly two decades, earning significant recognition and many of our nation's most prestigious awards. He is perhaps best known for his epic PBS series, New York: A Documentary Film, which has received numerous awards including an Emmy and a DuPont-Columbia University Award. The eighth and final episode of New York, a three-hour film portrait of the rise and fall of the World Trade Center called The Center of the World,aired nationally on PBS in September 2003 to extraordinary praise.
Burns' earlier work includes the celebrated 1990 public television series The Civil War,which he produced with his brother Ken and co-wrote with Geoffrey C. Ward and for which he received Emmys for producing and writing and the Producer of the Year Award from the Producer's Guild of America, among other awards. He has also produced, written and directed many other films including Coney Island; The Donner Party, a critically acclaimed film about the doomed pioneer group; The Way West, a six-hour history of the American West; and the film biography Ansel Adams. Most of his films have won top awards and critical praise. He is currently at work on full-length film biographies of Eugene O'Neill and Andy Warhol.
Presidential campaign songs by the Historian Harmonists
Also on Friday, October 29, will be a performance by the
Historian Harmonists, a group of musicians from the Grand Rapids area
specializing in presidential campaign songs, work songs, union songs,
war and folk songs. The performance begins at 4:45 p.m. in the East
Gallery of the Eberhard Center, 301 W. Fulton St. It is open free of
charge to conference goers as well as to the general public. The group
was founded by Lisa Feurzeig and John Sienicki. For more information
on the Historian Harmonists, see http://home.earthlink.net/~blauegeiger/hh.html
or call Lisa Feurzeig at (616) 331-2584.
Conference Registration
All events are open to the public. Admission is $20 for the
general public, and free for GVSU students, staff, and faculty. There
is a 25% discount for members of the Grand Rapids Historical Society
and the Greater Grand Rapids Women's History Council. Meals and
refreshments are included in the fee. To register, call Shelby Hughes
at (616) 331-3298. For a conference schedule and registration form,
see www.gvsu.edu/history.
