Great Lakes History Conference to focus on U.S. revolutions, reforms and rebellions

The roles of revolutions, reforms and rebellions in U.S. history will be addressed during more than 20 presentations at the 41st annual Great Lakes History Conference at Grand Valley State University.

All conference events will take place Friday, October 9, and Saturday, October 10, in the Kirkhof Center Grand River Room on the Allendale Campus.

“The areas of revolution, reform and rebellion are relevant to any area of historical study, and to anyone interested in understanding the political, social and cultural debates of our time,” said Gordon Andrews, assistant professor of history and executive director for the Michigan Council of History Education. “The issues of memory and agency are also often lost in broad narratives. Only after understanding the nuanced interactions of memory and agency can we begin to form more mature understandings of the past and our present.”

Fritz Fischer, professor of history and history education at University of Northern Colorado, will present his keynote address October 9 at 7 p.m. His presentation, “Teaching Revolution, Reform and Rebellion (and Those Who Want to Prevent It),” is free and open to the public. The Michigan Council for History Education’s (MCHE) Teachers of the Year Awards Ceremony will precede the address.

Anthony Chase, professor of diplomacy and world affairs at Occidental College, will also give a keynote address, “Rights, Revolution and Reform: Sexuality, Agency and Change in Interdisciplinary Perspective,” during a luncheon on October 10 at 11:45 a.m. Registration is required for this presentation.

The conference will also include roundtable discussions; scholarly panels with educators, librarians, archivists and public historians; and presentations of research given by both graduate and undergraduate students.

Registration, which can be completed through the beginning of the conference on October 9, is required for panels, sessions and lunches. Conference fees are $40 for faculty, teachers and MCHE members, and $20 for students and community members.

The conference is sponsored by Grand Valley’s History Department, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and MCHE. 

The Great Lakes History Conference was established in 1975 as a means to allow faculty from educational institutions in the Midwest to present their research to colleagues and to cultivate interdisciplinary work. The conference has since evolved and now bridges the divide between universities and the general public by attracting educators, graduate students, public historians and independent scholars from across the world.

For more details and online registration, visit www.gvsu.edu/history.