Lecture 1: The Question Mark in the Circle

The first lecture lays out the intellectual background for the study of the Great Plains as regional cultural history, concluding with what amounts to a model for examining the culture(s) of the plains. One of our texts, of course—Webb—is in the thick of this lecture. You'll find him explaining his thesis early in The Great Plains and applying and developing it throughout.

Outline of Lecture
Introduction: Stegner and History
Nationhood and History on the Plains	Frederick Jackson Turner, American frontier historian, and Harold Innes, Canadian economic historian, situate the history of the plains in the respective national sagas of the United States and Canada.
Regional Scholarship in the Natural Sciences	Grassland ecologists and other scientists point the way toward the study of the Great Plains for their own sake—the beginnings of truly regional scholarship.
Regionalism Crosses Over to the Social Sciences and Humanities	Ideas about adaptation as the key to life on the plains cross over from the natural sciences to the social sciences and humanities via the writings of historian Walter P. Webb. Adaptation to environment becomes the key interpretive lens by which American scholars view the History of the Great Plains. Canadian scholars, however, prefer multi-culturalism, rather than environmental adaptation, as an interpretive theme.
Travel on the Gravel: Exploring the Great Plains Thesis
A Theory for Regional History	Drawing on both American and Canadian interpretations of the plains experience, we conclude this lecture with the construction of a theory of regional studies that will comprehend the commonalities and diversities of regional life.
Epilogue: Tocqueville on the Plains

Assignments
WWW	Check out these web pages that I have posted. • The Turner Theses (at HIST 103 website) • Harold Innis and Staples Theory (at HIST 382 website) • The Webb Thesis (including PowerPoint presentation) • Elwyn Robinson’s Six Themes • Four Sources of Regional Culture
Reading	Core Text	All core texts relate to the lecture, each in its own way. Each reflects the scholarship of the plains in which the author is grounded.
	Bibliography	Stegner, Wolf Willow—the work on which the introduction to the lecture turns Sharp, Whoop-Up Country—the work that pioneered the comparative approach to the Canadian-American plains Robinson, History of North Dakota—see how Robinson incorporates the interpretations discussed in lecture
Film	No recommendations specific to the lecture

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