NEH Summer Seminar on the Great Plains

The Great Plains from Texas to Saskatchewan: Place, Memory, Identity

Welcome to the home page for "The Great Plains from Texas to Saskatchewan: Place, Memory, Identity," an NEH Summer Seminar for School Teachers to be convened at North Dakota State University during summer 2008. Fifteen outstanding scholar-teachers will gather here to study the works of Webb, Cather, Stegner, and Momaday under the leadership of Tom Isern, Professor of History & University Distinguished Professor.

Summary Information About the Seminar

Title: "The Great Plains from Texas to Saskatchewan: Place, Memory, Identity"

Director: Tom Isern, Professor of History

Location: North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota

Dates: 23 June to 25 July 2008 (5 weeks, arrive 22 June depart 26 July)

Texts: Webb's Great Plains, Cather's My Antonia, Momaday's Way to Rainy Mountain, and Stegner's Wolf Willow

Funding: National Endowment for the Humanities

Academics

Proposal Narrative - as submitted to NEH

Study Guide for Webb

Study Guide for Cather

Study Guide for Stegner

Study Guide for Momaday

Selected Bibliography--prepared for this seminar

Bibliography of the North American Plains - from HIST 431, "The North American Plains"

Scheme for Discussions

Commonplace Book

Aspects of Regionalism--definitions of terms

Travel Narratives

Finding Aids

ODIN - online library catalog

JSTOR

America: History and Life

MLA Bibliography via WebSPIRS - access from library General Research Page

Academic Resources

Center for Heritage Renewal - supporting historic preservation and heritage tourism on the northern plains

Fran Fisher, Humanities Librarian

Institute for Regional Studies - photographs, manuscripts, regional books

Germans from Russia Heritage Collection - great resource for ethnic studies

NDSU History Department

Buffalo Commons - weblog for Great Plains books

Archives of the Seminar

Cather home, Red Cloud NE

School teachers from across America are invited to apply for admission to this seminar - see the informational and application materials made available at upper right. Postmark deadline for applications is 3 March 2008.

Stegner home, Eastend SK

Summer 2008 is the fifth offering of "The Great Plains from Texas to Saskatchewan." The first, a gathering of fifteen congenial scholars from as far west as Hawaii and as far east as Massachusetts, took place in Summer 2000. Subsequent offerings were in 2002, 2004, and 2006.

Rainy Mountain from Doke's Store

To obtain an information packet, including seminar application forms in hard copy, write Prof. Isern - contact information given at right. Or, you can just download application materials from the application center at upper right of this page.

Webb in bronze, Barton Springs

Applicants and prospective applicants - check back to this website now and then, as additional information about plans and arrangements for the seminar will be added.

"The Great Plains from Texas to Saskatchewan" has been designated by the NEH a "We the People" project for its efforts to "encourage and strengthen the teaching, study, and understanding of American history and culture" and to "advance knowledge of the principles that define America."

Application Center

Letter to Colleagues - An Invitation from Prof. Isern to Seminar Applicants (pdf file)

NEH Information - NEH Application Instructions (pdf file)

NEH Online Cover Sheet (required)

To apply: study the letter and application instructions given above; complete hard-copy application as per instructions; fill out NEH online cover sheet and submit to NEH; also print cover sheet to include with application packet; and send packet, including references, to Prof. Isern.

PDF flyer - print & post!

Seminar 2008 Reference

Roster - to be posted here

Calendar - to be posted here

Great Plains Seminar Wiki (Wetpaint)

Seminar Photo Sharing (Webshots)

Seminar Video Sharing

Seminar Room: Loftsgard 260 (a.k.a. the Sugarbeet Growers Room), the best conference room on campus

Staff

Tom Isern, Professor of History & Seminar Director
Minard Hall 412C, NDSU
Fargo ND 58105-5075
701-799-2942