Reno, Nevada 2-4 November 2017
The forty-fifth annual conference of the Western Society for French History will be held from November 2-4 in Reno, Nevada. The theme for this year’s conference is “Diasporas, Displacements, and Migrations,” and engages with diverse human experiences of relocation, both forced and voluntary, and invites reflection on large-scale human displacements, both past and present, and the long-term consequences they generate. Our keynote speakers will be Tyler Stovall (University of California, Santa Cruz) and Annette Becker (Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense). The University of Nevada, Reno is the home to the William A. Douglass Center for Basque Studies, which is co-sponsoring the conference. The conference will highlight the Basques and their vibrant culture, and participants will be able to sample Basque cuisine at the Friday business luncheon. The Basque experience reflects the conference theme, and our aim is to bring aspects of Basque culture to the program so that participants can appreciate the historic importance of the Basque people in the Great Basin Region of the American West.
This year the conference organizers are introducing a new format: a linked Conference Plenary Roundtable and Conference Workshop. Following on last year’s excellent discussion at the roundtable “Crisis in French History?” we have planned the roundtable “Addressing Structural Racism in French History and French Historical Studies,” followed by a related workshop in which we hope colleagues can explore in more depth pedagogical questions raised by the roundtable discussion. If you are interested in exploring strategies for engaging with questions of race in your classrooms, please plan to attend this inaugural Conference Workshop. As in recent years, the WSFH will identify several panels to be recorded and/or webcasted. Twitter hashtag: #wsfh2017. Follow the WSFH on Twitter here, and like us on Facebook here.
The Program Committee consists of Naomi Andrews, Chair (Santa Clara University), J.P. Daughton (Stanford University), Katharine Hamerton (Columbia College, Chicago), Judith Miller (Emory University), Leslie Tuttle (Louisiana State University), and Robin Walz (University of Alaska Southeast). The Local Arrangements Committee is chaired by Sandy Ott (University of Nevada, Reno). Accommodations:
The conference will be held at the Whitney Peak Hotel in the heart of downtown Reno. When you register use the group rate code FRENCH2017. Recently refurbished to a high standard, Whitney Peak is the first non-gaming, non-smoking hotel in town and is in easy walking distance to the popular “river walk” along the Truckee River. Whitney Peak offers conference participants exceptionally low room rates ($89 per night for a Deluxe King/Queen; $129 for Concierge Level King/Queen; and only $45 per night for graduate students). The hotel also features the world’s tallest exterior climbing wall (16 stories) and a 7,000 square-foot indoor climbing park (not for the faint-hearted). Downtown Reno is only ten minutes away from the Reno-Tahoe International Airport.
The conference website, where you will find a DRAFT program, is here.
Note: The link for conference registration will follow in a subsequent message.
Naomi Andrews President, Western Society for French History Associate Professor History Department Santa Clara University nandrews@scu.edu