Ari Kelman is a historian of the Civil War and Reconstruction, the politics of memory, and Native American history. Author of Battle Lines: A Graphic History of the Civil War andA Misplaced Massacre: Struggling Over the Memory of Sand Creek. Historians Imagine is a monthly webinar devoted to this dimension of the craft. Patty Limerick and Matthew Jacobson talk with path-breaking historians about the inventiveness and vision of their work, and about the more mysterious aspects of their practices—their imaginative spark and the virtues that lie beyond rigor and out of reach of your typical "how to" manual. These conversations will appeal to professional historians, to be sure, and might offer liberation from the academy's constraints and the disciplining demands of convention. But they will equally engage anyone who is interested in how new stories are made from old materials, and how great storytellers and historical sleuths think to do what they do. Patty Limerick is the Faculty Director and Chair of the Board at CU Boulder's Center of the American West. Matthew Frye Jacobson is William Robertson Coe Professor of American Studies and History at Yale. He is the author of seven books on race, politics, and culture in the United States.

Center of the American West Event Podcast

Historians Imagine: Celebrating Creativity in the Craft with Ari Kelman, UC Davis

In a time when many friendships have crashed on the rocks of political division, Dick Wadhams, former chair of the Colorado Republican Party, and Patty Limerick, Faculty Director of the Center of the American West, have maintained a steady tie of mutual respect. Drawing on years of finding each other's thoughts to be always worthy of consideration (and, every now and then, worthy of a stiff challenge!), Wadhams and Limerick invited the public into their conversation. They explored topics ranging from the reasons for the intensity of bitter partnership to controversies over historical monuments. At the center of their exchange they identified the issues where conservatives and liberals genuinely disagree and to call attention to the areas where they might find common ground. "You and I ought not to die," John Adams and Thomas Jefferson said to each other, "before We have explained ourselves to each other." In endorsing this principle, Wadhams and Limerick (who are, thankfully, both in good health) are honored to align themselves with a great American tradition.

Keeping Our Bearings in Unsteady Times: A Congenial Conversation between Dick Wadhams and Patty Limerick

Patty Limerick, director of the Center of the American West, and Jennifer Ho, director of the Center for Humanities & the Arts, talked about what it means to disagree. The partisan politics and extreme divisiveness of our current society have made many of us wary about entering into provocative subjects. How do we maintain unity when we confront divided opinions? How can we respect one another while vehemently debating topics we feel passionate about? Is it possible to separate the person from the provocation? Patty and Jennifer discussed all of this throughout the dialogue (and for many years to come!), modeling civil disagreement, robust curiosity about one another’s positions, and respectful friendship. Co-sponsored by the Center for Humanities & the Arts.

What It Means to Disagree, Admit a Degree of Uncertainty, and Maintain a Robust Friendship: A Dialogue

The Center of the American West has teamed up with the CU Latinx Law Students to orchestrate a virtual event, bringing two noted scholars of immigration into a consequential conversation with Congressman Joe Neguse, representing Colorado's Second District. The goal was ambitious: to lay out terms that will position these knowledgeable scholars as allies and teammates of a dedicated public servant who is committed to finding solutions and resolutions to one of the nation's most challenging issues. Here were the bedrock questions for this discussion: a) If Congress were to prove able to reform immigration policy in a post-election arrangement of authority, what should be the top priorities for such reform? b) What are the most beneficial ways to mobilize historical understanding to improve the quality of public discussion of immigration and to guide national legislators as they deliberate? c) What are the most notable mistaken impressions of the roles played by immigrants in the nation, and what are the most effective channels of communication for correcting those misapprehensions?

The Party of Practicality: An Innovative and Pragmatic Conversation on Immigration, Part II

The Party of Practicality: An Innovative and Pragmatic Conversation on Immigration, Part I

Event Date: Feb 06, 2020 Event Time: 6:30PM Location: CASE Auditorium, CU Boulder Moderated by the Faculty Director of the Center of the American West, Patty Limerick, this panel featured speakers with backgrounds in politics, energy, advocacy, and psychology including: The Principal of Adamantine Energy and former head of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, Tisha Schuller, The former Republican Congresswoman who pioneered the Global Warming Prevention Act of 1989, Claudine Schneider, An expert in political psychology, CU Boulder Psychology and Neurosciences Professor Leaf Van Boven, and a Conservative Fellow from Citizens' Climate Lobby, Dan Palken. This diverse set of voices engaged in a one-of-a-kind discussion that offered insights into the barriers to climate progress in the United States, while also helping to illuminate the steps we can take to overcome those barriers. This event was FREE! And open to the public

Why are we stuck on dealing with climate change and how do we get ‘unstuck’?

The year 2019 is the sesquicentennial of the completion of the United States first transcontinental railroad. The history of the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Railroads abounds in instructive and compelling case studies very much worth contemplating in our times. This event will feature a presentation by Stanford Professor Gordon Chang, author of the recently published and much-admired book, Ghosts of Gold Mountain: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad. Books will be available for purchase and a book signing. We have also recruited the artist Zhi Lin, from the University of Washington, who has created powerful works memorializing the Chinese railroad laborers. In Center of the American West fashion, this program will also draw on "CU Boulder talent" reflecting on the larger lessons for the building of infrastructure (in China as well as in the U.S.) as well as the power of art to invoke deeper thinking about history. Presented by the Center of the American West, the Center for Asian Studies, the Center for Documentary and Ethnographic Media, the Department of Art and Art History, and the Department of History. This event is also made possible by a grant from the Research and Innovation Office.

Transcontinental Railroad - Art and the Transcontinental Railroad

Transcontinental Railroad - Empire, Infrastructure, and Labor

A public conversation with the accomplished Western landscape photographer Peter Goin, exploring his bravery and enterprise in taking on topics ranging from the West's nuclear landscapes to the legacy of abandoned mines. Drawing on the long-running Goin/Limerick friendship (in essence, an alliance between a visual-arts innovator and a written-word dinosaur), this event will elicit congenial, and only slightly invidious, comparisons between the visual power of photographs and the constraints of words on the written page. eTown’s Nick Forster, a gifted, knowledgeable, and energetic interviewer, will serve as moderator. The conversation will explore the compatibility between the honest reckoning with loss and injury, and the forceful move toward redemption and reconciliation. Presented by the Department of Art and Art History and the Center of the American West. Peter Goin is an American photographer best known for his work within the altered landscape. Patty Limerick is the Faculty Director and Chair of the Board of CU Boulder’s Center of the American West. Nick Forster is eTown's Executive Director, co-founder, executive co-producer, and co-host of eTown's radio show. The Visiting Artist and Scholar Program aims to reinforce the mission of the Art and Art History Department by inviting leading artists and scholars to present an array of artistic practices, historical discourse and divergent perspectives that can increase access to creativity and forge new territories between the arts and broader cultural movements.

Redemption and Reconciliation: The West in Words and Images

From the Pages of BlackPast.org: Six African American Women You have Never Heard of Who Changed the West (and the World) In this lecture, Professor Taylor will examine six little-known black women whose experiences help challenge and redefine the basic narrative of the black historical experience. He will explore how BlackPast.org changes the narrative of African American history by making available to a global audience significant people, places, and events. The Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Memorial Lecture is a free speaker series celebrating Lucile Berkeley, whose parents were emancipated slaves who settled in Colorado in 1882. Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Jones was a lifelong educator, a visionary who stood up against injustice, a woman of faith, and a firm believer in the electoral process. She graduated with a BA in German from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1918 and taught high school in Arkansas, Kansas, and Illinois. "As a researcher and writer, Quintard Taylor has played a leading role in the revitalization of the field of Western American history," Patty Limerick, Faculty Director of the Center of the American West, said. "And, as a dynamic speaker, he delivers insight with an intensity and energy nearly unmatched among scholars." Quintard Taylor, the Scott and Dorothy Bullitt Professor of American History at the University of Washington, is the author of The Forging of a Black Community: Seattle’s Central District from 1870 through the Civil Rights Era and In Search of the Racial Frontier: African Americans in the American West, 1528-1990. In 2004, Taylor created BlackPast.org. BlackPast houses over 3,000 pages of information, has links to over 600 other websites, and features contributions by more than 400 scholars. It is now one of the largest reference websites for African American and Global :African history. The series is hosted by: Department of German & Slavic Languages & Literature , Women & Gender Studies , College of Media, Information and Communication, Ethnic Studies, College of Arts and Sciences, Office of Diversity, Equity & Community Engagement, Center of the American West

Second Annual Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Lecture Featuring Professor Quintard Taylor

The Center of the American West and National History Day in Colorado are proud to present noted historian and author, H. W. Brands for his talk: The West & The Growing Pains of Democracy. The early exploration and settlement of the trans-Mississippi West coincided with the birth of American democracy. The West became an arena in which the troubles of democracy were played out. The stakes were the future of the West, and of democracy itself. "H. W. Brands is a master practitioner in the arena of historical research and writing that reaches, engages, and moves a public audience. A Westerner by birth, upbringing, and character, Brands will provide a fortunate audience with a thought-provoking exploration of the ways in which the fate of American democracy and the course of events in the American West became—and remain—intertwined." -Patty Limerick H. W. Brands was born in Oregon, went to college in California, sold cutlery across the American West and earned graduate degrees in mathematics and history in Oregon and Texas. He taught at Vanderbilt University and Texas A & M University before joining the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin, where he holds the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History. He writes on American history and politics, with books including Heirs of the Founders, Andrew Jackson, and The Age of Gold. Several of his books have been bestsellers; two, Traitor to His Class and The First American, were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. For the past six years he has been writing a history of the United States in haiku form and publishing it on Twitter (@hwbrands). Book signing to follow and books will be available for purchase at the event.

H.W. Brands - The West & the Growing Pains of Democracy

This is a collection of Center of the American West events and distinguished speaker lectures.

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Center of the American West Event Podcast

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