 2010 Humanities Forum Topics and Presenters
The Wyoming Humanities Council will accept applications for the 2010 Humanities Forum anytime after October 15, 2009, for programs scheduled between November 1, 2009 and October 31, 2010.
Beck, Sophia
Clayton, John
Coburn, Broughton
Gable, Denise
Hubbell, Kelly
Humstone, Mary
Kelley, Chawavn
Keown, Duane
Ludwig, Dorene
Monaghan, Leila
Nickerson, Greg
O'Hara, Melanie
Ostlind, Emilene
Riis, Joe
Rossiter, Bill
Swanson, Lynne
Ward, Seth
Zall, Ladonna
John Clayton
Happily Ever Aftering on a 1920s Cattle Ranch
When bestselling Wyoming novelist Caroline Lockhart decided to retire to her very own homestead, she set in motion a conflict: the happy endings of her romantic fictions and the realities of a single woman running a drought-ridden ranch.
About the presenter: John Clayton is a writer, serves on the advisory board for the Montana Center for the Book and is also a member of the Humanities Montana Speakers Bureau. He lives in Red Lodge.
Contact: (406) 446-3843 or info@johnclaytonbooks.com.
Broughton Coburn
Aama's Journey: A Pilgrimage Between Continents and Cultures
In 1992, an 84-year-old village woman from the Himalayas with no exposure to a Western civilization made a pilgrimage to the United States. Broughton Coburn tells her story, based upon his books.
About the presenter: Broughton Coburn graduated from Harvard and has worked two of the past three decades in the Himalayas. He developed documentary films and oversaw environmental conservation and development efforts for the World Bank, UNESCO, World Wildlife Fund, and other agencies. He is also an author
Contact: (307) 733-4124, bcoburn@wyoming.com.
Kelly Hubbell and Denise Gable
Emotions by Appointment Only: The Impact of Compartmentalizing Our Feelings
Audience members serve as the readers in a play about a female physician juggling family and career and then assess situations in which they partition their own emotions or expect physicians to do the same.
About the presenters: Kelly Hubbell is Coordinator for Interdisciplinary Programs at Wyoming Area Health Education Center / WWAMI Medical Education (UW). Denise Gable is the administrative manager for WWAMI Medical Education (UW).
Contact: (307) 766-2470, khubbell@uwyo.edu.
Mary Humstone and Sophia Beck
Remembering Sunrise Mine and Its Community: Portrait of a Company Town
Using historical and contemporary photographs, Mary Humstone and Sophia Beck present a history of the Sunrise mine and its community, touching upon issues including the economic and social impact of Sunrise Mine, the role of Sunrise as an exemplary community town, living conditions and daily life in Sunrise, and ethnic relations.
About the presenters: Mary Humstone is a research scientist in the University of Wyoming American Studies Program. She is a national authority on rural architecture and helped to found a national barn preservation program called Barn Again. Sophia Beck works for the American Studies Program and lived in Sunrise.
Contact: (307) 766-3898, humstone@uwyo.edu
Chavawn Kelley
Rails and Shutters: The Train-Camera link that Transformed the American West
This presentation explores the role of early photographers such as A.J. Russell, William Henry Jackson and F.J. Haynes in the development of Wyoming and the West.
About the presenter: Chavawn Kelley lives in Laramie, where she received a master's degree in American Studies from the University of Wyoming. She is a public relations specialist at Western Research Institute and the recipient of two writing awards from the Wyoming Arts Council.
Contact: (307) 721-2367, ckelley@uwyo.edu.
Duane Keown
But This is Home: Wyoming, the Energy State
This presentation explores the history of energy development in Wyoming and looks to the future of Wyoming's energy economy.
About the presenter: Duane Keown is Professor Emeritus of science education at the University of Wyoming, where he taught conservation and natural resource education workshops in nearly every Wyoming school district.
Contact: (307) 721-4922, dkeown@uwyo.edu
Dorene Ludwig
The High Life: Substance Abuse in America
In this dramatic series of first-person portrayals, Dorene Ludwig traces the role of alcohol and substance abuse in American life from colonial days to the present.
Loveliness to Sell: The Lady Poets
Dorene Ludwig presents powerful and entertaining readings from the works of women poets of the United States, from Colonial times to present day
About the presenter: Dorene Ludwig is the artistic director and president of the American Living History Theater in Greybull. She has appeared in her various one-woman productions coast to coast. The National Park Service, NASA, the U.S. Army and UCLA all have employed her as a trainer and consultant.
Contact: (307) 765-9449, ludwigunlimited@hotmail.com.
Leila Monaghan
Visions of New Worlds: Deaf People Building Communities
Leila Monaghan presents information about the creation and development of various sign languages along with some of the key moments in the history of Deaf education and Deaf community building.
About the presenter: Leila Monaghan received her PhD in linguistic anthropology at UCLA. Her dissertation work was with the New Zealand Deaf community. She works in Laramie.
Contact: (610) 529-0460, leila.monaghan@gmail.com
Greg Nickerson
Inspired by Yellowstone: Thomas Moran and William Henry Jackson's Artistic Journey
This presentation explores Yellowstone's art history through Thomas Moran and William Henry Jackson, whose art supported the campaign to make Yellowstone the world's first national park.
About the presenter: Greg Nickerson of Big Horn served as a historical consultant for the film Drawn to Yellowstone produced for public television in 2008. He has worked as a museum curator, freelance writer, and elk hunting guide. He is a master's candidate in history at the University of Wyoming.
Contact: (307) 752-6031, gnickers@uwyo.edu
Melanie O'Hara
We Are What We Build: Log Architecture in Wyoming
Melanie O'Hara presents the 19th Century log architecture of southeast Wyoming, especially the Laramie, Centennial, Saratoga and Encampment communities, along with historic photographs of ranches and mountain lodges built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Association programs.
Why We Took Off Our Corsets: Is There a Curious Connection Between Undergarments and Suffrage?
In this presentation Melanie O'Hara looks at East Coast women who traveled West, settled, and in the process, declared their independence from undergarments that impeded their new-found freedoms.
About the presenter: Melanie O'Hara, Laramie, teaches English and Humanities at the Albany County branch of Laramie County Community College. She lectures frequently on Wyoming women and Wyoming architecture. Her master's degree in English and Women's Studies was awarded by the University of Wyoming.
Contact: (307) 721-4033, mohara@wyoming.com.
Emilene Ostlind and Joe Riis
Pronghorn Passage
Emilene and Joe tell their story of walking the 150-mile migration corridor of the pronghorn antelope to document one of hte world's greatest long-distance animal migrations.
About the presenters: Emilene and Joe, both University of Wyoming graduates, have spent the past two years documenting this wildlife phenomenon. Emilene is a writer, and Joe is a photographer.
Contact: (307) 752-4599, emilene@uwyo.edu or joe@joeriis.com
Bill Rossiter
Stories, Songs and Sodbusters: The Little Old Sod Shanty on the Plain
When settlers came west, they sang of hope, adventure and Eden on the plains. They wised up quickly, and soon their songs featured alkali, snakes and stampedes.
About the presenter: Bill Rossiter teaches at Flathead Valley Community College in Montana and is a member of the Humanities Montana Speakers Bureau.
Contact: (406) 755-2236, tallsongs@bresnan.net
Lynne Swanson
My Horse, My Gun, My Libraries
As Mabel Wilkinson, Lynne Swanson describes some of the adventures and difficulties of bringing libraries to Platte County and to the rest of Wyoming in the early 1900s.
About the presenter: Lynne Swanson, Cheyenne, has portrayed Willa Cather, Mardy Murie and other American women since 1983. Her programs have been featured by the Wyoming Humanities Council, the Colorado Endowment for the Humanities and the Heartland Chautauqua. A retired librarian, she now devotes her time to researching western women.
Contact: (307) 632-1096, westeringwomen@yahoo.com.
Seth Ward
Introduction to Islam
Seth Ward surveys the basic tenets of Islam along with the origins and dynamics of local Muslim communities.
Kabbalah Now: Interpreting Mystic Traditions in the Age of the Material Girl
Madonna and other celebrities have made Kabbalah a household term. This presentation by Seth Ward participants a sense of what Kabbalah is all about, including a history of Jewish mysticism.
Political Islam: Who, Where, What and Why?
We cannot understand the news and make political and security decisions without understanding the complex interplay between religion and politics. Seth Ward's presentation offers a historical overview of Islam, perspectives on Qur'anic teachings regarding war and peace, and an explanation of several quite distinct pathways within modern Islam.
About the presenter: Seth Ward teaches Islamic history and religion at the University of Wyoming. He received his PhD in Near Eastern languages and literature from Yale University. Professor Ward also taught at the University of Denver, where he directed the Institute for Islamic-Judaic Studies.
Cotact: Seth Ward, Laramie, (303) 981-7561, sward@uwyo.edu.
Ladonna Zall
Heart Mountain Relocation Center: At the Heart of It
This presentation explores the human experience of Japanese and Japanese-Americans during their incarceration at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center during World War II. Zall will also discuss the Heart Mountain, Wyoming Foundation and its plans.
About the presenter: At the age of ten, Zall wintessed the exodus of the last internees from the Heart Mountain Relocation Center. She was a teacher for 37 years.
Contact: (307) 754-2400, lzall@wir.net Last Updated on 10/30/2009 9:44:19 AM | 
