Prominent thinkers and writers about the American West’s history, literature, ecological studies and geography will speak at Montana State University during the College of Letters and Science’s “Western Lands and Peoples: Perspectives on the American West” lecture series scheduled throughout the fall semester.
The series, in its second year, will examine the history, literature and culture of the West, ecological studies of issues affecting the wildlife and fisheries of the region and studies on the West’s geography, geology and resources. All lectures in the series will be held at 6 p.m. in the Hager Auditorium at the Museum of the Rockies, and are free and open to the public. The lectures include:
Mark Fiege, the newly hired Wallace Stegner Chair in Western American Studies in the Department of History and Philosophy at MSU, will kick off the series Oct. 3 with “A Country Without Illusions: Wallace Stegner in His Time and Ours,” a lecture about Stegner’s enduring legacy in Western American letters.
Other dates and speakers in the series are:
Nov. 7: Charles Wilkinson, Distinguished Professor and Moses Lasky Professor of Law at the University of Colorado Law School, lectures on “Becoming a Westerner: Montana and other Cherished Formative Experiences.”
Nov. 14: Maile Meloy, the Helena native who is an award-winning author of “Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It” as well as a series of novels for young adults.
Dec. 5: David Theobald, senior scientist at Conservation Science Partners, Fort Collins, Colorado.
The lecture series is cosponsored by the Burton K. Wheeler Center and is part of the college’s Western Lands and Peoples Initiative, a series of programs and events highlighting interdisciplinary research within the College of Letters and Science that is focused on the places and peoples of the Western United States and Canada.
For a full schedule and more information, go to: www.montana.edu/west/ or call 994-4288.