NGPHC 2010
The Northern Great Plains History Conference is coming up in two weeks! No, I don't have better things to be excited about.
Wednesday is the registration/reception/get smashed day. I'm serious, your registration badge will get you discounts at the bar and comedy club, and everyone knows how much historians love to party! With any luck, there'll be a brawl between the medievalist and early modernity departments. Everyone, cross your fingers!
On Thursday, there are going to be a number of papers submitted by the Society for Military History. UST kicked a guy out here who's presenting on the Hessian military organization during the Revolution, and the US Army War College has a gentleman coming to speak on "Reassessment of British Strategy after Saratoga, 1777-1778." Shut up, it's going to be interesting. There are a few others, but I don't care about them. At the same time is a historiography panel chaired by a professor I don't like because he refers to people as "cats." Frigging everything is happening from 9-10:30 in the morning, so it's some serious picking and choosing. At 11 is a panel to decide new submissions to the National Registrar of Historic Places. I'm seriously considering going, because it sounds silly and totally unnecessary, but it's at the same time as a seminar on the defense policies of the cold war, which is awesome, interesting, and relevant to my major.
I'm skipping all the luncheons, because paying money for gross food just to get some face time with people whose names I won't remember isn't worth it. The afternoon's panels consist of a number of prevalent military historians presenting their research, including a marine major I met back when I was with NYLFDID, who's speaking on asymmetric warfare in regards to the Plains Indians. And less-interesting papers about things like Vietnam and its geography, which I don't care about as much as I probably should.
After more presentations that I'm skipping because they sound lame, are a number of research proposals on "American Leaders," like the great Gerald Nye that no one's heard about because he's from North Dakota. And Teddy Roosevelt, I guess. He's a little bit famous.
In the evening, Tim O'Brien's speaking about things like Vietnam, which again, doesn't excite me as much as the idea of getting to meet other authors like Mo Willems.
Friday is going to be all sorts of parties, with such topics as "Civil War Chaplains" as "The Massachusetts 54th," all presented by East Coast snobs. They probably had to look up where North Dakota was on a map before they started walking in the wrong direction, and I'm looking down at some of the mid-afternoon themes, one of which is "The Contagious Dis-Ease of Dracula." What the hell? At 11 is a seminar on the American Fur Company, which is so relevant to my research I think I just came a little. It's at the same time as the Manly-Man "What Makes A Man?" seminar, which is about manly things like coal mining and iron forging. Testosterone!
There's actually a lot happening on Friday, including some presentations on the Nonpartisan League, Questions of Governance, and British Military History. And geography. There's apparently going to be a huge-big-thang about the geography of the Northern Plains, which I can sum up with the words "Wisconsin Glacier."
On Saturday I'd really like to go to the Eau Claire presentation on Victory Day in Russia, but I'm going to be gone flouncing about pretending to be Hungarian at ValleyCon down in Fargo which, ironically, will probably cost less. I think the cotton frocks I'm going to have on are going to be a lot more comfortable than the I'm-A-Gentleman-And-A-Scholar! garb. Oh, well, it gets me out of lectures for half a week.
Wednesday is the registration/reception/get smashed day. I'm serious, your registration badge will get you discounts at the bar and comedy club, and everyone knows how much historians love to party! With any luck, there'll be a brawl between the medievalist and early modernity departments. Everyone, cross your fingers!
On Thursday, there are going to be a number of papers submitted by the Society for Military History. UST kicked a guy out here who's presenting on the Hessian military organization during the Revolution, and the US Army War College has a gentleman coming to speak on "Reassessment of British Strategy after Saratoga, 1777-1778." Shut up, it's going to be interesting. There are a few others, but I don't care about them. At the same time is a historiography panel chaired by a professor I don't like because he refers to people as "cats." Frigging everything is happening from 9-10:30 in the morning, so it's some serious picking and choosing. At 11 is a panel to decide new submissions to the National Registrar of Historic Places. I'm seriously considering going, because it sounds silly and totally unnecessary, but it's at the same time as a seminar on the defense policies of the cold war, which is awesome, interesting, and relevant to my major.
I'm skipping all the luncheons, because paying money for gross food just to get some face time with people whose names I won't remember isn't worth it. The afternoon's panels consist of a number of prevalent military historians presenting their research, including a marine major I met back when I was with NYLFDID, who's speaking on asymmetric warfare in regards to the Plains Indians. And less-interesting papers about things like Vietnam and its geography, which I don't care about as much as I probably should.
After more presentations that I'm skipping because they sound lame, are a number of research proposals on "American Leaders," like the great Gerald Nye that no one's heard about because he's from North Dakota. And Teddy Roosevelt, I guess. He's a little bit famous.
In the evening, Tim O'Brien's speaking about things like Vietnam, which again, doesn't excite me as much as the idea of getting to meet other authors like Mo Willems.
Friday is going to be all sorts of parties, with such topics as "Civil War Chaplains" as "The Massachusetts 54th," all presented by East Coast snobs. They probably had to look up where North Dakota was on a map before they started walking in the wrong direction, and I'm looking down at some of the mid-afternoon themes, one of which is "The Contagious Dis-Ease of Dracula." What the hell? At 11 is a seminar on the American Fur Company, which is so relevant to my research I think I just came a little. It's at the same time as the Manly-Man "What Makes A Man?" seminar, which is about manly things like coal mining and iron forging. Testosterone!
There's actually a lot happening on Friday, including some presentations on the Nonpartisan League, Questions of Governance, and British Military History. And geography. There's apparently going to be a huge-big-thang about the geography of the Northern Plains, which I can sum up with the words "Wisconsin Glacier."
On Saturday I'd really like to go to the Eau Claire presentation on Victory Day in Russia, but I'm going to be gone flouncing about pretending to be Hungarian at ValleyCon down in Fargo which, ironically, will probably cost less. I think the cotton frocks I'm going to have on are going to be a lot more comfortable than the I'm-A-Gentleman-And-A-Scholar! garb. Oh, well, it gets me out of lectures for half a week.