You are invited to the Brown Bag Lecture Series

October 29, 2003  Noon to 1 p.m.

THE INSURGENT WEST:

BEYOND THE MARKET PARADIGM

William Robbins, Department of History,

Oregon State University,

Clements/DeGolyer Research Grant Recipient

The history of the American West contains much more than uninhibited capitalist individualism.    It also has a cultural and political history rooted in the vibrant undercurrents of progressive activism.

Woody Guthrie, activist and singer

Professor Robbins will discuss his initial exploration into the antecedents of this activism.  His research reveals that the region's insurgent traditions have rich stories to tell about people struggling to build a society that promised something more than involvement in market transactions. The region's history is filled with accounts of individuals and groups who sought a more equitable social order and worked toward collectivist solutions to social and economic problems.  This presentation will address some of the potential themes that Professor Robbins will address in his larger study of the topic, which builds on his earlier books, including Land in the American West: Private Claims and the Common Good (2000), Landscapes of Promise: The Oregon Story, 1800-1940 (1997) and Colony and Empire: The Capitalist Transformation of the American West (1994).

William Robbins earned a B.S. degree from Western Connecticut State University and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Oregon. He joined the faculty at Oregon State University in 1971 where he has taught courses in the History of the American West and Environmental History. He has won awards for the publication of best articles in the Journal of Forest History (1984) and Western Historical Quarterly (1985) and in 1997 he was named Distinguished University Professor, the highest honor Oregon State University bestows on its faculty.  Currently Professor Robbins is conducting research for his study at the DeGolyer Library, while on a Clements Center--DeGolyer Library Research Travel Grant.

In the Texana Room, DeGolyer Library

(6404 Hilltop Ln. & McFarlin Blvd).

For more information, please call 214-768-3684 or email swcenter@smu.edu.

Please visit our website at www.smu.edu/swcenter.