CSAW’s Southern Plains Conference to Tackle Importance of Maintaining Regional Distinctiveness

Chip Chandler

Center for the Study of the American West student worker Ashley Callaham and director Dr. Alex Hunt prepare for the Southern Plains Conference, set for April 29. Photo provided by WT Communication and Marketing

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, [email protected]

 

CANYON, Texas — The challenge of maintaining a regional identity in a global age will be addressed at a day-long conference to be held April 29 at West Texas A&M University.

WT’s Center for the Study of the American West will host its 2022 Southern Plains Conference, themed “Regional Education and Teaching Region in the 21st Century,” from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 29 in the Hazlewood Lecture Hall inside Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, 2504 Fourth Ave., on WT’s Canyon campus.

“Students need to be educated in a way that prepares them for the increasingly competitive global marketplace, but it’s important not to lose sight of the importance of local settings and knowledge,” said Dr. Alex Hunt, CSAW director. “This especially impacts rural or regionally marginalized places, sending students the signal that they must go elsewhere to seek their futures.”

The conference will include several panel discussions offering historical perspectives on education in the Southern Plains, perspectives from regional schools and innovations in education.

Dr. Shanna Peeples, WT’s John G. O’Brien Distinguished Chair in Education, will introduce the Route 66 Project, which is exploring historical intersections of race, culture, mobility and energy along the Mother Road. Peeples will lead a roundtable discussion with Ramona Emerson, Diné writer and filmmaker from Albuquerque; Melodie Graves, associate director of academic advising and diversity team chair at Amarillo College; and Ruth DeAnda, WT instructor of social work.

Peeples also will deliver one of the conference’s keynote addresses, “Learning to Stay: The Importance of Place-Based Learning to Build Student Agency, Equity, and Belonging in Regional Schools,” at 11:20 a.m. April 29.

“Marcel Proust said that our real discoveries don’t happen when we leave home to see new things, but when we return and see home with new eyes. That idea has infused everything I’ve been doing since returning to the Texas Panhandle and joining the faculty at WT,” Peeples said. “How can we teach and how can we learn in ways that help us to see our region with new eyes? Our Route 66 Project, in partnership with National Geographic and as a National Writing Project site at WT, uses the famed Mother Road as a major learning path. It invites all of us, in the words of the song, to ‘motor west’ metaphorically, substituting open minds for the open road.”

The day also will include a “Learning to Love the Land We Live In” roundtable discussion led by Darryl Birkenfeld, chair of Ogallala Commons, a nonprofit education and leadership organization that aims to reinvigorate communities around the Ogallala Aquifer. The discussion will feature Jim Steiert, author of “Playas: Jewels of the Plains”; Justin Trammell, Playa Festival faculty member; and Laura Wilbanks, longtime elementary science teacher in the South Plains and Eastern New Mexico.

Birkenfeld will deliver the conference’s afternoon keynote address, “Learning By Doing: A Community-Based Internship Program” at 3:35 p.m.

To register and to view the full conference schedule, visit wtamu.edu/museum/csaw/csaw-southernplains.html.

Registration is free and includes a complementary lunch. An optional six Continuing Professional Education credits for Texas educators are available for attendees.

Previous Southern Plains Conferences have addressed water needs and the importance of shaping a sense of place.

Addressing regional challenges is a key mission of the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.

That plan is fueled by the historic, $125 million One West comprehensive fundraising campaign. To date, the five-year campaign — which publicly launched Sept. 23 — has raised about $110 million.

About West Texas A&M University

WT is located in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT, a Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016, boasts an enrollment of about 10,000 and offers 59 undergraduate degree programs, more than 35 master’s degrees and two doctoral degrees. The University is also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest’s finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 14 men’s and women’s athletics programs.