WT hosting international society’s 2023 conference, public events

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - West Texas A&M University will host an international scholarly society’s 2023 conference with public events from Thursday through Saturday.

The 2023 Space Between Conference, themed “Outsiders, Outlaws and Outreach in the Space Between,” will be hosted on WT”s campus and at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum June 8 through June 10.

The Space Between Society studies the literature and culture of the period between World War I and World War II. The society was created in 1997 to enhance interdisciplinary study of the period between 1914 and 1945, according to a press release.

“This period is the period that leads us to where we are today,” said Dr. Bonnie Roos, conference co-organizer, WT professor of English and head of the Department of English, Philosophy and Modern Languages. “The complexities and problems that arose then are the same questions we’re dealing with in our own day, like sexuality, race, gender, the rise of technology, the conflict between urban and rural spaces.”

Conference-goers will present their research on a variety of topics during panel presentations each day. Topics will include myth and reality, women writers, modernism, the Black experience, war and peace, avant-garde art, music, labor relations, urban outreach, the media, aviation and more.

WT’s Distinguished Lecture Series will cohost two public keynote addresses during the conference:

• “Did Modernism Reach Texas, 1914-1945?” by Dr. José E. Limón at 11:00 a.m. on Friday
• “Designing Her Own Tradition: Placemaking in the Art and Career of Loïs Mailou Jones” by Dr. Rebecca VanDiver at 4:45 p.m. on Friday.

Both free events will take place in the Sybil B. Harrington Fine Arts Complex Recital Hall on the WT campus in Canyon.

The public may also attend many other events during the conference, according to organizers.

Dr. Dustin Tahmahkera of the University of Oklahoma will present “Now Starring Quanah Parker: Comanches Playing Comanches in Silent Films” at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday in the Derrick Room at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum.

Amarillo poet Seth Wieck will give a reading from his work, “Ulysses Arrives in Amarillo,” at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, June 9, at Six Car Pub & Brewery, 625 S. Polk St.

At 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 10, the conference will host a Roaring ‘20s-themed reception and dance with live music in the Jack B. Kelley Legacy Hall.

A full schedule of events can be found on the society’s website.

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