The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's History Graduate Students' Association welcomes proposals for the Seventh Annual James A. Rawley Graduate Conference in the Humanities, “Shifting Boundaries: Expansion, Invasion, and Violence in the West.” The Homestead National Monument will host this event on March 31, 2012. This interdisciplinary conference explores the many facets of expansion into and invasion of the North American West. “Newcomers” often clashed with those already living on the land as a result of altered physical, cultural, and social boundaries.

We invite papers and panels covering any aspect of the West’s shifting boundaries, including representations and reenactments of violence, city development and changing environmental landscapes, homesteading and other federal land policies, homesteading literature, and social boundaries such as gender, race, and class. We especially encourage papers and panels about the Native American experience before, during, and after the American Civil War, including, but not limited to, the Dakota Conflict, Sand Creek Massacre, and dispossession of land as a consequence of the Civil War. We also welcome perspectives on other colonial ‘frontiers.’

Our keynote panel, "Looking Forward: The Challenges, Directions, and Futures of Western History," will be a discussion on issues of Western History featuring Sarah Carter, Elliott West, and John R. Wunder. Sarah Carter is the Henry Marshall Tory Chair in the Department of History and Classics and Chair of the Department of History and Classics and Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta. Her most recent book, The Importance of Being Monogamous: Marriage and Nation Building in Western Canada to 1915, has received several book awards. Elliott West is the Alumni Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Arkansas. In addition to the numerous books and articles he has published, he was a finalist for the 2009 Robert Foster Cherry Award recognizing outstanding teaching in the English-speaking world. John R. Wunder is an Emeritus Professor of History and Journalism at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and recent president of the Western History Association.

We encourage participants in the James A. Rawley Conference to attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Center for Great Plains Studies conference, “1862-2012: The Making of the Great Plains,” held on March 28-30, 2012. Pre-registration for the CGPS conference is required. Registrants for the CGPS Conference will received a reduced registration fee at the Rawley Conference. Proof of payment to the CGPS is required for the discount to take effect. Please visit their website for more information about rates.

We invite paper proposals from graduate and advanced undergraduate students across all disciplines. Paper proposals should include a one-paragraph abstract and one-page C.V. Full panel proposals will also be considered. Panel proposals should include a one-paragraph description of the panel itself, as well as a one-paragraph abstract for each paper (maximum of three) and a current C.V. for each panel participant. Please indicate any audio-visual needs required for presentations upon submission of proposals. All proposals should be emailed to rawley@unlserve.unl.edu no later than January 17, 2012.