Cultural History and its Publics:
A Symposium on the Occasion of the Retirement of John Kasson

Saturday, October 3, 2015
Johnston Center, Graham Memorial,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Sponsored by the Departments of History and American Studies, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Honors Program, and the Graduate School of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The broad rubric for this symposium, Cultural History and Its Publics, is intended to stimulate reflection on the kinds of work that we do in History and American Studies, the people whom we wish to engage beyond the academy, and the means and modes by which we do so. We invite speakers to draw on their own efforts, perhaps highlighting one or more specific projects, as well as reflecting on the broader challenges and opportunities that scholars face at a time when universities, museums, publishers, and digital communications are all in rapid flux. We do not wish to minimize the personal and professional stresses of the field. Yet we also wish to capture the creativity and emerging new possibilities for scholars of cultural history, broadly defined, including those now in graduate school, the varieties of ways that we make our work public, the various communities that we hope to reach, and the kinds of public engagement we most desire.
Invitations and Registration Information will be sent via e-mail in late August. Here is a tentative preliminary schedule:

Morning Panel Discussion, Imagining American Publics
Kresge Foundation Common Room, Graham Memorial 039 (lower level)

9:00 a.m. Welcome: W. Fitzhugh Brundage, William B. Umstead Distinguished Professor and Chair, Department of History, and Bernard Herman, George B. Tindall Professor and Chair, Department of American Studies
Introduction to the Symposium: John Kasson

9:15-10:15: First Panel Session
Moderator and Commentator: Bernard Herman
Panelists:
Timothy Marr, Associate Professor of American Studies
Seth Kotch, Assistant Professor of American Studies
Jerma Jackson, Associate Professor of History
Anne Mitchell Whisnant, Adjunct Professor of History and American Studies

10:30-11:30: Second Panel Session
Panelists:
Gabriel Berlinger, Assistant Professor of American Studies
Kathleen DuVal, Professor of History
Molly Worthen, Assistant Professor of History
Commentary: Bernard Herman

11:30-11:50: Reflections and General Discussion

12:00-12:50: Informal Luncheon Buffet, Graham Memorial

Afternoon Symposium, Cultural History and Its Publics:
Kresge Foundation Common Room, Graham Memorial
1:00 Brief Welcomes
Moderator: W. Fitzhugh Brundage
1:10: Brent Glass (PhD, UNC-CH. 1980), Historical consultant and former Director, national Museum of American History
1:35 Discussion
1:45 Pamela Grundy (PhD, UNC-CH, 1997), Independent scholar, author, and museum consultant, Charlotte, NC.
2:10 Discussion
2:20-2:35 Break
2:35 Michael Kramer (PhD, UNC-CH, 2006), Editor — Design, Publishing, and New Media Department, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; (on leave as Visiting Assistant Professor — History, American Studies, Digital Humanities, & Civic Engagement, Northwestern University.
3:00 Discussion
3:10 Kimberly Kutz (PhD, UNC-CH, 2013), Post-Doctoral Associate, Department of History, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 2014-15
3:35 Discussion
3:45-4:00 Break
4:00 James W. Cook (PhD, 1996, University of California at Berkeley). Professor of History, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
4:35 Discussion
4:50 Brief remarks by John Kasson

A reception and light buffet supper will conclude the symposium.