Friends of History
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 29, 1997
History Dept.
530-898-5366
Friends of History
The History Department and Phi Alpha Theta History Honors Society announce the inaugural year lectures for the FRIENDS OF HISTORY at California State University, Chico. The general title for this series of four lectures is Biography and the Historian’s Understanding of Culture and Society. The series will show how the research and writing of members of the History Department’s faculty are relevant to readers in the world beyond the classroom and within the community. Each lecture will demonstrate how biography, which is typically accessible and jargon-free, is an important means for joining scholarship with public readership. Cultural biographers, it has been argued, “are committed to writing about human life for humans–not just for scholars in a narrow field, but for all readers. Cultural biography attempts to restore humanity to the humanities.”
The first lecture, “Changing Perspectives on John Bidwell,” will be presented by Michael Gillis and Michael Magliari on October 16. Both speakers are members of the History Department at CSU, Chico and are preparing an edition of the collected writings of John Bidwell. Other members of the faculty participating in the series are Joanna Cowden who will speak on her forthcoming book on the biographies of “Peace Democrats” in the American Civil War; Robert Cottrell who will speak on his writing of biographies of twentieth-century American political activists; and Laird Easton who will speak on his biography of the twentieth-century German art patron and diplomat Count Harry Kessler.
FRIENDS OF HISTORY is a group organized to promote the reading and study of history in the community. The dates and venue for these lectures will be announced shortly. A reception will follow each lecture. A donation of $10 will place one on the History Department’s FRIENDS OF HISTORY mailing list; these mailings will alert members to events and lectures of historical interest at CSU, Chico and in the community. The donation will also help to fund community lectures, special student seminars, historical film series, and the general study of history at CSU, Chico. For additional information, contact the History Department at telephone 898-5366, fax 898-6925, or email at histstud@oavax.csuchico. edu.
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