By Chadron State College Relations
CHADRON – Chadron State College will host the 2023 Pilster Great Plains Lecture and Sandoz Symposium: Mari Sandoz’s Homeland: Past, Present and Future Sept. 28-30.
The Pilster Great Plains Lecture, which is free and open to the public, by Dr. Andrew Graybill will be Sept. 28 at 7:30 p.m. in the Student Center. He is a Professor and Director of the Clements Center for Southwest Studies at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Graybill, who taught at the University of Nebraska for eight years, is the author or editor of four books.
Registration for the symposium organized by the Sandoz Society is available online until Sept. 15. More details are available by emailing [email protected].
The Mari Sandoz Symposium begins Sept. 29 and the schedule includes presentations and panel discussions as well as a luncheon with speaker Tony Malmberg of Union, Oregon, author of Green Grass in the Spring: A Cowboy's Guide to Saving the World
CSC faculty members serving as presenters and panelists include Dr. Matt Evertson, Dr. Teresa Frink, Dr. Mary Clai Jones, Markus Jones, Steve Rolfsmeier, and Dr. Mike Leite.
The panel discussion by Mary Clai and Markus Jones and Evertson will discuss teaching about the High Plains. Mary Clai Jones will discuss ways she has encouraged her students to engage with primary resources in the Sandoz Center archives. Evertson and Markus Jones will discuss how they have integrated elements of High Plains literary motifs into their literature and creative writing courses.
During a panel discussion about the climate, flora, and fauna of the High Plains, Leite will lend expert comments about climate, land, and water. Rolfsmeier will talk about unique High Plains flora with emphasis on relict floras that occur as islands within the region, while Frink will discuss mammals.
CSC alum and Chadron resident Christine Ambrose will participate in a panel about preserving local history with Panhandle residents Phyllis Krotz and Harlan Wheeler. CSC alum Broc Anderson of Kearney will moderate the panel.
Friday afternoon options for attendees will include a tour of the High Plains Herbarium with Rolfsmeier.