Petrified Forest National Park, 2016

My Copy of Inventing Destiny Arrives, Sep 26, 2019

Despite the damage and delays caused by Tropical Storm Imelda, the USPS came through and delivered my copy of Inventing Destiny. A big thank you to my fellow contributors for making this one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. Once again, the editorial and production team at UPK produced a handsome volume which includes 12 essays, about 30 black and white images, and 8 color plates. It comes in this paperback version, an unjacketed hardcover, and as an ebook. For more information click here.

Article "Our Eyes Ached with the Very Vastness" Published in GPQ, Aug 30, 2019

The Great Plains Quarterly published my article "'Our Eyes Ached with the Very Vastness': Reimagining the Great American Desert as the Great American Prairie" in the Summer 2019 issue. Thanks to Chuck Braithwaite and the entire staff at GPQ for supporting this project. For an abstract and links to the images used in the article click here.

Participated in Lightning Round at the PCB-AHA in Las Vegas, Aug 1, 2019

I took part in an interesting conversation about regionalism during a lightning round discussion at the Pacific Coast Branch-American Historical Association meeting in Las Vegas. We still have a lot to learn about how groups in the past construct their mental maps of place and how they use region as tool to consolidate economic, political, and cultural power. Thanks to my fellow panelists Flannery Burke, David Igler, Robert Lee, and Jennifer Ritterhouse; and special thanks to Alexander Finkelstein and Anny Hyde for organizing the discussion.

Gave Talk to the Texas Gulf Historical Society, May 14, 2019

I enjoyed an evening with the Texas Gulf Historical Society. With my talk, "From Bayoulands to Interstates," we discussed the cartographic history of Southeast Texas and the gulf coast. It previewed the catalog of maps that I have compiled for the upcoming volume 54 of the Texas Gulf Historical and Biographical Record that I edit on behalf of the society and the Lamar University History Department.

UPK Releases Cover and Advance Word for Inventing Destiny, Apr 22, 2019

I have received a preview of the cover and the page proofs for my new anthology Inventing Destiny, scheduled for a September 2019 release. The artwork features Frances Flora Bond Palmer's Across the Continent. "Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way," a hand-colored lithograph published by Currier & Ives in 1868. My thanks to the production team at the University Press of Kansas for their fine work. For description and advance word click here.

Panel Discussion on In the Land of the Head Hunters, Apr 16, 2019

Courtesy Stark Museum of Art

I spent the afternoon here at Lamar at a screening of Edward S. Curtis's 1914 In the Land of the Head Hunters, an early film with an exclusively Native American cast. I participated in a discussion afterward as a panelist and enjoyed exploring such topics as Anglo-American representations and misrepresentations of native cultures, the elusive search for authenticity, and early narrative and documentary film techniques. Thanks to Mahmoud Salimi for inviting me. Thanks to fellow panelists Sarah Boehme, Jennifer Restauri Dickinson, and James Sanderson, and to the Stark Museum of Art for co-sponsoring the event with Lamar University.   ​

Great Plains Quarterly Will Publish Article, Apr 3, 2019

Great Plains Quarterly will publish my article "Our Eyes Ached with the Very Vastness: Imagining the Great American Desert as the Great American Prairie." It should appear sometime this summer. Take a look at the brief abstract under the Projects tab. Click here. ​

Confirmed Participation in a Lightening Round Panel at the PCB-AHA, Mar 9, 2019

I will take part in a lightening round panel at the meeting of the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association in Las Vegas, August 2019. We will discuss "Rethinking Regions: Spatial Bounds in History and Historiography," and I will tackle the topic of "Texas at the Regionalist Crossroads." Thanks to Alexander Finkelstein and Anne Hyde for their invitation.

Final Revisions to Inventing Destiny Anthology Delivered, Jan 2, 2019

Along with our contributors, I have delivered the revised manuscript of the Inventing Destiny anthology to the University Press of Kansas. Now it goes to the copy editor and the production team. We are still hopeful for a Fall 2019 release. For a list of contributors and a brief overview, see page for Inventing Destiny .