Painted Bunting, Inks Lake State Park, Burnet County, Texas, 2025
Presented at the Inaugural Alliance for Texas History Conference, May 15, 2025
I presented a paper at the inaugural conference of the Alliance for Texas History (ATxH) at San Marcos. I continue to refine my understanding of the gothic critique of US expansion with “The Incrustation of Habit: Charles Wilkins Webber and the Monstrous Texan.” Big thanks to my fellow panelists Sarah K Rodriguez, Patrick Troester, and David Morales, and special shout out to Gary Pinkerton and everyone involved in making this important meeting a success.
Fourth Annual Greater Gulf Symposium, March 31, 2025
The 2025 Greater Gulf Symposium tours the Texas Coffee Company
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As director of the Center for History and Culture, I enjoyed a busy, productive, and fun two days hosting the 2025 Greater Gulf Symposium (GGS) with the theme of food culture. Symposium Chair Carrie Helms Tippen (Chatham University) led a group of four scholars: Annemarie Anderson (Southern Foodways), Randy Gonzales (UL Lafayette), Todd Romero (Houston), and Ian Seavey (UT Rio Grande Valley). Other participants included Jeff Forret (Center assistant director) and graduate student Maria Borsuk (Pope John Paul II Catholic University, Lublin, Poland). On Monday (March 31), the Symposium toured the Texas Coffee Company which opened in 1921, producing several blends of Seaport brand of coffees, TexJoy steak seasoning, and many other products. After lunch at the local favorite Richard's Cafe, the GGS toured the McFaddin-Ward House Museum, and that evening, we enjoyed dinner and poetry reading with Lamar University students and Symposium Fellow Randy Gonzales. On Tuesday (April 1), the GGS workshopped four essays during morning and afternoon sessions. The group enjoyed a lunch catered by nationally renowned Patillo's BBQ (1912) at the Spindletop Boomtown Museum. That evening, the Center hosted a public reception, poster session, a keynote talk, and book signing with Carrie Helms Tippen.
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