Arts

Mount Royal University will host the 2013 Agricultural History Society Conference at the Banff Centre, June 13-15. Dr. Joe Anderson, Department of Humanities, prepared the bid to host the conference and has led the local arrangements committee, consisting of Scott Murray, Jennifer Pettit, and Alice Swabey. Anderson is excited about involving Mount Royal Students in organizing and managing the conference. "This is a great opportunity for students to learn outside of the classroom," Anderson observed.

The conference theme is "Crops and Cultures: Cultivating Commodities and Communities," which focuses attention on both the processes and context of production, including the role of market relations in shaping rural societies. Conference papers will focus on numerous time periods and topics including environmental history, social history, gender, technology, and policy. This year's program will feature scholars from North and South America, Europe, Australia, and Africa. Dr. James Scott, Sterling Professor of Political Science, Professor of Anthropology, and Director of the Agrarian Studies program at Yale University, will deliver the keynote address.

The Agricultural History Society was founded in Washington, DC in 1919, "to promote the interest, study and research in the history of agriculture." With 637 members from 26 countries, the society publishes Agricultural History, the quarterly journal of record for the field.

For further information on the conference, see www.aghistorysociety.org/meetings

Photo Credit: Stoney ploughing field, n.d., Glenbow Archives ND-8-404. Used with Permission