“The WEST in various disciplines”
is the
THEME
of the LCMND's 51st Conference in 2008

The theme for the next LCMND conference will be the West as expressed in various disciplines. Although I am articulating the theme from a somewhat literary and Western Canadian point of view, please feel free to explore any area of interest having to do with the idea of the West, especially as regards Western Canada and the West of the United States.

Literature : From Michael Ondaatje to Margaret Laurence to Jack Kerouac to Raymond Chandler to Louis L’Amour, the West has been the context for the search for meaning and adventure in literature. Going beyond this, European authors such as Montaigne, Rousseau and Voltaire have used the idea of the West to rejuvenate European thinking, while at the same time acknowledging the epistemological challenge it presents.

History : perhaps the paradox of exploration of the West and of its subsequent development is that, originally seen in North America as an obstacle in the race to get to the Far East, it has now become the most dynamic region of both Canada and the United States. Could the history of the West be summed up as at first the search for ways and means to cross it in order to get somewhere else, and then the search to exploit the wealth it contains?

Culture, Economy and Politics : A wide variety of topics, often inter-related, is possible : native concerns (land and treaty rights, casinos, education and housing, internal politics), water rights, North-South politics (mad cows and borders), alienation from the East. Of particular interest, given the importance of the Métis population in Manitoba, would be any proposal dealing with Métis history, politics and culture. However, proposals dealing with other Métis cultures would also be welcome.

Deadline for submission of proposals is August 15, 2008 (they can be up to 3 pages long & should be suitable for later publication in the LCMND 2008 Proceedings)

Please, send proposals electronically to: a_macdonell@umanitoba.ca
or by regular mail to:

Alan MacDonell
French, Spanish and Italian,
University of Manitoba,
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
R3T 5V5