February 1, 2000
Contact: Meredith Dickenson (214) 768-7654
[email protected]
SMU SYMPOSIUM TO LOOK AT THE CULTURE OF TOURISM
DALLAS (SMU) -- The impact of tourism on the cultures of the American Southwest will be the focus of a symposium at Southern Methodist University March 24-25 in McCord Auditorium, third floor of Dallas Hall, 3225 University Blvd.
"The Culture of Tourism and the Tourism of Culture" is being presented by SMU's William P. Clements Department of History and the Clements Center for Southwest Studies.
Cost of registering for the conference is $30. For more information about registering, contact the Clements Center at 214-768-3684.
The symposium will bring together travel industry professionals and scholars to discuss changes wrought by the region's largest industry. Sessions in which professional papers will be presented, followed by questions and answers, include such topics as "Tourism and Myth," "Tourism and Native Americans" and "Tourism, Power and Economics."
Conference organizer, David Weber, director of the Clements Center and the Robert H. Dedman and Nancy Dedman Professor of History, says the symposium is unique because academics and tourism professionals rarely talk about the culture of tourism.
"Prior to the 1970s, tourism seemed inconsequential in comparison to 'real' industries," Weber says. "Since then, as the U. S. has undergone an economic transformation, the economic significance of tourism has become more widely recognized and Americans have come to take tourism seriously. Rarely, however, do academics and business people talk about it in light of its social, cultural, political and economic implications."
Some of the speakers scheduled to appear at the symposium are:
* Hal Rothman, author of the book, Devil's Bargains: Tourism in the Twentieth-Century American West and history professor at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. He will give the symposium's keynote address Friday, March 24 at 6 p.m in McCord Auditorium. The topic is "Cultural Tourism and the Future of the American Southwest: the Promise and Problem of Fusing Past and Present."
* William L. Bryan Jr., president of Off the Beaten Path Tours in Bozeman, Mont. His company designs specialty tours for tourists interested in western culture. He will speak on Saturday, March 25 at 10:20 a.m. in McCord Auditorium on the topic, "Appropriate Cultural Tourism -- Can It Exist? Searching for an Answer: Three Arizona Case Studies."
* Chris Wilson, director of the Center for Architectural Studies at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. He will speak on Friday, March 24 at 3:30 p.m. in McCord Auditorium on "Ethnic Personas and Social Hierarchy in Tri-Cultural New Mexico."
* Char Miller, history professor at Trinity University in San Antonio. He will speak on Saturday, March 25 at noon on the topic, "Tourists Afloat: The San Antonio Riverwalk and the Modern Economy." (Location to be announced.)
The Clements Center promotes research and instruction in a variety of fields related to the American Southwest. It coordinates undergraduate academic majors and minors in Southwest studies and a Ph.D. program in history with a focus on the Southwest. It also brings to SMU leading scholars from throughout the world for conferences, periodic lectures and symposia. Visiting scholars have the resources of the SMU DeGolyer Library, which has a major research collection devoted to Western Americana, Texana, the borderlands between the U.S. and Mexico, and railroad history. The center was established as part of a $10 million endowment to the SMU History Department in Dedman College by former Texas Governor William P. Clements.
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