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SLU 200: Conference Celebrates St. Louis's Multicultural History

03/01/2018

In honor of Saint Louis University’s bicentennial, the Center for Intercultural Studies will host the “Intercultural Origins of St. Louis and the Trans-Mississippi West, 1800-1840” conference from Thursday, March 22, through Friday, March 23, in the Pere Marquette Gallery, DuBourg Hall.

The teeming city of St. Louis in the early nineteenth century was a focal point of many forces that shaped American history: flourishing trade among several regions, the opening of the West, and a fast growing, mobile population. At these crossroads of European colonizing empires and Indian homelands, highly diverse peoples – Americans, Indians, Canadians, Creole French, Mexicans, Africans, Irish and Germans – interacted with one another and underwent profound changes in the process. The conference will explore these themes, with a special emphasis on intercultural relations.

The conference’s sessions will examine themes including ethnic borderlands, the international influences present in early St. Louis, the expansion of the St. Louis region and visual culture among others.

SLU faculty members as well as national and international scholars will present.

Ellen Harshman, Ph.D., dean emerita of the Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business and head of SLU’s bicentennial planning committee, will give the conference’s opening remarks at 1 p.m. on Thursday, March 22.

The conference and its sessions are free and open to the public.

For questions or more information, contact Chris Pudlowski. For more information on the symposium's events, visit its website.