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The 36th interdisciplinary symposium sponsored by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Center for Great Plains Studies will take place April 7-10, 2010, on campus at the Nebraska Union. The theme is “Czech and Slovak Americans: International Perspectives from the Great Plains.”

Keynote speakers will include Toni Brendel, author of “Slovak American Touches”; Martin Mejstrík, a pivotal student leader in the “Velvet Revolution” and former senator in the Parliament of the Czech Republic; Daniel E. Miller, Professor of History, University of West Florida; Martin Palouš, Czech Republic Permanent Representative to the United Nations; and Milada Polišenská, Vice-President for Educational Development, and Chair of the School of International Relations & Diplomacy, New Anglo-American College, Prague.

The conference will examine Czech and Slovak immigrants and their descendants in the North American Great Plains region, their relationships with other Czech- and Slovak-Americans, and with Czechs and Slovaks in Europe and other parts of the world. The center invites proposals for twenty-minute research papers addressing the theme in the following areas: immigration, education, gender studies, farming, fine & performing arts, politics, popular culture, religion, technology, and tourism. Collaborative panels of two or three papers will also be welcome.

Please email paper proposals of 150-200 words and a short biographical note to the conference chairs Dr. Bruce Garver, Professor of History at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and Dr. Míla Šašková-Pierce, Associate Professor of Czech and Russian at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [ cgps@unl.edu ] by November 1, 2009. Please send abstracts in the body of the message. A complete call for papers and instructions for submitting proposals can be found on the Center’s website: www.unl.edu/plains. All presenters must register for the symposium. Registration information will be posted after November 1.