Fall 2022 Conference: “Current Perspectives on the History of Guns and Society”
The new research Center for the Study of Guns and Society at Wesleyan University will host its inaugural conference, “Current Perspectives on the History of Guns and Society,” convening a select group of historians, museum curators, and other experts in the field.
The conference will feature a headliner conversation tomorrow at 4.30 pm, Fri. Oct. 14 on the “History of Race and Guns in America” featuring guests Kathleen Belew (Northwestern University), Darrell A. H. Miller (Duke University School of Law), and Karen Attiah (columnist for The Washington Post ). The conversation will be moderated by Richard Galant (Managing Editor, CNN Opinion).
On Friday afternoon and Saturday, panel discussions will be held on a variety of topics. (A full schedule of talks and panels is pasted below – It also may be found under “Schedule” on the Center’s website or you can upload it using the QR code on the attached printable schedule).
The event is free and open. Registration for boxed lunches is closed but walk-ins are welcome and encouraged. Students are encouraged to come and participate; there are student presentations during the event as well as presentations about a current exhibition on artist’s books related to guns and gun violence now at Olin Library, curated by Director of Special Collections and Archives, Suzy Taraba.
Audience members are welcome to join any session they would like.
For more information about the Center for the Study of Guns and Society and gun history courses, student research and related initiatives at Wesleyan, please visit the Center website or contact Jennifer Tucker, Founding Director (jtucker@wesleyan.edu); Joseph Slaughter, Associate Director (jslaughter@wesleyan.edu) or Kris McQueeney, Administrative Assistant (kmcqueeney@wesleyan.edu). For Communication related questions, please email Lauren Rubenstein (lauren.h.rubenstein@gmail.com).
October 14–15, 2022
Event Highlights:
The conference featured a headliner event, “A Conversation on History, Race, and Guns in America” between Kathleen Belew (Northwestern University), Darrell A. H. Miller (Duke University School of Law), and Karen Attiah (Washington Post columnist on international affairs, culture and human rights issues). Richard Galant (Managing Editor, CNN Opinion) will moderate.
In addition, panel discussions were held on topics including:
- Museums and Firearms History
- Guns in Visual, Design and Material Culture
- Student Research Presentations
- Guns in Colonial and Antebellum America
- Quantifying Arms Lethality in Historical Perspective
- Nineteenth-Century Contexts of Gun Rights & Regulations
- God and Guns: Faith and Firearms in American History
- Historical Perspectives on Guns in Contemporary Society
