Olson Seminar seeks 'Unified Field Theory of Great Plains'

In the next Paul A. Olson Seminar in Great Plains Studies Oct. 19 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Frances W. Kaye, a professor of English at UNL, will present "Toward a Unified Field Theory of the Great Plains."

The seminar will be from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the Great Plains Art Museum, 1155 Q St. Kaye's presentation and a 3 p.m. reception in the museum are free and open to the public.

Kaye will propose and discuss four axioms:

1. The Great Plains is a meaningful unity shaped by a geologic history of rain shadow, glaciation and water and wind-laid soils; by an extreme climate; by a long-term human history of purposeful movement and diversified exploitation; and by a short-term human history of "free land" developed within an obsessively private property system.

2. Like any other ecosystem, the Great Plains is not deficient in terms of the organisms that coevolved with it -- it is grass-full, not treeless -- but it has been developed within a deficiency, hinterland model.

3. The past cannot be restored, but prudent creatures learn from the past to predict and align themselves with the future.

4. How individuals actually used and adapted various Homestead and Allotment Acts on the Great Plains affords us a case study of these axioms in action.

The Olson Seminars are presented by the Center for Great Plains Studies at UNL.

CONTACT: Kim Weide, Events Coordinator, Center for Great Plains Studies, (402) 472-3964