Great
Plains Studies | Web
site
Director, James
Stubbendieck
1155 Q Street, Hewit Place, Lincoln, NE 68588-0214
| (402) 472-3082 | jstubbendieck1@unl.edu
1155 Q Street, Hewit Place, Lincoln, NE 68588-0214 | (402) 472-6178 | cbraithwaite2@unl.edu
The Center for Great Plains Studies is an interdisciplinary intercollegiate program administered in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Its goal is to foster the study of people and the environment in the sparsely populated Great Plains. A region with highly variable weather set against grassy, rolling land, the Great Plains stretches westward from the Missouri River at Omaha and Kansas City to the Rocky Mountains, and northward from the Texas Panhandle into the Canadian prairie provinces. The region invites inquiry into the relationships between the environment and the cultures brought to it by its various inhabitants, as well as the implications of these relationships for the future.
Careers
A major or minor in Great Plains Studies may be a useful program for students
who plan careers in regionally based businesses, in educational, governmental,
and public service agencies, and in archival or historical museums. Former
majors have gone on to advanced degrees, started regional businesses,
and found employment in such agencies as the Nebraska State Historical
Society, the National Park Service, the Nebraska Humanities Council, the
University of Nebraska, and the Nebraska Library Commission.
The
Program
Great Plains Studies is a diverse major that draws from departments within
the College of Arts and Sciences as well as other colleges at UNL. The
program's courses are based in the departments of Architecture, Agricultural
Economics, Agronomy and Horticulture, Anthropology and Geography, Art
and Art History, Biological Sciences, Community and Regional Planning,
English, Geosciences, History, Music, Natural Resource Sciences, Political
Science, and Sociology.
In additional to the two general courses in Great Plains Studies, majors must take at least one course in each of four core areas: Arts and Humanities, Human Heritage, Natural Environment, and Social Environment,and additional courses from these categories. Majors work closely with the Great Plains Studies adviser to choose courses that will construct a thematically or professionally coherent program.
Resources
Majors in Great Plains Studies are advised through
the Center for Great Plains Studies, which was established at UNL in
1976. The Center publishes two scholarly journals—Great
Plains Quarterly,
a humanities journal, and Great Plains Research,
a natural and social science journal—and an undergraduate publication,
Plains Song Review.
The Center has sponsored the production and publication of the 13-volume edition of the Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition as well as the Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. The publication of the Encyclopedia in 2004 fulfills the need by a general audience for a single reference work on the Plains. The Atlas of the Great Plains, scheduled to be published in 2006, will explore the region's natural and culturual diversity through a collection of maps.
The Center also owns an extensive collection of Western, Plains, and Native American art, including paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, and sculptures by artists such as Albert Bierstadt, Karl Bodmer, Frederic Remington, Charles Russell, Aaron Pyle, Dale Nichols, Cliff Hollestelle, Michael Forsberg, Keith Jacobshagen, Tonita Peña, Chris Musgrave (Osage), Carl Kauba, and John Falter. This collection and a library of several thousand volumes and documents of Americana and Canadian Plains materials are housed in the Great Plains Art Collection in the Hewit Place building at 1155 Q St. in Lincoln.
An annual symposium sponsored by the Center brings scholars from all over the world to Lincoln to discuss such topics as environment and culture, migrations, music, bison, and Native, Hispanic, and African Americans on the Plains. The Paul A. Olson Seminars in Great Plains Studies present a diverse group of topics by area scholars each fall and spring in the Great Plains Art Collection.
Students are encouraged to enhance their formal study of Great Plains cultures and environments by attending or participating in the various resources and activities offered by the Center.
Activities
University of Nebraska-Lincoln students have access
to many of activities and groups related to specific academic, social,
cultural, or political interests. Involvement in any of these organizations
builds leadership, communication, and organizational skills and helps
you to make new friends with similar interests. In addition to participating
in activities sponsored by the Center for Great Plains Studies, Great
Plains Studies majors are strongly advised to seek internships that
will give them experiences with the diversity, richness and challenges
of the region.
Scholarships
and Financial Aid
High school seniors who are applying for admission should contact the
Office of Admissions regarding application for freshman scholarships and
all deadlines. For federal aid, student and parent(s) must complete the
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), available from your
high school guidance counselor.
Current UNL students should contact the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid to make sure they have applied for all appropriate scholarships and financial aid. In addition, the College of Arts and Sciences administers scholarships. For information about these college scholarships, deadlines, and the college’s Undergraduate Scholarship Application Form, see the Arts and Sciences Web site at http://ascweb.unl.edu/students/sfa.html.
The Center for Great Plains Studies annually offers a competitive Frances W. Kaye cash award open only to undergraduates majoring in Great Plains Studies. Contact the Undergraduate Adviser for the application form and deadline: Dr. Charles Braithwaite, Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1155 Q Street, Lincoln, NE 68588-0245, (402) 472-3082 or (402) 472-6178.
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