Pop culture connoisseurs will have plenty to dine on this week as more than 80 components of American culture will be on display in the 14th annual Southwest/Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Association regional conference.
The annual conference will feature workshops and presenters talking about a variety of topics including computers, ethnicity, gender, film, TV, radio, literature, geography, rights issues, American myths and methodologies, visual arts, personalities and America's wars and war eras.
The conference will begin Wednesday, and will run through Saturday, at the Hilton Hotel 1901 University Blvd. NE, and at the Fairfield Inn by Marriott, 1760 Menaul Blvd. NE. The conference will have a $25 registration fee to attend and $30 fee for a luncheon to listen to speaker and New Mexican author Rudolfo Anaya on Saturday, from noon to 2 p.m.
Registration and fees for the luncheon must be received by 5 p.m., Wednesday.
Susan Rollins, coordinator for the conference, said it will offer a little something for everyone.
"There will be presentations that range anywhere from Chicano studies to motorcycles all the way down to detective novels," she said. "We will be featuring speakers from as far away as Taiwan to as close as your backyard."
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Conference attendees can also expect special presentations, such as the Wushu Theater's empty hands and weapons techniques theatrical narrative, a silent film and even selected reading given by American Indian scholars.
Peter Rollins, organizer and director of the Popular Culture Center at Oklahoma State University, said the conference is an excellent opportunity to learn more about any area of American popular culture.
Susan Rollins said she expects more than 800 people to attend the conference.
"Scholars of literature, the arts and architecture, cultural geography and anthropology will share their perspective on American life in the Southwest," Peter Rollins said in a UNM press release.
He added that the conference will be a place to make connections, learn about trends in several professions and meet leaders in various field.
"We will also be offering a book display from three major publishers, that will give people an opportunity to look at books in their field of interest." Susan Rollins said.
The Southwest Texas PCA/ACA regional conference will also be awarding three prizes to graduate student who will be presenting at the conference. Peter Rollins said that the prizes are given to encourage graduate student participation and to feature quality work by young scholars.
For more information about the Southwest Texas PCA/ACA regional conference visit www.swtexaspca.org.
