About CSAW

About CSAW

CSAW (pronounced “see-saw”) performs a number of balancing acts. Positioned between the university and the general public, CSAW seeks to showcase important and interesting scholarly and artistic production relevant to our place on the southern plains. Our office, located in the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, operates as a bridge between the academic dialogue of the scholarship of the university and the historical preservation and presentation efforts of the PPHM. Our program is focused on creating high-quality research as well as providing community educational programs.

The Center awards both internal and external research grants to invest in the development of the study of the American West in scholarship. Additionally, CSAW endeavors to support research on a broader scale through the Bonney MacDonald Annual Book award—presented to exceptional new-release books that are concerning the American West or some aspect of its history, culture, society, or environment.

CSAW’s internship program builds professional and leadership skills as well as regional literacy in WT students; in turn, these students graduate ready to serve their community, wherever they may roam.

Mission

To promote the study of the American West both as a region culturally unique and as a product of broad historical forces.

Values

To cultivate a critical sense of region and place in a globalized era.

History

Founded in 2016, Center for the Study of the American West began by promoting events including the Nall Lecture and Southern Plains Conference, establishing its commitment both to public outreach and to outstanding interdisciplinary regional scholarship. The Center soon developed an internship program that supports WT students, produces unique scholarship, and benefits the region.

Primary Goal

CSAW’s primary goal is to foster an expansive knowledge of place and culture on the Southern Plains of the American West for the mutual benefit of faculty, students and the region.

Southern Plains Focus

CSAW’s activity, while relevant to and in dialogue with the larger field of Western American Studies, is focused on the Southern Plains Region. This means that events/speakers, grants and awards given, pedagogical efforts, and research activities are based in our region or deemed important/relevant/of interest to our region.

Interdisciplinary Scope

While based in the Humanities at WTAMU, CSAW maintains a fundamental interdisciplinary approach, without which we are not fulfilling our mission, vision, or primary objective. No meaningful regional work in any field can be conducted apart from an expansive awareness of other scholarly fields, notably geography, natural resources, economics, environment, demographics, and culture.

Student Centered

While curricular efforts (majors, minors, grad programs) have not yet fully developed , CSAW’s internship program is successful. Instilling regional place-knowledge and community leadership, CSAW internships are high quality. The demand exists for the internship program to grow. Internships are a benefit to the student (as they develop professionally), to WT academic departments (seeking professional experience for their majors), and to the region (as students recognize regional needs and opportunities).

Director Board

Dr. Alex Hunt, director

Dr. Alex Hunt, professor of English, came to WT in 2002. Originally from Alaska and Washington, he received his BA and MA from Colorado State University and his PhD from the University of Oregon. Dr. Hunt has published books on novelist Annie Proulx, postcolonial ecocriticism, and 19th century British investment in the American West. He has published articles on Texas Panhandle history, works of Western and Southwestern literature, Native American and Chicano/a studies, and popular culture--most recently on the television series Breaking Bad. Dr. Hunt has been editor of the Panhandle-Plains Historical Review and the Haley Professor of Western Studies since 2012.

Dr. Wade Shaffer, associate director

Dr. Wade Shaffer, professor of History, joined the WTAMU faculty in 1994 where he teaches courses in early American and African-American History. He served in several administrative positions - including Department Head, Associate Dean, Associate Provost, and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs - before returning to a full time faculty role in 2020. Dr. Shaffer’s current research involves newspapers, politics, and culture in the early 20th century Texas Panhandle. He is co-author of “The Panhandle Press and the Presidential Election of 1928,” which appears in the 2023 edition of the Panhandle-Plains Historical Review.

Ben Pascoe, assistant director/administrative assistant

Ben Pascoe, Instructor of English, attended Amarillo College from 2013-2015, and WT from 2015-2019, completing his BA and MA in English. He taught at Amarillo College as an adjunct Instructor before returning to WT in the fall of 2024 as CSAW's Assistant Director/Administrative Assistant. His research focuses on vampires, the Gothic (especially the Victorian Gothic), and popular culture.

Advisory Board

Alex Hunt	Wade Shaffer	Dan Peterson	Amy Von Lintel	Shawna Witthar	Lesly Annen
Erich Drochner	Berklee Clements	Kevin Pond	Paul Matney	Ashley Watt	Mark Erickson
Jim Jennings	Steve Rader	Kyle Ingham	Dallas Bell	Lance Garza	Maria Guerrero
Flavius Killebrew	Aaron Soto	Ashley Callaham	Gary Pitner	David Horsley	Puff Niegos
Craig Vaughn	Taylor Moore	Mary Bralley	Seth Wieck	Doug Hyde	Joan Urban
Kenneth Pirtle	Joe Rogers	Blake O'Brien	Andy Burcham

Honorary Advisory Board

S. C. Gwynne	Patricia Limerick	Phillipp Meyer	Laura Pritchett	John Erickson
Stephen Harrigan	Stephen Graham Jones	Dan Flores	José Limón	David Wallace Adams

Faculty Council

Alex Hunt	Brian Ingrassia	Amy Von Lintel	Bonnie Roos	Tim Bowman	Wade Shaffer
Marty Kuhlman	Persephone Hernandez-Vogt	Kristina Drumheller	Dave Rausch	Liza Garza	Ray Barbosa
Nicholas Gerlich	Landry Lockett	Ray Matlack	Sidnye Johnson	Veronica Arias	Warren Stricker
Erik Crosman	Nathan Howell	Nancy Garcia	Callie Hisek	Shanna Peeples	Andy Reynolds
Anna Lemnitzer	Brandon Bang	Kimberly Hieb	Joy Newton

Spring 2025 Graduate Fellows

Ashley Callaham

Gabriel Martinez

Spring 2025 Student Interns

Edie Heuss

Kodi Hicks

Coco Duran Anzua

Maddie Wright

Rose Lewis

Zoe Graham

Ash Wilson