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. With offices located in the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, CSAW also balances between the academic wing of the university and the museum, promoting collaboration on projects of mutual benefit. CSAW furthermore balances between research and educational activities. The Center awards internal and external research grants and gives an annual book award, but is also dedicated to our students. 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 joined the WTAMU faculty in 1994 as Assistant Professor of History, 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

Advisory Board

Rebekah Bachman	Katelyn Denney	Erich Drochner	Alex Hunt	Katy Magee	Jessica Mallard
Wes Reeves	Amy Von Lintel	Shawna Witthar	David Wheeler	Berklee Clements	Kevin Pond
Paul Matney	Lesly Annen	Ashley Watt	Mark Erickson	Jim Jennings	Brett Hall
Steve Rader	Kyle Ingham	Dallas Bell	Lance Garza	Maria Guerrero	Falvius Killebrew
Aaron Soto	Matt McComas	Gary Pitner	David Horsley	Puff Niegos	Craig Vaughn
Taylor Moore	Mary Bralley	Seth Wieck	Wade Shaffer

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	Jessica Mallard	Kristina Drumheller	Dave Rausch	Liza Garza	Ray Barbosa
Nicholas Gerlich	Rebekah Bachman	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	Katelyn Denney

Spring 2024 Student Interns

Ashley Callaham

Edie Heuss

Matthew Albrecht

Maddie Wright

Kodi Hicks