The National Endowment for the Humanities recently awarded Dr. Nancy Beck Young, professor of history, and Dr. Leandra Zarnow, assistant professor of history, a grant to host a Summer Seminar titled, “Gender, the State, and the 1977 International Women’s Year conference.”

This one-week seminar, which will be held June 12-18 on the UH campus, explores late twentieth century U.S. history through the lens of the National Women’s Conference which was held in Houston, Texas in 1977.

“The topics we will explore include shifting perceptions of family, the economy, and the state; the reverberations of Sunbelt politics on the local, national, and global levels; the formation of new political orders; race, gender, sexuality and the makings of identity politics; gender fault lines: family, domesticity, and bodily rights; presidential politics in the 1970s; gender and the state from the 1970s to the present; and grassroots organizing from the 1970s to the present,” says Dr. Young.

The purpose of the Summer Seminar program is to bring together 16 college professors who teach and/or do research on topics closely related to the seminar theme. As part of the grant, attendees will each receive stipends of $1200 each to help defray travel costs.  They will also be provided copies of the books and articles they will be reading

“Faculty who are selected to attend the Summer Seminar are among the very best scholars in their fields around the country,” says Dr. Young. “They also are outstanding teachers. These professors will then take this material to their home campuses and incorporate it into their curriculum.  With each professor teaching an average over 100 students a year, the reach of this particular NEH program is vast.”

For more information about the Summer Seminar, visit http://classweb.uh.edu/nehnatlwomensconf/