Dear Friends of Popular Culture Studies and Film Studies, The 2001 meeting of the Southwest/Texas Popular Culture-American Culture Association is now complete and all went well! Some 800+ people attended the meeting and the very last session of the gathering, a Film & History panel, attracted an audience of over 60 people; indeed, the discussion at that session went from 6:30pm (the official end of the session) until well-over 7:15pm--a testimony to the interest of the folks attending the meeting. Film topics included Film Adaptations, The Searchers, Film, Television, Film & History. (These were the rubrics, not the panels; total panel number for the above was 25 or 85 or so speakers for film and tv topics.) Ray and Pat Browne not only enjoyed the meeting, but worked the registration table from sunup to sundown! They were especially pleased by the fact that 530 people attended the luncheon on Friday. The Brownes believe that members of the organization should break bread together and these sessions are always a lot of fun. Our luncheon was orchestrated by M.K. Schoenecke of Texas Tech, the Secretary-Treasurer of both groups and one of the core leaders. The luncheon speaker was Ms. Alberta Lee, daughter of Win Ho Lee, the accused espionage agent who lost his job at the Los Alamos Laboratories due to accusations of spying which were then dropped. (He was not returned to work.) Her talk gave a personal perspective on both the events and how the press covered them. (For example, very few people know that the judge in the case officially apologized for the way Mr. Lee was treated, to include his nine months in solitary.) Paul Rich and his contingent from Mexico provided a wonderful evening of snacks as a way to have people think about CONGRESS V in Puebla, October 18-20, 2001. (This Fall.) This is a wonderful, international event and popular culturists are invited to attend and to share their work with the world. (See the web site for the congress for full information: www. udlap.mx/congress) There are Area Chairs listed on the web site and more topics are being defined as we speak. Jim and Anne Welsh of "The Literature/Film Quarterly" were at the meeting and participated with enthusiasm. They also distributed flyers for "The Buster Keaton Film Festival" to be held in Inola Kansas (near the Oklahoma border) in the Fall. (For more information, contact Jim Welsh at [log in to unmask]) Jim Welsh is one of the most senior film scholars in the world and we are always impressed that he would spend some time with us! The local newspapers and two television stations produced fairly accurate and insightful stories on the conference--always refreshing to those of us who know how the press can focus on a detail and attempt to make it represent the whole. In any case, our meeting was also covered by Reuters, the Associated Press, and other news outlets. These folks were mostly interested in Albert Lee and her presentation, but some stayed for the academic sessions as well. The Southwest/Texas organizations are an aggressively friendly crowd; do not become involved with these people unless you love what you are doing and want to share your ideas with other friendly and supportive people. Our next meeting will be in February of 2001 and will most probably bring us back to Albuquerque, a place that has real attraction for our members and friends. For an entire program of the meeting, go to the web site and read through the signature file below for other details. Peter C. Rollins Program Chair, SW/Texas PCA/ACA Meeting (March 7-10, 2001) Popular Culture Center Rt 3 Box 80 Cleveland, Oklahoma 74020 (918)243-7637 and fax 5995 Information about the meeting and sign-up form for registration: www2.h-net.msu.edu/~swpca Special events and persons to attend: Credit option from U of New Mexico via Extension (505)277-1154 Graduate credit of 1 hour: American Studies 520 Undergrad credit of 1 or 2 hours: American Studies 320 (Details at web site: credit involves readings, sessions, and a log.) For details, forms, etc. call Theresa Bernal at 505.277.1154 or send Theresa an e-mail at [log in to unmask] Events: Free trips to Isleta Casino Gambling Palace Historic Oldtown Self-Guided Tour (by foot) Organization's Web site with lots of data is below. We are asking everybody to register by e-mail, using the template on the web site. www2.h-net.msu.edu/~swpca Participating authors who have books to display need to contact the following source: THE SCHOLARS CHOICE. Attn: Judy Lohr [log in to unmask] Judy can help you put your book before participants. Southwest Airlines has a special rate for our folks. Check the web site for details. ---- For past messages, visit the Screen-L Archives: http://bama.ua.edu/archives/screen-l.html