David M Kennedy on the American West

We began this first of four episodes, sponsored by the Bill Lane Center for the American West, with its co-founder and emeritus Stanford History Professor and Pulitzer Prize-winning author David M. Kennedy, discussing the real and the mythic American West and the nation's possibly most interdisciplinary course offered by the Center on the West and defining what the West is - including its geological history and the over two-century singular role of the federal government. This was followed by Michael Krasny asking Professor Kennedy what drew him to the study of the West and a discussion of the old versus the new West and the irony of the West's colonial economy and its dominance in the development of high tech. This rich and enlightening dialogue proceeded to a consideration of the West's violence and lawlessness, especially against Native Americans, who are much larger in number in the West and play a strong present role in advancing environmental issues. Professor Kennedy then touched on the history of gender in the West, the distinctive politics of the West, and the overall effects of immigration on the region. He also spoke in this extraordinarily informed and informative episode about the role of the Lane Center and the unique expansion in the West.