In Events

List of conference participants

Western states are home to nearly half of the U.S. population and are a magnet for global immigration and trade. They contain some of the nation’s fastest-growing metropolitan areas and most significant economic centers, and they have had a profound influence on the course of national politics for over a century. Through Hollywood, the West has an enormous influence on popular culture. Yet the American West really lacks an intellectual, cultural, or social presence within either the country or the continent. Eastern newspapers, Eastern publishers, Eastern intellectual centers, and agencies, public and private, based in Washington, D.C. still provide the authoritative voices on Western matters.

This one-day invitational workshop brought together Western journalists, public intellectuals, and academics to explore why the American West has lacked a strong intellectual identity, why still so much of the intellectual and cultural agenda emanates from Eastern media and cultural institutions, and how we in the region can foster a stronger and more coherent Western presence in national political, social, and cultural conversations.

Read the conference report by Center Deputy Director Margaret Pugh O’Mara.