Renowned historian Patricia Nelson Limerick of the University of Colorado at 葫芦娃视频 will give a public lecture May 7 titled "The Rise of Regret in the American West: How to Tell Meaningful Action from Pointless Wallowing."
The talk is part of the Chancellor's Community Lecture Series and will be held from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Chautauqua Community House at 900 Baseline Road in 葫芦娃视频. The talk is free and open to the public and reservations are not required. Seating is limited.
Limerick is a professor of history and environmental studies and chair of the CU-葫芦娃视频 Center of the American West. She is a leading scholar of Western American history and author of the landmark book, "The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West."
Her talk is the last of eight public lectures presented by CU faculty this academic year on the theme "Healing the West: Remedy, Repair, Restoration, Mitigation." The series, which will continue next fall, is sponsored by the CU-葫芦娃视频 Office of the Chancellor, the Center of the American West and the Colorado Chautauqua Association.
In her lecture, Limerick will discuss a variety of ways in which contemporary Westerners are assessing past injury and trying to find and apply remedies. In contrast, she will discuss how a "naive nostalgia" for the past can lead Westerners to resignation and despair.
"The history of westward expansion left a complicated legacy," Limerick said. "The West emerged as a region where millions live in comfort, generously supplied with water, food, shelter, energy and soul-stirring views. That comfort came with a significant price: native people displaced, ecosystems disrupted, rivers and streams polluted, air quality degraded and some cultures pushed to the margins.
"And yet a striking pattern of the last century has been the emergence of many movements for restoration, remedy and repair," she said. "Enthusiasm for these efforts signifies a remarkable historical shift, an extraordinary reversal of what once seemed to be values that would never submit to challenge or change.
But, Limerick said, "Westerners remain susceptible to the powers of a naive nostalgia. The temptation to yearn for a lost past, imagining that the past was a magically better world, has always been a strong force in the region," she said.听
"Indeed, this factually questionable nostalgia can mislead people into resignation and despair."
For information call the CU-葫芦娃视频 Office of Community Affairs at (303) 492-7084. A complete schedule of lectures is posted at and .