We are accustomed to hearing great films discussed in terms of their influence on later movies, and Westerns are no exception. The makers of recent Western movies routinely discuss their works in relation to classics like The Searchers or Shane. But how, you might ask, were these filmmakers introduced to Westerns? By their grandparents? Or by someone else? In fact, the majority of filmmakers today were first introduced to the Western as an academic subject in the course of their professional training. How this influences the movies they make, and what it means for our understanding of the Western’s rich history, are just two of the topics covered in this exploration of the current state of the Western movie.

Andrew Patrick Nelson is an historian of American cinema and culture, film programmer, museum curator and media commentator. He is chair of the Department of Film and Media Arts and associate professor of film studies at the University of Utah.

Recorded at the Museum of the Rockies on December 2, 2019.

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Christine Stanton is a Professor in the Department of Education at Montana State University. In a recent Provost’s Lecture, she tells about her research and experiences in indigenous communities, such as Lander, Wyoming, where her career began. Her term for this work is “community-centered participatory research,” which relies on indigenous mentors who are co-creators of the findings and stories that result. Stanton situates her efforts within a framework of four R’s: relationality, reciprocity, responsibility, and respect.

Recorded at the Museum of the Rockies on October 15, 2019.

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The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is recognized as a standard for dealing with issues of large landscape conservation. Parallels are often drawn between Greater Yellowstone and other areas around the globe, including sub-regions of southern Africa. In this presentation, two Namibia-based conservationists, Dr. Margaret Jacobsohn and Garth Owen-Smith, describe their cutting edge work in community-based conservation. Jacobsohn and Owen-Smith are past recipients of the prestigious Goldman Prize, and are introduced by a brief video produced by the Goldman Environmental Foundation. You can learn more about them and their work in this Mountain Journal article.

Sponsored by The Mountain Journal, Hopa Mountain, and the Goldman Environmental Foundation.  Recorded on February 7, 2019 at the Museum of the Rockies.

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Noted conservationists and scientists Mike Clark, Jim Posewitz, Rick Reese and Cathy Whitlock discussed their careers and environmental challenges facing our region today. Each panelist has a special relationship with the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and played a pivotal role in historical conservation efforts and/or scientific research throughout the region. Todd Wilkinson, journalist, author and Mountain Journal founder, posed questions and led the conversation. There was also a question and answer session with the audience. A videorecording of the event can be viewed on the MSU Library website.

Sponsored by the Friends of MSU Library. Recorded at the Museum of the Rockies on October 23, 2018.

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Peter Hassrick, writer, art scholar, and museum director, presents the history of painting in Yellowstone by the major 19th century painters, Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Moran. He examines these acclaimed landscape artists’ competing claims on the nation’s first natural preserve and their vital contributions to America’s conservation movement. These artists very much influenced and were influenced by the social and political climate of the time.

Recorded September 18, 2018 at the Museum of the Rockies, as part of Our Yellowstone, sponsored by the Bozeman Public Library.

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Yellowstone is famous for being the world’s first national park, one of the largest temperate wildlands, including all native species, and a role model for wildlife management. But like wildlands globally, Yellowstone is facing increasing human pressure and climate change. Andrew Hansen, professor in the Department of Ecology and director of the Landscape Biodiversity Lab at Montana State University, discusses the concept of “greater” in the moniker Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the impact of people in the wildlands, trends in vital signs of ecological health and ways forward in the coming century. (more…)

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Dr. Robert Garrott, professor of wildlife ecology in MSU’s Ecology Department, describes the conservation history of bighorn sheep and mountain goats in the Greater Yellowstone Area and Montana. He shares ecological insights from his ongoing research project involving long-term studies of these two iconic mountain ungulates. He also discusses an exciting bighorn sheep restoration effort in the Madison Range.

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This lecture was sponsored by Gallatin Valley Friends of the Sciences. Recorded at the Museum of the Rockies on September 20, 2017. 

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It’s one of the most revered movies of Hollywood’s golden age. Starring screen legend Gary Cooper (who attended high school in Bozeman) and Grace Kelly in her first significant movie role, High Noon achieved instant box-office and critical success. But what is often overlooked is that High Noon was made during the height of the Hollywood blacklist, a time of political inquisition and personal betrayal. In the middle of the film shoot, screenwriter Carl Foreman was called to testify about his former membership in the Communist Party, facing the painful dilemma of whether to name names or sacrifice his brilliant career. (more…)

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