The Conference and the Paper .... or how I survived.

Well, the paper was done, complete with powerpoint pictures and maps. So I went off bright and early Saturday morning and spent the whole day at the "World History and Economics" conference high on a mountain top (really). Got there at 9 am for Dr Kenneth Pomeranz' talk on "Rethinking Regions in Global Economic History: European and East Asian Paths to the Industrial Present." Despite the pedantic title it was a fascinating talk - mostly about China. Stayed there until 1:45 when it was time for my paper, "The Impact of Chariot Warfare on Eurasian History." with commentary from my friend, the mad Cossack of the Caucasus, Dr Toly.

Went great, except my paper was longer than I could present and I had to throw out stuff right and left. An African historian (the wife of a colleague) was unhappy with my use of the term 'civilized zone' but other than that I heard very little feed back. Except that the mad Cossack loved it - not a surprise since it was about the Indo-Iranians whom he thinks he is descended from. Maire the Red, however, said she heard some of the undergrads there saying they really like the guy who was talking about chariots (it's one of those topics like witches, Celts, and Vikings that always gets their attention).

Maire herself gave a paper on "The Economics of Slavery in the Viking Age." Pomeranz himself, the BIG NAME of the conference, commented on it. And our colleague Doc Holliday talked on "Caesarea Maritima: Implications for Religous Interaction in Third Century Palestine." These took place at the same time I had to read my paper in another room so I had to miss them.

Then I rushed back to my office, took a nap, and was back in fine form for dinner. It was free after all, and we had been promised lots of free wine. Then rushed down the mountain top to main street to meet our military historian to see "Letters From Iwo Jima." Then over to his house for a few beers (merely to whet our tongues so we could discuss "Iwo Jima" and the entire course of the Civil War, as well as R. E. Lee's character). By now it was midnight and I was wide awake. So I drove all the way home.

It was an intense but fun day. And I got the paper done in plenty of time!