San Jose State University will host the very first So Many Roads – The World In The Grateful Dead interdiscplinary conference, from November 5-8. The meeting will discuss the band’s iconic role in American and artistic culture, with guest speaking appearances from such notable Dead community members like David Lemieux, Trixie Garcia, David Gans, and so many more. In total, 50 speakers are scheduled for the conference.

So Many Roads includes an interesting academic aspect, building on decades of published sociological works. As the conference’s website states:

“The theme of the conference… is interrogating and subverting traditional divides that have cordoned off periods and themes in American culture. Yale professor Wai Chee Dimock’s Through Other Continents: American Literature Across Deep Time (Princeton 1997) made the case for looking at American literature in a much broader, transnational sense, and referenced the Grateful Dead’s lyrics and performances as work that called for and modeled such treatment. Other scholars in other fields have taken up her challenge, as have scholars studying the Grateful Dead.”

Tickets are available for So Many Roads, which run for $75/day or $225 for the whole four-day event.

 

 

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