2023 Plenary Session: Beyond Boundaries
Bend sits in the heart of Oregon, where the Great Basin, Columbia Plateau, and Pacific Northwest come together. The people who have lived in the area since time immemorial defy easy assignment to one of these culture areas. Instead, their traditional lifeways feature elements drawn from each region, emphasizing that the Great Basin has always been part of a broad social and economic fabric. In recognition of this fact, the theme of this year’s Plenary Session is Beyond Boundaries. Our carefully curated set of presentations highlights recent work that crosscuts geographic boundaries, like those which intersect near this year’s conference location, but also methodological, political, temporal, and theoretical boundaries. We hope that the plenary presentations will collectively inspire attendees to reflect on their own work and consider how they might move beyond boundaries to conduct more innovative, collaborative, and relevant research as our field continues to evolve.