Welcome to Kansas City for the 38th annual conference of the GSA! We hope that you will find your stay here to be both intellectually and personally rewarding. I'd just like to mention a few highlights here, in addition to those described in the first part of the printed conference program. More information will also be provided in the welcome packet that you'll receive at the conference registration desk in the Westin.
TRANSPORTATION: Let's begin with transport to the conference hotel, the Westin Kansas City at Crown Center (1 East Pershing Road, Kansas City, MO 64108), and our overflow hotel, the Sheraton, located very close to it. Most of you will be arriving by plane, and we've arranged a discounted shuttle rate to the hotels. The GSA has made arrangements with Super Shuttle for reduced round-trip tickets from the airport to the hotel and back. Reservations can be placed by calling 1-800-BLUE VAN (258-3826) and providing the code 8T9US. Reservations can be made online. Three Super Shuttle kiosks are located in each terminal at Kansas City International Airport. They are staffed by Customer Service Representatives at each pick-up location.
The Westin and the Sheraton are located in the southern part of downtown Kansas City, close to Union Station and the National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial. An enclosed shopping mall is located between the two hotels. Members who wish to travel to other locations in the downtown area may use the city's MAX bus service on Main Street, which runs next to the Westin. Information is available online and in the welcome letter you'll receive at conference registration.
SPECIAL EXHIBITION: In addition to the National World War I Museum and other museums and galleries described in the conference program, we'd like to call your attention to a special exhibition at the Kansas City branch of the National Archives and Records Administration, located at 400 West Pershing Road, only several blocks from the Westin. Titled 'State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda,' the exhibition is presented by the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education and is produced by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Details can be found at http://mchekc.org/. The exhibition is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
RECEPTIONS AND CASH BARS: As you know, the GSA features a number of receptions and cash bars. Here is a list as of 8 September:
THURSDAY, 18 SEPTEMBER
- DAAD, Century A, 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
FRIDAY, 19 SEPTEMBER
- Berghahn Books, Century ABC Foyer, 5:30 - 6:00 p.m.
- GSA No-Host Cash Bar, Century ABC Foyer, 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.
- American Friends of Marbach, Roanoke Foyer, 9:00 p.m. or AFTER the banquet!
SATURDAY, 20 SEPTEMBER
- DEFA and De Gruyter, Century ABC Foyer, 5:00 - 6:00 p.m.
- GSA Interdisciplinary Networks Reception, Benton's (top floor of hotel), 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.
- DEFA Film Library and Department of German and Scandinavian Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, reception at National World War I Museum, 6:45 - 8:15 p.m.
- Austrian Cultural Forum New York, Washington Park 1, 8:00 - 9:30 p.m.
For additional information, please refer to the conference program and to the welcome letter that you'll receive at the conference registration desk!
I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in Kansas City.
Purchase Meal Tickets Online
This is just a final, gentle reminder of the luncheons and banquet that will take place at this year's GSA conference. On Friday at 12:30 p.m., Walter Momper, former mayor of Berlin, will speak on "Der 9. November 1989." On Friday evening at 7:30 p.m., Professor Suzanne Marchand, President of the GSA, will present her Presidential Address on "The Great War and the Classical World." On Saturday at 12:30 p.m., Maxi Obexer will speak on "Unter Tieren: A reading from a Novel in Progress and Other Works."
For organizational reasons, IT WILL BE NECESSARY TO PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE BEFORE THE CONFERENCE.If you are planning to attend any of the meals, please do purchase them online ASAP.
Please direct any questions to Elizabeth Fulton at our Help Desk: helpdesk@thegsa.org.