Another Texas?
Exploring the Rich Diversity of the Lone Star State (1970s-2020s)
Nov 6, 2026, Université Paris Cité
2027, INU Champollion, Albi
A Two-day Symposium
Organized by Emilie Cheyroux (INU Champollion, Albi),
Marine Soubeille (Université Paris Cité) and
David Roche (Université de Montpellier Paul-Valéry, Institut Universitaire de France)
While Texas is undeniably one of the most conservative states in the U.S. today (with Governor G. Abbott leading drastic immigration and education policies since 2015, pursuing the legacy of R. Perry and G. W. Bush), its portrayal in the media, and notably in Europe, tends to construct it as a homogeneous place where only the most reactionary laws are passed and political debates are settled at gunpoint. This, in any case, is what renowned TV shows such as Dallas (CBS, 1978-1991) and Walker, Texas Ranger (CBS, 1993-2001) would have us believe. The Lone Star State has certainly, throughout its tumultuous history, given its detractors arguments when it comes to civil rights, border policies and political culture. However, Texas has also always been a place of political, ethnic and cultural diversity reflecting its wide and heterogeneous geography, ranging from the wide-open plains of the Panhandle to the piney woods of East Texas, from the urban skylines of Dallas and Houston to the sandy beaches of the Gulf Coast. It was Lyndon B. Johnson, former Texas Congressman and Senator, who instigated the Great Society welfare programs at the national level after Kennedy’s assassination, and pushed the Civil Rights Acts in 1964 and 1968 (while refusing to disengage from the Vietnam War). Ann Richards, the last Democrat Texas Governor to date (1991-1995), upheld a legacy of change felt throughout the 1970s and 1980s in the state, where the coexistence of modernity and tradition, of hippies and cowboys, according to Jason Mellard, started reshaping the state and its identity (Mellard, 2013). And when Annise Parker became mayor in 2010, Houston was the largest city in the US to have an openly gay mayor.
This two-day symposium seeks to explore the singularity and complexity of the second largest US state from the pivotal decade of the 1970s to this day, in order to shed light on the elements that would contradict the stereotypes which have affected its reputation as a Red or even “redneck” state, and keep feeding the dominant narrative. It encourages scholars from a wide range of fields (history, geography, sociology, gender and race studies, literature and music, visual arts and film studies, etc.) and who adopt varied perspectives and methodologies (archival research, participant observation, interviews, formal analysis, discourse analysis) to tackle portrayals of the state displaying different oppositional tendencies and the rich culture that exists there. Contributions may focus on cultural productions and events either produced, written and/or performed in Texas, ranging from literature to film, from music to plays and the festivals that showcase them, from animated series to reality TV and documentaries, as well as on the cultural policies which encourage such dissident portrayals and productions.
The symposium will be divided into two days focusing on the following themes:
- Day 1 (Paris Cité, Nov 6, 2026): Representations of Texas and its identities in cultural productions
- Day 2 (INU Champollion, Albi 2027): State/regional/local cultural policies shaping Lone Star culture
For the full event’s page: