The Combinatorial Potlatch
Since 1982
University of Puget Sound, February 2002
Seattle University, 2016
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The Combinatorial PotlatchSince 1982 |
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| Brian Alspach University of Puget Sound, February 2002 |
Marni Mishna, Sara Billey, Shahriar Shahriari Seattle University, 2016 |
The Combinatorial Potlatch is an international one-day conference, usually held on the Saturday preceding US Thanksgiving. It has been held for many years at various locations around Puget Sound and southern British Columbia, and is an opportunity for combinatorialists in the region to gather informally for a day of invited talks and conversation. While most who attend work in, or near, the Puget Sound basin, all are welcome. Typically there are three talks given by speakers who are visiting or new to the area, along with breaks for coffee and lunch. Many participants remain for dinner at a local restaurant or pub.
The American Heritage Dictionary defines "potlatch" as: A ceremonial feast among certain Native American peoples of the northwest Pacific coast, as in celebration of a marriage or an accession, at which the host distributes gifts according to each guest's rank or status. Between rival groups the potlatch could involve extravagant or competitive giving and destruction by the host of valued items as a display of superior wealth. [Chinook Jargon, from Nootka p'achitl, to make a potlatch gift.]
The 2017 edition of the Potlatch will be held Saturday, November 18, 2017, at the University of Victoria.
Thanks to Marni Mishna, Sara Billey, Shahriar Shahriari for excellent presentations at the November 2016 meeting at Seattle University, and special thanks to Mark MacLean for being an excellent host.
Amites Sarkar (amites dot sarkar at wwu dot edu) maintains an email list of people interested in receiving announcements of upcoming Potlatches. Contact him via email to have your name added.
The first Potlatch that anyone can recall was held in 1982 at the University of Washington (though Pavol Hell insists there were meetings in the 70's). From that time, through 1997, Brian Alspach was the prime mover and organizer. After a few years' hiatus, Nancy Neudauer and Rob Beezer resurrected the tradition in 2002. Amites Sarkar succeeded Rob Beezer for the 2017 edition. There have been at least 32 meetings over the past 33 years. A history, as best as can be reconstructed, is available in HTML and PDF formats.
Old Conference Photos and Speakers Photos are available also.
This is: http://buzzard.ups.edu/potlatch/index.html Last updated: September 18, 2017