7.0047 Penn State Rhetoric Conference (1/336)

Elaine Brennan (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Mon, 7 Jun 1993 21:28:36 EDT

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 7, No. 0047. Monday, 7 Jun 1993.

Date: Thu, 3 Jun 1993 15:04:10 EDT
From: John T. Harwood <JTH@psuvm.psu.edu>
Subject: Penn State Rhetoric Conference


The Penn State Conference on Rhetoric and Composition
July 7-10, 1993

The Penn State Conference on Rhetoric and Composition, now in its
12th year, is a four-day gathering of teachers and scholars. It offers
a generous mixture of plenary and special-interest sessions in a
relaxed atmosphere; a chance for learning, leisure, and reflection on
composition and rhetoric; and an extended opportunity to discuss
professional concerns with nationally known speakers and interested
colleagues.

Each year the conference features plenary sessions, concurrent
sessions, workshops, and roundtable discussions on topics of current
interest.

Saturday Morning Sessions

On Saturday morning, participants will have a special opportunity to
concentrate for an extended period on one of three important areas:
Rhetorical Functions of Narrative in Literary and Nonliterary
Discourse, Teaching the New Stylistics, and Advances in Computers
and Writing.

Rhetorical Functions of Narrative in Literary and Nonliterary
Discourse

Since Aristotle and Quintilian, narrative has stood in uneasy but
necessary relation to rhetoric, alternately enjoying ascendance and
falling out of favor as a focus for inquiry. Interest in narrative has
resurfaced in contemporary theories of rhetoric and composition
which treat scientific, poetic, political, and cultural texts. Two
current theorists of narrative and rhetoric, Don Bialostosky and
Debra Journet will be chair/respondents for this session.

Teaching the New Stylistics

Recent composition theory has increasingly and unduly neglected
such formal elements of discourse as linguistic register, figurative
language, sentence style, and form. Rather than representing empty
formalisms or concerns that only enter the writing process in late
stages of revision, these elements can be studied and taught as
generative tools of imagination, invention, and discovery. This
session led by Marie Secor (Penn State) and Jeanne Fahnestock
(University of Maryland) will feature workshops and papers that will
illustrate new techniques of stylistic analysis and strategies for using
them in the writing classroom.

Advances in Computers and Writing

The most advanced work on computers and writing draws on and
contributes to current thoeries of the writing process, social and
cultural contexts, and writing pedagogy. Dave Kaufer will chair this
session that will feature hands-
on demonstrations and talks on new applications of computer
technology for addressing issues in writing.

Plenary Session Speakers

Michael Leff, our keynote speaker, is professor of communication
studies at Northwestern University. A specialist in the history of
rhetoric, his recent work pursues the relationship between
traditional rhetoric and current problems in criticism, especially
tracing the influences of political texts on later writers. His recent
publications include the co-edited Texts in Context: Critical Dialogues
on Significant Episodes in American Political Rhetoric (1989),
'Burke's Ciceronianism' in The Legacy of Kenneth Burke (1989), and
'Things Made by Words: Reflections on Textual Criticism' in
Quarterly Journal of Speech. He has contributed numerous chapters
to books and collections such as The Rhetoric of the Human Sciences
(1987), Speech Communication in the Twentieth Century (1985), and
Medieval Eloquence: Studies in the Theory and Practice of Medieval
Rhetoric (1978). He has won the Wicheln-Winans Award and
Woolbert Award from the Speech Communication Association for
distinguished scholarship in rhetoric and public address and for
scholarship of exceptional originality and influence. He is currently
on the Board of Directors for the Rhetoric Society of America and
editor of Rhetorica.

Don Bialostosky is Distinguished University Professor of English at
the University of Toledo. His research bridges literary and rhetorical
theory, particularly in the study of dialogics, such as in his Making
Tales: The Poetics of Wordsworth's Narrative Experiments (1984) and
Wordsworth, Dialogics, and the Practice of Criticism (1992). He is
currently working on a book on dialogics and rhetoric and an
annotated bibliography of Bakhtinian criticism. He and Steven
Mailloux (U Cal, Irvine) are working on a book-length project which
will map out a vision of English Studies and the centrality of rhetoric
within it. He has published numerous articles and chapters on
poetics and teaching, and is a contributing author to the forthcoming
Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism. He has
received several research awards and honors, most recently the
University of Toledo College of Arts and Sciences Exceptional Merit
Award (1991). His professional activities include serving on the
editorial boards of The Bakhtin Newsletter and the Rhetoric Society
Quarterly and on the NCTE Commission on Literature.

Henry Giroux holds the Waterbury Chair Professorship in Secondary
Education at Penn State. His numerous publications have earned him
a reputation as one of the outstanding scholars in pedagogy today.
His Schooling and the Struggle for Public Life (1989), Teachers as
Intellectuals (1988), Education Under Siege (1986), and Theory and
Resistance in Education (1984) have been named by the American
Educational Studies Association as some of the most significant books
in education. His most recent book, Border Crossings: Cultural
Workers and the Politics of Education (1992), reflects his constant
concern with multiculturalism and politics in education. His major
works often focus on writing and critical thinking in social sciences
and the education of teachers. His articles on reading, writing,
literacy, and political discourse, appearing in such journals as Journal
of Education, College Literature, and Journal of Advanced
Composition, indicate his long-standing interest in writing pedagogy
and theory.

Featured Speakers

Debra Brandt is associate professor of English at the University of
Wisconsin-
Madison. She studies literacy and its relationship to epistemology,
reading and writing, sociology, and testing methodology. These
combined interests are central in her recent Written Communication
article 'The Cognitive as the Social: An Ethnomethodological
Approach to Writing Process Research.' Her work on literacy and its
many aspects has appeared in The Right to Literacy (1990),
Responding to Writing (1989), and College English. Her book,
Literacy as Involvement: The Acts of Writers, Readers, and Texts
(1990) was recognized as among the outstanding books in
composition theory by the 1991 W.Ross Winterowd Awards
Committee.

Nan Johnson is professor of English at Ohio State University. Her
research centers on the popularization of rhetoric in America and the
history of cultural attitudes toward rhetorical performance by
women, culminating in her book, 19th Century Rhetoric in North
America (1991). Her work on these issues has also appeared in
chapters such as 'Ethos and the Aims of Rhetoric' in Essays on
Classical Rhetoric and Modern Discourse (1984) and articles such as
'Rhetoric and Belles Lettres in Canada' in College English. Other
articles and reviews on rhetoric and composition studies have
appeared in Rhetorica, Rhetoric Review, Quarterly Journal of Speech,
ADE Bulletin, English Quarterly, and in the anthology edited by James
Murphy, The Rhetorical Tradition and Modern Writing (1982).

Debra Journet, professor of English at the University of Louisville,
studies narrative as an outlet for scientists to describe work that
other genres do not accommodate. Her fruitful conjunction of
technical discourse and literary theory has appeared in such journals
as Technical Communication Quarterly, Written Communication, and
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication. Her co-edited
volume, Research in Technical Communication (1985), won an NCTE
Award for Excellence. She has served as director of undergraduate,
graduate, and technical writing programs and is currently serving on
national technical communications committees in the NCTE and
Association of Teachers of Technical Writing.

David Kaufer, associate professor and associate head of the English
Department at Carnegie Mellon University, specializes in the various
facets of argumentation, both theoretical and pedagogical. His
forthcoming book, Communication at a Distance: The Influence of
Print on Socio-Cultural Organization and Change, and articles in
journals such as Philosophy and Rhetoric and Journal of Advanced
Composition explore academic argumentation and advance our
theories about why certain arguments prevail. To help writers learn
to argue and collaborate in their own writing, he has co-developed a
range of computer tools and has co-authored the textbook Arguing
>From Sources (1989) .

Martin Nystrand, professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-
Madison, researches composition theory and history and instructional
methodology. His book Structure of Written Communication: Studies
in Reciprocity between Writers and Readers (1986) and edited
collection What Writers Know: The Language, Process, and Structure
of Written Discourse (1982) have been recognized as significant
contributions to the understanding of the relationship between
readers and writers. His forthcoming publications include 'From
Discourse Communities to Interpretive Communities' in Exploring
Texts and 'Social Interactionism versus Social Constructionism' in
Language, Thought, and Human Communication. He begins editorship
of Written Communication in 1993.

Social Events

In addition to good papers and good talk, the Penn State Conference
offers various occasions for participants to relax, eat, and get to know
each other. On Wednesday evening, July 7, you are invited to a
dessert reception at an art gallery on campus. An outdoor barbecue
dinner is planned for Thursday, July 8, at a rustic retreat not far
from State College, where you can hike, pitch horseshoes, play
volleyball, and enjoy the music of Simple Gifts (a British-American
folk ensemble). A wine and cheese party will be held after the
concluding plenary session on Friday.

The conference is held concurrently with the Central Pennsylvania
Festival of the Arts, one of the largest events of its kind in the
country. More than four hundred jury-selected exhibitions--
paintings, ceramics, etchings, leather work, textiles, photographs,
sculpture, jewelry, and more--line the streets of State College and the
sidewalks of campus. Jazz bands, rock groups, mime troupes, fiddlers,
and string quartets perform on outdoor stages; indoors are films,
plays, and special art exhibits.

Leisure Activities

The Penn State campus and surrounding Nittany Valley offer
facilities for camping, swimming, fishing, hiking, tennis, and golf.
Within an hour's drive of State College are boating at Stone Valley,
swimming at Whipple Dam State Park, fishing at Black Moshannon
State Park, and hiking at Alan Seeger State Forest. History buffs will
enjoy nearby Bellefonte, a town of fine nineteenth- century stores
and houses, and Curtin Village, a reconstruction of an iron foundry,
master's mansion, and workers' cottages. Additional information
about these and other local activities is included in the conference
registration packet, or is available upon request.

Time and Location

This conference will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 7 and
will end at noon on Saturday, July 10. It will be held on Penn State's
University Park Campus in State College, Pennsylvania.

The campus is located in the center of Pennsylvania on Routes 26
and 322, south of Interstate 80. It is on the main east-west route of
both the Greyhound and Fullington Trailways bus lines. USAir
Express and United Express serve the University Park Airport,
located five miles from campus; rental cars, limousines, and taxi
service between the campus and the airport are available. You may
qualify for special airfares by staying in town Saturday night.

Accommodations

You may arrange for housing in one of three ways:

1. You may stay in a University residence hall Wednesday through
Friday nights or Tuesday through Saturday nights. If you stay
Wednesday through Friday nights (three nights), the total cost is
$41.25 (double occupancy). Family members are welcome to stay in
the residence hall at the same $41.25 rate. No charge is made for
infants if you provide bedding. You may list a preferred roommate
on the registration form; otherwise, roommates will be assigned. A
limited number of single rooms are available at $57 (three nights). If
you request a single but one is not available when your application
arrives, you will be assigned a double room.

If you stay Tuesday through Saturday nights (five nights), the total
cost is $68.75 (double occupancy) or $95 (single occupancy). The
rules and procedures listed above also apply to those staying for five
nights.

Please note: We regret that we cannot offer daily rates for University
housing. Fees remain the same for all or any part of the conference.

To register for housing in a University residence hall, complete and
return the attached registration form by June 21. Space may not be
available after the June 21 deadline, so please register early. You
can pay for your room in advance by check, money order, VISA,
MasterCard or request to bill employer (accompanied by a letter of
authorization). Or you may pay by check or with cash when you
arrive. You may purchase meals at the residence hall cafeteria or at
local restaurants both on and off campus.

2. You may stay at one of the following State College hotels/motels at
special conference rates. To reserve a room, call the hotel/motel
directly and identify yourself as a Rhetoric and Composition
Conference participant. The rates below do not include the 6% sales
tax. Reserve as early as possible--a limited number of rooms has
been set aside. Rooms and conference rates may not be available
after June 5.

Days Inn Penn State. 240 South Pugh Street. (800) 258-3297 or
(814) 238-8454. Rates: single $67-$125; double $77-$135. The
lower rates apply to July 6-8, higher rates to 'peak' Arts Festival
dates July 9-10, with a two-day minimum stay.

Holiday Inn Penn State. 1450 South Atherton Street. (814) 238-
3001. Rates: $60 per room per night for one to four persons. Not
within walking distance to campus.

3. You may arrange your own housing. A list of local hotels and
motels will be sent along with your registration acknowledgment.
Call early; the number of rooms is limited and the Central
Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts brings many visitors. Rates for the
festival weekend may be higher than usual.

Fee and Registration

The $110 fee ($90 for graduate students, lecturers, and retired
faculty) covers registration, materials, and three social events. It may
be paid by check, money order, VISA, MasterCard, or request to bill
employer (accompanied by a letter of authorization). We regret that
we cannot offer daily rates for conference registration. Fees remain
the same for all or any part of the conference. To register, complete
the form and return it to Penn State by June 21. Those who register
in advance will be notified of program changes. Registrations will be
acknowledged by mail.

Vehicles parked on campus must exhibit valid parking permits. To
receive a parking permit, check the appropriate space on the
registration form and add the amount shown to your fee payment.

Refunds will be made for cancellations received by June 21. After
that, the individual or organization will be held responsible for the
fee. Anyone who is registered but cannot attend may send a
substitute.

University Policies

Cancellation--The University may cancel or postpone any course or
activity because of insufficient enrollment or other unforeseen
circumstances. If a program is canceled or postponed, the University
will refund registration fees but cannot be held responsible for other
costs, charges, or expenses, including cancellation/change charges
assessed by airlines or travel agencies.

Smoking--Penn State has adopted a policy of no smoking in its
buildings, offices, classrooms, and conference facilities (including
Keller Conference Center).

For More Information or to Receive a Registration Form
About program content:
Davida Charney
117 Burrowes Building
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802-6200
phone (814) 865-9703
secretary (814) 863-3066
FAX (814) 863-7285
E-mail to IRJ at PSUVM.PSU.EDU

About registration and housing:
Roger Maclean
409 Keller Conference Center
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802-1304
phone (814) 863-6106
FAX (814) 865-3749