Triennial Conference of the Kenneth Burke Society
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Read or download a print-friendly version of this page in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format.Maps/Directions to Conference Events (PDF format)Conference ThemeKeynote SpeakersRegistrationLodging ArrangementsProgram (Full)Seminars/Sign-UpArchival MaterialContact Info |
The Fifth Triennial Conference of the Kenneth Burke Society will convene in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, May 23-26, 2002, on the theme "Perspective by Incongruity: The Comic Masks of Kenneth Burke." Hosted by Tulane University and with the gracious support of the Tulane Center for Scholars of the Liberal Arts and Sciences and sponsorship by Purdue University's Department of English, the conference features diverse opportunities for engagement:
Conference ThemeBurke notes in Attitudes Toward History (1937) that people generally take either a tragic or a comic perspective on human motivation. The tragic view holds that people are vicious or evil, "describable by an enemy as vermin" (Rhetoric of Religion 276). The comic view, however, holds that people are mistaken, necessarily mistaken, that "all people are exposed to situations in which they must act as fools, that every insight contains its own special kind of blindness . . . " (41). In adopting the theme, "Perspective by Incongruity: The Comic Masks of Kenneth Burke," we want to encourage conference presenters and participants to revel in our mistakenness, to examine our insights for blindness, to lighten up or dig-in as the occasion demands and in the spirit of New Orleans, where the carnivalesque is the norm and the comic drama of the human barnyard is always in the third act. Perspective by incongruity enables new meanings by "extending the use of term by taking it from the context in which it was habitually used and applying it to another" (Permanence and Change 89). We hope to see new meanings and new relationships develop at and beyond this fifth triennial conference of the Kenneth Burke Society. |
Keynote SpeakersBernard Brock Bernard Brock is Emeritus Professor of Communication at Wayne State University and the author and editor of numerous articles and books on Kenneth Burke, including the edited volumes Kenneth Burke and the 21st Century (SUNY Press, 1999) and Kenneth Burke and Contemporary European Thought (University of Alabama Press, 1995). Professor Brock will speak on "Paradox in the Work and Life of Kenneth Burke: His Advice to Scholars." James L. Kastely James Kastely is a nationally recognized expert in the history and theory of rhetoric and the author of Rethinking the Rhetorical Tradition: From Plato to Postmodernism (Yale UP, 1997). He has published in PMLA, College English, The Rhetoric Society Quarterly, Philosophy and Rhetoric, Philosophy and Literature, Style, Mosaic, the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Essays in Theatre, Twentieth Century Literature, and Nineteenth- Century Literature. Before going to the University of Houston, he taught for thirteen years at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where he won the Regents Medal for Excellence in Teaching, that school's highest teaching prize. At the University of Houston, he was chosen as Outstanding Professor by the graduate students of the English Department. Tilly Warnock Tilly Warnock has written extensively about Burke in textbooks and articles, including Writing Is Critical Action (Scott Foresman, 1990), her entries on "Kenneth Burke" and "Identification" in the Encyclopedia of Rhetoric and Composition, and in essays appearing in College English and Pre/Text. She is presently completing a book-length treatment on her encounters with Burke entitled Kenneth Burke: Lessons in Reading, Writing, and Living. Appropriately given the occasion, she earned her BA in English from Tulane University.
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Keynote Speakers
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Registration |
Conference attendees are encouraged to register in advance of the conference to help us make proper arrangements. To register, you may view and print the registration form in either PDF (Acrobat format) or HTML format, then mail your information and registration fees (payable with a check or by credit card) according to the directions on the forms.
Summary of Conference FeesRegular Registration: Registration fees for nonmembers includes a one-year membership in the Kenneth Burke Society. Student Registration (KBS Members and Nonmembers; must be a full-time student)
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Events at the 2002 Conference will be held at a variety of locations throughout New Orleans and at Tulane University. The host hotels are the Holiday Inn-French Quarter and the Chateau Le Moyne, both within footsteps and located in the heart of the city's famous French Quarter. Both hotels are just a short trolley ride to Tulane, where most panel sessions and seminars will be held. Keynote speeches and other ceremonies will be held at venues chosen to capture the spirit of New Orleans and the Conference. Space has been reserved at the Conference hotels. It may be limited, however, so please make your reservations as soon as possible. Our contract with the hotels requires that we fill to a certain capacity else the Society be charged for unfilled space. Contact information and pricing for the two conference hotels is below. In both cases and to receive reduced conference pricing, you should identify yourself as a member of the Kenneth Burke Society Group. Space has been reserved for the night of May 22 for those traveling from a distance. Conference events begin on the afternoon of May 23. Holiday Inn-French Quarter <http://www.holidayinnfq.com/> Chateau Le Moyne <http://www.chateaulemoyne.com/1.html> Additional lodging possibilities can be made available when space at these hotels runs out and as the conference time nears. If you have questions, please contact David Blakesley at blakesle@purdue.edu.
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Lodging Arrangements
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Seminars |
A distinct highlight of past KBS conferences has been the seminars, which provide opportunities for participants to focus on important subjects both prior to and throughout the conference. All conference attendees are encouraged to nominate themselves for one of the following conferences using the Online Seminar Registration Form or by printing and mailing the Adobe PDF version of the Seminar Registration Form. For detailed descriptions of each of these seminars, please consult the KBS 2002 Seminars node or click on each entry.
For further information, contact David Blakesley at blakesle@purdue.edu.
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The conference program features diverse opportunities for engagement:
View a draft of the full conference program
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Program |
Request for Archival Material |
The Society invites persons and/or departments with videotapes, audiotapes, photographs or accounts of Kenneth Burke who would be willing to show, display or otherwise share those materials at the Conference to contact James Mackin at mackin@tulane.edu or David Blakesley at blakesle@purdue.edu.
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Inquiries should be directed to the relevant conference planner:
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Andrew King, Chair, Department of Speech Communication, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803; phone: 225.578.6681; fax: 225.578.4828; e-Mail: andyk@lsu.edu |
Awards |
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James Mackin, Department of Communication, 219 Newcomb Hall, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118; phone: 504.865.5730; fax: 504.865.3040; e-mail: mackin@tulane.edu |
Local Arrangements |
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Ellen Quandahl, Department of Rhetoric and Writing Studies, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Dr., San Diego, CA 92182-4452; phone: 619.594.6515; fax: 619.594.6530; e-mail: equandah@mail.sdsu.edu. Ann George, Department of English, TCU Box 297270, TCU, Fort Worth, TX 76129; phone: 817.257.62470; fax: 817.257.6247; e-mail: A.George@tcu.edu |
Program Planning |
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David Blakesley, Burke Conference Planner, Department of English, Purdue University, West Lafayette IN, 47909; phone: 765.494.3772; fax: 765.494.3780; e-mail: blakesle@purdue.edu. |
Chief Conference Planner |
Check this website regularly for updates.
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Last Updated:
--David Blakesley |
