Tuesday, December 05, 2006

thank you & democracy conference

Dear Debbie, U of I grad students, and IU grad students,
As we head into finals, I just want to thank all of you for sharing this blog. This was my first and--although it wasn't as active as I thought it might be--I enjoyed sharing ideas, images, and discussions across cyberspace. I've been told by many a lurker that they wish they could have posted because they have enjoyed our discussions (--and thank you to everyone who has shared feedback). I also have been told by a senior colleague that he and another colleague at Northwestern are thinking of doing a joint blog this spring for their seminars as a result of this idea. So, hopefully, beyond helping us re-imagine and re-articulate body rhetorics and rhetorics of the body, this blog will help foster more cross-university discussions in the future.

I'm looking forward to catching up with many of you in January. In case the word isn't out, the 2007 second annual IU/UofI invitation-only Colloquium will be Sat., Jan. 13, at Indiana University, focusing on democracy. The very, very, unofficial and definitely subject to change schedule might look something like this:
10:30-12:00--Opening faculty panel "Democracy and ..."; featuring Ron Greene, Barb Biesecker, Bob Hariman, & John Lucaites
12-1--Catered lunch and discussion about the "Democracy and ..." panel
1-2--Four simultaneous faculty panels related to the theme "Democracy and ..."
DEMOCRACY AND THE BODY: Hosted by Debbie Hawhee, Phaedra Pezzullo, and Jeff Bennett
DEMOCRACY AND MEDIA/AESTHETICS: Hosted by Michael Kaplan, Jon Simons, Bruce Gronbeck, and more
DEMOCRACY AND SOCIAL CHANGE: Hosted by Bob Ivie, Robert Terrill, Ned O'Gorman and more
DEMOCRACY AND CULTURAL STUDIES: James Hay, Ted Striphas, and Gil Rodman
2:30-6:30--Student workshops.
6:30--Potluck hosted by IU students at the home of Phaedra Pezzullo and Ted Striphas
Whatever the final schedule is, many faculty and many more graduate students are committed to what promises to be a great day of discussion. Last year was much smaller and that's how Debbie and I first met; so, clearly, this is a very smart and much-desired graduate student-led initiative;)

Thanks again to everyone for this semester,
Phaedra.