At RSA, in addition to responding to a panel on modernism, I will be taking part in a discussion of the controversies and rhetorical strategies surrounding the passage of the health care bill. A small group of the Southern Colloquium on Rhetoric folks (including myself) have selected five texts we will take as the starting point of the conversation. This promises to be a lively and productive conversation. More details can be found at http://www.southerncolloqrhetoric.net/RSA2010

The Communication Ethics Conference is again at Duquesne University, whose continued support has kept that endeavor going. It looks a fair deal different than in previous years but I am looking forward to some heady and challenging discussion of the philosophy and ethics of communication. More info on that event is at http://www.duq.edu/communication/conference/

Finally, ISSA. Well, what is to be said of ISSA? There are always great presentations and smart people there, plus it is in Amsterdam, which is a fabulous city, but every time I go I swear I am never going back. Last year was the fiasco with stranding us at the shipping museum miles from the conference site. This year, I think I will do the panels that look promising and otherwise avoid all the banquets, ceremonies, and special events that have made me swear off this conference thrice now, only to return. I am looking forward to doing something of a debut on the quasi-ethnographic methodology I have been working on for a year or so and seeing how the feedback goes.

Meanwhile, we are progressing forward with grant work steadily and a couple new graduate assistants will be coming on line in a matter of days to help coordinate the events. If you are part of or know someone involved in a local community group in Raleigh, Seattle, Boston, or Minneapolis, get in touch with me about opportunities to participate in our events and participate in our research on local practices of citizenship and democracy.

First, as the NSF grant research moves forward, we are just about ready to submit IRB for the engagement events stage of the grant.  That means very soon I will be kicking into high gear with the grant and have opportunities for folks who want to grab some hands-on experience with the organic engagement methodology that I have been developing and its connected theory of practicable democracy.  If IRB is smooth and quick (which we hope will be the case) then we will hold one pilot engagement event in Columbia this term (Fall 2009) as a test-run.  I’ll be taking on only one or two additional coders and assistants for that event.  Spring of 2010 I will then be taking the show on the road to Raleigh, Minneapolis, Boston, and Seattle.  I am confident that staffing is already met in Raleigh and Minneapolis, but I will likely take on a couple of local folks in Boston and Seattle.  Preference will be given to folks who have strong communication studies backgrounds, especially cross-trained in rhetoric and qualitative methods.  If you have an interest and the above all makes sense to you, feel free to drop me an e-mail.  Note that I do not have funds to cover travel costs for coders/critics, so it will be difficult to take people who are not in the region where the events will occur (Columbia, SC; Seattle, WA; and Boston, MA).  The number of slots is very limited and the pay is terrible, but it is good field experience for folks in rhetoric or qualitative communication studies and an exposure to a new body of theory and practice that bridges the rhetorical and qualitative traditions.  If you will be at the National Communication Association convention in Chicago we could chat there briefly.

I’m coming in Tuesday night (Nov. 10) and leaving Monday morning (Nov. 16).

Wed, Nov 11 – 9:00am – 12:00pm, room TBA
Explorations into Rhetoric’s Effects (precon)

Wed, Nov 11 – 1:00pm – 4:45pm, Hilton Chicago / Room PDR 5
Deliberative Research and Practice: Creating the NCA-Forum Conference Series (precon)

Wed, Nov. 11 – Dinner booked

Thu, Nov 12 – 12:30pm – 1:45pm, Hilton Chicago / Continental Ballroom A
Unconvention Report Panel

Thu, Nov 12 – 2:00pm – 3:15pm, Hilton Chicago / Meeting Room 4L
Vernacular Rhetoric Panel

Thu, Nov 12 – 3:30pm – 4:45pm, Hilton Chicago / Meeting Room 4I
Conversations about Levinas: Communication Ethics in Justice, the Environment, and Life Studies (respondent)

Fri, Nov 13 – 8:00am – 9:15am, Hilton Chicago / PDR 5
International Engagement Panel

Fri, Nov 13 – 9:30am – 10:45am, Hilton Chicago / Meeting Room 5G
‘Ad Bellum Purficandum’: The Therapeutic Turn in Midcentury Rhetoric and Communication Theory

Fri, Nov 13 – 2:00pm – 3:15pm, Hilton Chicago / Meeting Room 4B
Top Papers in Communication Ethics (chair)

Fri, Nov 13 – 3:30pm – 4:45pm, Hilton Chicago / Meeting Room 4I
Communication Ethics Division Business Meeting (chair)

Fri, Nov. 13 – 5:00pm – 6:15pm, Hilton Chicago / Meeting Room 4L
Hochmuth Nichols Award Panel

Fri, Nov. 13 – 7:30pm – 8:30pm, Hilton Chicago / Meeting Room 4F
Reception in honor of Clifford G. Christians (m.c.)

Sat, Nov 14 – 8:00am – 9:15am, Hilton Chicago / Marquette Room
Our Foundation and Our Future: Communication Ethics Division Contributions and Challenges in This Time of Change (presenting)

Sat, Nov 14 – 10:00am – 11:00am – Meeting

Sat, Nov 14 – 11:00am – 1:45pm, Hilton Chicago / International Ballroom North
Town Hall on the Politics of NCA

Sat, Nov 14 – Dinner booked.

Sun, Nov 15 – 8:00am – 9:15am, Hilton Chicago / Meeting Room 5J
Sophistic Rhetoric Panel

Sun, Nov 15 – 9:30am – 10:30am, – Meeting

Sun, Nov 15 – 11:00am – 12:15pm, Palmer House Hilton / Salon 1
The Public and Scary Science: Biotechnology to Synthetic Biology (presenting)

Yes, that’s right, I received the word from our university president through a short little memo that I will be promoted and tenured.  Of course, it still has to go through the Board of Trustees and does not become official until something like July 1st, but it is a done deal.  

In other nifty news, my first book, The Ethics and Politics of Speech: Communication and Rhetoric in the Twentieth Century (due out October 30, 2009), now appears on Amazon and is available for pre-order.  It does feel much more real seeing it up there for sale.  The press also sent me a mock-up of the cover design:

I am so happy to see this thing almost out into the world and out of my hands!  Many thanks to all the great folks at Southern Illinois University Press for all their hard work.