
The Kenneth Burke Society, founded in 1984, is a non-profit organization incorporated in the State of New York since 1988. The Society has hundreds of members from a variety of academic disciplines, including English, Speech Communication, Sociology, Economics, Philosophy, Mass Communication, Religion, and Rhetoric. The Society sponsors the KB Journal, a triennial conference, affiliated groups in national and regional organizations, and more. Membership in the KB Society is open to any person or institution interested in promoting the Society's purposes.
Fast Facts
Conference Dates: May 26-29, 2011 The Eighth Triennial Conference of the Kenneth Burke Society welcomes proposals that focus on any Burkean subject. Especially welcome are proposals that address the conference theme, “Kenneth Burke, Rhetoric, and Social Change.” The conference will be hosted by Clemson University at its Madren Conference Center in Clemson, South Carolina, from May 26 to May 29, 2011. In addition to lively seminars, presentations, performances, and unending conversation in the parlor, KBS 2011 will also feature keynote speakers Jack Selzer and Scott McLemee. |
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Surveying the global scene in 1933, Burke wrote in his notes for what would become Permanence and Change, “We are trying to solve cultural problems with the most explosive words in our vocabulary, and we need not be surprised that there are continually occurring frightful accidents which rip out half a continent and maim the lives and bodies of millions.” The step away from these explosive words is, Burke claimed, “the step which [humankind] has never been able to take. Heroism; Jungle authority; acquisition; pugnacity; inspiration; ‘superiority’ . . . this is still at the bottom of our thinking, though [the] situation no longer ‘requires’ it. . . . This is the crux—can we make this change, from which all else would radiate?” In our own historical moment, which so eerily echoes the cultural, political, and technological upheavals of the first half of the twentieth century, Burke’s question remains urgent—and unanswered. Can we make this change?
This theme calls on conference participants to explore the relevance of Burke’s thought and practice for defining, analyzing, or producing the kinds of change that would enable us to transcend or disarm our “explosive words.”
Featuring diverse opportunities for engagement with Burke’s enduring relevance, the Eighth Triennial Conference will continue the interdisciplinary tradition of past events, with participation by students and scholars from communication, rhetoric, composition, literary theory and criticism, cultural studies, sociology, technical communication, art, economics, political science, and other disciplines. Thus, in addition to proposals addressing the conference theme, we welcome those that address topics of continuing relevance in Burke studies:
Over the course of the conference, a combination of keynote speakers, featured presenters, and seminar leaders will explore the possibilities of and conditions for meaningful change. Keynote speakers, seminars, and seminar leaders will be announced in January, 2011.
The proposal submission deadline has passed. Acceptances will be announced in early February 2011. After acceptance and to be eligible for awards and inclusion in a subsequent conference volume, proposers will be invited to submit full-length submissions by April 15, 2011.
Attendees may register for the conference by mail starting February 11, 2011. You can learn more and download the forms here. As for past conferences, affordable registration fees will include all meals and special events. Travel grants and subsidies for students may be available and will be announced as the conference nears. Further details will be published on the conference website, http://kbjournal.org/2011conference from now until the conference.
Clemson University is located in Clemson, which is in upstate South Carolina. The Madren Conference Center (http://www.clemson.edu/centers-institutes/madren/conference/) is surrounded by beautiful Lake Hartwell and the Walker golf course, with easy access from Greenville/Spartanburg, Atlanta, Asheville, and Charlotte. The climate in May is ideal for outdoor gatherings, golf, and water sports.
The conference chair is David Blakesley (dblakes@clemson.edu). The conference is sponsored by the endowment for the Campbell Chair in Technical Communication at Clemson and the Kenneth Burke Society.
If you have questions about the conference, please contact David Blakesley (dblakes@clemson.edu). Watch the conference website (http://kbjournal.org/2011conference) for additional announcements.
We're pleased to announce two exceptional keynote speakers for the 2011 Triennial Conference of the Kenneth Burke Society: Scott McLemee and Jack Selzer:
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Scott McLemee Scott McLemee writes the weekly column "Intellectual Affairs" for Inside Higher Ed. He was a contributing editor at Lingua Franca and he covered the humanities as a senior writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education. In 2004, he received the National Book Critics Circle award for excellence in reviewing, and began serving on that organization's board of directors in 2008. Besides editing two volumes of writings by C.L.R. James, he has contributed to numerous magazines and newspapers in the United States and abroad. He discovered Kenneth Burke in adolescence, which was not recently. Read A Puzzling Figure in Literary Criticism Is Suddenly Central at the Chronicle of Higher Education (login required). |
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Jack Selzer Jack Selzer earned the Kenneth Burke Society Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 for service to the organization, for mentoring colleagues and graduate students in their archival research on Burke, and for his publications Kenneth Burke in Greenwich Village (Wisconsin, 1997); Kenneth Burke in the 1930s (South Carolina, 2007, with Ann George); and Kenneth Burke and His Circles (Parlor, 2007, edited with Robert Wess). Currently past president of the Rhetoric Society of America, he has taught courses on rhetoric, composition, technical writing, and Kenneth Burke at Penn State since 1978. He is currently working with Keith Gilyard on a book on the rhetoric of the civil rights movement, and researching another book on Burke's later career. |
![]() Jack Selzer (right) greets former President Bill Clinton at Penn State University. Photo Credit: Annemarie Mountz. Year Taken: 2008. View a high-resolution version. |
To register for KBS 2011 at Clemson, you will need to download and complete the registration form and mail your form and payment to the address shown on the form. We can only accept payment by check, made payable to Clemson University.
Registration Form (PDF; fillable and printable format)
Registration fees include a one-year membership in the Kenneth Burke Society. If you are already a member, one year will be added to your membership. Please check the appropriate space according to your status and according to the timing of your registration, then enter the total in the space provided. Registration includes meals, refreshment breaks, t-shirt, book discounts, and other swag throughout the conference.
By April 15: ______ $195
After April 15: ______ $215
Student Registration: ______$135 (before April 15) ______ $155 (after April 15)
So that we can make sure to have all materials ready, be sure to mail registration forms before May 19, 2011. After that date, you can plan on registering on-site.
When you submit your registration, you'll be asked to select rank your top three seminars. Space will be limited, but we will try to honor everyone's first or second choice. Seminars run throughout the conference. There is no additional charge to attend a seminar. Please see the conference website for full details on each: http://www.kbjournal.org/seminars2011.
For full details, please see the Travel and Accommodations KBS 2011 page, which contains information about how to make hotel reservations, how to get to Clemson, and more. Room rates at the conference hotel run $120 (up to four people).
The conference will begin in the late afternoon on Thursday May, 26, 2011 at 5 pm with the first of four seminar meetings, followed by a welcome reception. The conference ends on Sunday, May 29, 2011 at 1 p.m. There will be panel sessions on Sunday morning. There will also be a golf outing or other fun events planned for those who want to stick around.
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The conference runs from late afternoon on Thursday, May 26, through Sunday mid-day on May 29, 2011. All events will be held at the Madren Conference Center, which is connected to the Martin Inn.
To view a full draft of the program, login and then the PDF attachment will appear at the bottom of this message.
Thursday, May 26 |
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3:00 pm - 7:00 pm |
Registration Open: Conference Center lobby |
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5:00 pm - 6:30 pm |
Seminar Meetings 1 |
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7:00 pm - 9:00 pm |
Welcome Reception (hors d'ouevres, cash bar) |
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9:00 pm. - ? |
After hours parlor in Hospitality Suite |
Friday, May 27 |
Registration and Exhibits open from 8:00 am - 5:00 pm |
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8:30 am - 9:45 am |
Concurrent Sessions A |
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9:45 am - 10:15 am |
Refreshment Break |
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10:15 am - 11:30 am |
Concurrent Sessions B |
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11:30 am - 1:00 pm |
Lunch: Keynote Speaker (Plenary) |
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1:00 pm - 2:30 pm |
Seminar Meetings 2 |
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2:30 pm - 3:00 pm |
Refreshment Break |
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3:00 pm -4:15 pm |
Concurrent Sessions C |
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4:30 pm -5:30 pm |
Featured Sessions |
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6:00 pm - 9 pm |
Outdoor Barbecue, Michael Burke Reading, Entertainment |
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9 pm - ? |
After hours parlor in Hospitality Suite |
Saturday, May 28 |
Registration and Exhibits open from 8:00 am - 5:00 pm |
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8:30 am - 9:45 am |
Concurrent Sessions D |
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9:45 am - 10:15 am |
Refreshment Break |
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10:15 am - 11:30 am |
Concurrent Sessions E |
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11:30 am - 1:00 pm |
Lunch (Sandwich Buffet) |
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1:00 pm - 2:30 pm |
Seminar Meetings 3 |
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2:30 pm - 3:00 pm |
Refreshment Break |
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3:00 pm -4:15 pm |
Concurrent Sessions F |
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4:30 pm -5:30 pm |
Featured Sessions |
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6:00 pm - 8:30 pm |
Banquet and Awards Ceremony: Keynote Speaker |
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9 pm - ? |
After hours parlor in Hospitality Suite |
Sunday, May 29 |
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8:30 am - 9:30 am |
Seminar Meetings 4 |
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9:30 am - 9:45 am |
Refreshment Break |
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9:30 am - 11:00 am |
Kenneth Burke Society General Meeting |
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11:00 am - Noon |
Kenneth Burke Society Officers Meeting |
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Noon - 12:30 pm |
Box lunches |
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1:00 pm - 5:30 pm |
Golf Outing, Walker Golf Course (Email dblakes@clemson.edu if you want to play); |
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7:00 pm - ? |
Post-Conference Pool Party, hosted by Parlor Press at 3015 Brackenberry Drive, Anderson SC 29621 (20 minutes east of Clemson; directions to be provided). |
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Clemson University is located in Clemson, which is in upstate South Carolina. The Madren Conference Center and Inn (http://www.clemson.edu/centers-institutes/madren/conference/) is surrounded by beautiful Lake Hartwell and the Walker golf course, with easy access from Greenville/Spartanburg, Atlanta, Asheville, and Charlotte. The climate in May is ideal for outdoor gatherings, golf, and water sports. You can also learn more about the Madren Conference Center and Inn on Facebook. If you would like to play some golf on the last afternoon of the conference, please email David Blakesley (dblakes@clemson.edu) to join the group. The Walker Golf Course is on Facebook as well. |
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The conference will begin in the late afternoon on Thursday May, 26, 2011 at 5 pm with the first of four seminar meetings, followed by a welcome reception. The conference ends on Sunday, May 29, 2011 at 1 p.m. There will be panel sessions on Sunday morning. There will also be a golf outing or other fun events planned for those who want to stick around.
The Greenville/Spartanburg airport (GSP) is the closest to Clemson, about 40 minutes by airport shuttle or car. Atlanta, Asheville, and Charlotte are about two hours away by car. Local shuttles service all airports. Amtrak has a stop in Clemson on the Crescent line. Shuttle and other information about travel arrangements will be announced in January, 2011. Shuttle arrangements can be made through a number of private shuttle services. We recommend Anderson Clemson Shuttle Services: http://clemsonshuttle.com/. The cost for roundtrip service from GSP to Clemson is about $90. As possible, we'll also announce ride-sharing and other airport transportation options.
We have reserved a block of rooms at the Madren Conference Center and Inn (the conference headquarters), which offers multiple room types, all of which are spacious and nicely appointed: Double Queen/King ($120) and Suites ($120). Suites include a kitchen, living room, and separate bedroom and two beds plus a sofa bed. All rooms have views of the golf course, gardens, or Lake Hartwell. There is a restaurant and bar on site, and a free local bus service is just a short walk away. Room reservations may be made by phone at 888-654-9020 (toll free) or 864-654-9020 (local). Be sure to specify “Kenneth Burke Society” or GF (Group Folio) # 8067 when making your reservation. Rooms should be reserved as soon as possible and before March 26, 2011 to ensure the conference rate. There are other hotels in the area, but there won't be a shuttle service and they are 1-2 miles away.
The tradition of outstanding seminars at past conferences continues in 2011. We have six distinguished scholars leading five seminars, each of which radiates from the conference theme, "Burke, Rhetoric, and Social Change." Seminars will meet all four days of the conference in a small group setting for discussion, debate, and competitive cooperation (friendly as it may be). The leaders describe their seminars below and include a list of work to read prior to the conference. Seminar participants are often asked to prepare inforrmal response papers of some sort. Seminar leaders will make contact with seminar participants in advance of the conference with updates as needed.
Conference registrants should select a seminar when they submit their 2011 KBS Registration Form. We'll make every attempt to give each person the first or second choice (you'll be asked to rank your top three). Space in some seminars will fill up quickly, so be sure to register early. These descriptions may be updated before the conference, so be sure to check back before sending in your registration.
Clarke Rountree
University of Alabama, Huntsville
This seminar will explore intersections between Burke’s work and law, with particular attention to the Clarke Rountree’s application of the pentad to the analysis of judicial discourse. Seminar participants will read the essays below. Additionally, the group will read the U.S. Supreme Court case Kelo v. City of New London (the controversial case approving Connecticut’s use of imminent domain) as a case study in legal rhetoric.
Prior to the conference, small group members will submit a f5-8 page exploratory essay considering how Burke’s ideas might help us understand law, justice, or judicial processes. The focus should be narrow, considering the role of identification, form, terms for order, terministic screens, perspective by incongruity, bureaucratization of the imaginative, the master tropes, the five dogs, administrative rhetoric, substance, dialectic, the constitution-behind-the-constitution, or other Burkeian concepts relevant to legal discourse or talk about the law. Essays may consider explicit statements Burke has made about law or apply one of his concepts to general legal processes, to a particular example of those processes, or to talk about law and justice.
Clarke Rountree is Professor of Communication Arts at the University of Alabama, Huntsville. Rountree was awarded the prestigious 2008- 2009 Kohrs-Campbell Prize in Rhetorical Criticism by Michigan State University Press for his book, Judging the Supreme Court: Constructions of Motive in Bush v. Gore. He is presently the Vice President of the Kenneth Burke Society.
Bryan Crable
Villanova University
In many respects, this seminar topic would seem to figure a connection at best unlikely, and at worst antagonistic. Burke might seem an unlikely figure to link with race--simply because his origins (geographic, generational, and racial) contrast sharply with the concerns of those who advocate or construct critical race theory. More to the point, Burke was not then, and is not now, known for his writings on issues of race. Not only are Burke's own writings relatively quiet on matters of race (with some notable exceptions), but the same is true of the secondary literature. To be sure, some scholars have done work connecting Burke's work to issues of race, identity, and racism (e.g., Bobbitt, Rhetoric of Redemption; Carlson, "'You Know It When You See It'"; Crable, "Race and A Rhetoric of Motives"; Crable, "Symbolizing Motion"; Klumpp, "Burkean Social Hierarchy"; Lynch, "Race and Radical Renamings"). In many respects, however, Burkean scholarship focuses much more strongly on issues of class than of race (or of gender). This seminar will hope to change that somewhat, by focusing attention on several key works by Burke that deal with matters of race, and from throughout his career, including the "Rhetoric of Hitler's 'Battle,'" an early review from The Philosophy of Literary Form, the controversial citation of Ralph Ellison in A Rhetoric of Motives, and a late essay on Ellison's Invisible Man. Further, by reading these works alongside essays by Ellison and Donald Pease, seminar participants will be in a position to contribute new, Burke-fueled statements on our nation's ongoing "conversation" on race and identity.
Materials to Read
Bryan Crable is the Chair of the Communication Department at Villanova University. He is also the Founding Director of the Waterhouse Family Institute for the Study of Communication and Society. He received the Charles Kneupper Award from the Rhetoric Society of America, for best article of 2003 in Rhetoric Society Quarterly: "Race and A Rhetoric of Motives: Kenneth Burke's Dialogue with Ralph Ellison." In 2008, he chaired the 7th Triennial Conference of the Kenneth Burke Society. Crable is finishing a book on Kenneth Burke, Ralph Ellison and the American "racial divide," scheduled to be published by The University of Virginia Press in 2012. He is also completing an edited volume on Kenneth Burke and the transcendence of social conflict, to be published by Parlor Press in 2012.
Elvera Berry
Roberts Wesleyan College
Peter M. Smudde
Illinois State University
Whatever our particular interest in the work of Kenneth Burke, to the extent that we engage his ideas, we become both student and teacher of those ideas. Taking Burke seriously calls for an examination not only of the substance of his corpus, but also of the implications of that substance for how we function as educators. The theme of the 2011 conference, “Kenneth Burke, Rhetoric, and Social Change,” speaks directly to the nature and role of education. While he did not write extensively about education, per se, Burke left a corpus filled with implications for education as well as a major resource in his remarkable 1955 essay, “Linguistic Approach to Problems of Education.” Concerned though he was about the lack of pedagogical imagination in his time, Burke himself could not have fully anticipated the level of polarization and bureaucratization in today’s colleges and universities, let alone the atomizing effects of web-based news cycles and social media. However, his work remains invaluable in raising questions, identifying concerns, and proposing changes aimed at transcending our own “explosive words” and disarming anger and hate with civil discourse.
This seminar is organized around these questions:
Participants are also encouraged to identify their current educational concerns. Ample time will be given to examining what it means to take Burke seriously, as educators, and to consider implications for the ways we teach and students learn.
Materials to Read
Participants are asked to read Burke’s 1955 essay, “Linguistic Approach to Problems of Education” (National Society for the Study of Education, Modern philosophies and education: The fifty-fourth yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part I of 2) and to consider its applicability 56 years later. This essay will serve as the foundational reading for the Seminar. It is the cornerstone and opening chapter in Humanistic Critique of Education: Teaching and Learning as Symbolic Action. Anderson, SC: Parlor Press, 2010
Additional Highly Recommended Readings
* Electronic version to be made available.
Elvera B. Berry (Ph.D.) is Professor of Communication and Director of the Honors Program at Roberts Wesleyan College, and 2010 recipient of the inaugural Spiritan Award for Teaching bestowed by Duguesne University’s Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies. A long-term member the Kenneth Burke Society involved in regional and national organizations, she has been studying, teaching, and applying the works of Kenneth Burke for 25 years. Her essay, "The Both-And of Undergraduate Education: Burke's 'Linguistic' Approach" appears in the 2010 collection Humanistic Critique of Education: Teaching and Learning as Symbolic Action.
Peter M. Smudde (Ph.D., Wayne State University) is assistant professor in the School of Communication at Illinois State University. He came to academe full-time in 2002 after sixteen years in industry in the fields of public relations, marketing communications, and technical writing. His primary research and teaching interest is the application of Kenneth Burke's ideas and contemporary theories of rhetoric to pedagogy and industry. He is also the editor of Humanistic Critique of Education: Teaching and Learning as Symbolic Action (Parlor Press, 2010).
Steve Katz
Pearce Professor, Clemson University
Kenneth Burke’s “The Rhetoric of Hitler’s 'Battle',” ostensibly a book review, was a rhetorically perspicacious if not prophetic analysis of what was yet to transpire. Though the layers of biography, bigotry, tirades, hatreds, and political strategies that permeate Mein Kampf turned others away in disgust and disbelief, Burke foresaw the general outline of events, read in relation to capitalism, religion, and anti-Semitism, just beginning to unfold. Burke did not have the last word on the interpretation of Mein Kampf; others have examined it since. But despite Burke’s warning that “we need to discover what kind of ‘medicine’ this medicine-man concocted, that we may know exactly what to guard against if we are to forestall the concocting of similar medicine in America,” for obvious and subtle reasons, rhetorical scholars, with a few exceptions, have tended to shy away from engaging Hitler’s manifesto, or its wider implications about genocide and rhetoric, in any hermeneutic depth.
This seminar will not be so shy. What can Burke’s analysis of Mein Kampf teach us today? Or, conversely, what does Mein Kampf and the horrors of history that followed teach us about Kenneth Burke’s rhetoric? After a general introduction of these two primary sources, and discussion of some pieces of scholarship about or that employ Burke’s insights, concepts, or methods of reading, in this seminar participants will share and discuss their five-page exploratory papers focusing on a Burkean method applied to a section or part of Mein Kampf, and/or similar and perhaps rhetorically untreated holocausts in subsequent history. The concept or methods applied could include Burke’s notions of identification, consubtantiality, or substance; form, casuistry, and/or entelechy; tropes, terministic screens, pentadic ratios, etc. Papers should be as specific as possible.
Materials to Read
Burke, Kenneth. “The Rhetoric of Hitler’s ‘Battle’.” The Philosophy of Literary Form: Studies in Symbolic Action. 3rd ed. Berkeley: U of California P, 1973. 191-220.
Hitler, Adolf. Mein Kampf (any unexpurgated edition. I have the 1939 edition, published by arrangement with Houghton Mifflin). You might want to pay particular attention to Volume 1,“Chapter VI: War Propaganda” and in Volume 2, “Chapter VI: The Struggle of the Early Days—The Significance of the Spoken Word,” or “Chapter XI: Propaganda and Organization,” as I do in some of my work (see below), but any part or topic of Hitler’s manifesto, which are highly discernible in the Table of Contents, is ripe for the talking.
Pauley, Garth. "Criticism in Context: Kenneth Burke's "The Rhetoric of Hitler's 'Battle'" KB Journal 6.1 (Fall 2009). http://www.kbjournal.org/garth_pauley
Schmidt, Josef. “In Praise of Kenneth Burke: His ‘The Rhetoric of Hitler’s ‘Battle’ Revisited.” Should be available for free from your university computer at: RHETOR – Volume I (2004). http://uregina.ca/~rheaults/rhetor/2004/schmidt.pdf
Weiser, Elizabeth M. “Burke and War: Rhetoricizing the Theory of Dramatism.” Rhetoric Review, Vol. 26, No. 3, 286–302. Copyright © 2007, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Should be available via university journal subscriptions or may be downloaded from Prof. Weiser here: http://newark.osu.edu/facultystaff/personal/eweiser/Documents/Burke%20and%20War.pdf
Materials to Read Provided by the Seminar Leader
Katz, Steven B. “The Ethic of Expediency: Classical Rhetoric, Technology, and the Holocaust.” College English 54 (March 1992): 255-75
Katz, Steven B. “Aristotle’s Rhetoric, Hitler’s Program, and the Ideological Problem of Praxis, Power, and Professional Discourse as a Social Construction of Knowledge.” Special issue on Power and Professional Discourse, Journal of Business and Technical Communication. (Jan. 1993): 37-62
Steve Katz is the Pearce Professor of Professional Communication at Clemson University. He received his Ph.D. in Communication and Rhetoric from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1988. His most recent book is the 3rd edition of Writing in the Sciences: Exploring Conventions of Scientific Discourse, co-authored with Ann Penrose and published in 2010 by Allyn & Bacon/Longman. In 1993, Dr. Katz won a National Council of Teachers of English Award for his article on "The Ethic of Expediency." His book Plato's Nightmare is due out from Parlor Press in 2011.
Ann George
Texas Christian University
Archival research is changing the face of Burke studies. In the past decade, a host of essays and books have demonstrated how the archives ask us to reexamine what we “know” about Burke by reexamining how we’ve come to this knowledge. Archives, that is, changewhat we study (his rhetorical strategies as well as his theory, how he wrote as well as what he wrote) and how we study, enabling us to employ Burke’s methodologies—to read dramatistically, to “use everything.” And, then, archives help us begin to define what “everything” means in each case.This seminar will enable participants to explore, practically and theoretically, the potential for and the limitations of creating new understandings of Burke via his archives.
Materials to Read
Anderson, Dana, and Jessica Enoch. “Introduction.” Burke in the Archives: Using the Past to Transform the Future of Burkean Studies. Ed. Dana Anderson and Jessica Enoch. Under review at U of South Carolina P.
Crable, Bryan. “Distance as Ultimate Motive: A Dialectical Interpretation of A Rhetoric of Motives.” RSQ 39.3 (2009): 213-39.
George, Ann. “Kenneth Burke’s ‘On Must’ and ‘Take Care’ ”: An Edition of His Reply to Parkes’s Review of Attitudes Toward History.” RSQ 29.4 (1999): 21-39.
---. “Finding the Time for Burke.” Burke in the Archives: Using the Past to Transform the Future of Burkean Studies. Ed. Dana Anderson and Jessica Enoch. Under review at U of South Carolina P.
“Interview: Jessica Enoch—Striking Metaphors.” Working in the Archives: Practical Research Methods for Research and Composition. Ed. Alexis E. Ramsey, Wendy B. Sharer, Barbara L’Eplattenier, and Lisa S. Mastrangelo. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 2010. 152-53.
Morris, Sammie L., and Shirley K Rose. “Invisible Hands: Recognizing Archivists’ Work To Make Records Accessible.” Working in the Archives: Practical Research Methods for Research and Composition. Ed. Alexis E. Ramsey, Wendy B. Sharer, Barbara L’Eplattenier, and Lisa S. Mastrangelo. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 2010. 51-78.
Robert J. Connors, “Dreams and Play: Historical Method and Methodology.” Methods and Methodology in Composition Research. Ed. Gesa Kirsch and Patricia A. Sullivan. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 1992. 15-36.
Tell, David. “Burke’s Encounter with Ransom: Rhetoric and Epistemology in ‘Four Master Tropes.’ ” RSQ 34.4 (2004): 33-54.
Wible, Scott. “Professor Burke’s ‘Bennington Project.’” RSQ 38.3 (2008): 259-82.
Ann George is Associate Professor of English at Texas Christian University. Currently President of KBS, she is co-author, with Jack Selzer, of Kenneth Burke in the 1930s and is working on a critical edition of Permanence and Change.
We're pleased to publish the program for the 8th Triennial Conference of the Kenneth Burke Society. Printed versions of the program will be available at the conference. Any errata should be emailed to the conference chair at dblakes@clemson.edu (David Blakesley).
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The Seventh Triennial Conference of the Kenneth Burke Society welcomes proposals for papers and panels on any Burkean subject. Especially welcome are proposals that address the conference theme: “Kenneth Burke: Transcendence by Perspective.” The conference will take place from June 29-July 1, 2008, at Villanova University, just outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Deadline for submissions is February 1, 2008. View the conference flyer.
About the Conference Theme
One of the hallmarks of Kenneth Burke’s work is a deep-rooted suspicion of entrenched antagonism, of the bitterly contested either/or. Confronting a Western tradition mired in dualisms, and a social world fractured along binaristic lines, Burke traced these all-too-common symptoms to their source in the human symbolic condition and, not content simply with this diagnosis, he also sought a cure: the disciplined cultivation of transcendence via “ultimate” terms (A Rhetoric of Motives 186-89). As Burke writes in Attitudes Toward History, “When approached from a certain point of view, A and B are ‘opposites.’ We mean by ‘transcendence’ the adoption of another point of view from which they cease to be opposites” (336). Although inspired in part by his reading of Plato, Burke’s vision of transcendence avoids the pitfalls of the transcendental, but instead is grounded solidly in the necessity of our embodied symbolicity. In Burke’s skilled hands, transcendence becomes not the elimination of perspective, of partisanship, but the embrace of transcendence by perspective—because only by rigorously acknowledging the symbolic nature of perspective can we move beyond the stagnant stalemate of reified social, political, and philosophical binaries.
This theme calls on conference participants to explore the relevance of Burkean thought for the transcendence of conflicts, whether enduring (as in the American “racial divide”) or ephemeral (as in the humanitarian crises of today). Over the course of the convention, a combination of keynote speakers, featured presenters, and seminar leaders will engage in their various incarnations the pressures of symbolicity, the multiple dimensions of perspective, and the possibilities of transcendence.
Featuring diverse opportunities for engagement with Burke’s enduring relevance, the seventh triennial expects to continue the interdisciplinary tradition of past triennials, with participation by scholars from communication, rhetoric, literary theory, sociology, American studies, critical/cultural studies, and theology (among other fields).Most triennials have produced books of conference proceedings and all have promoted work by their participants leading to important articles and books on Burkean subjects.
About the Conference
A number of prominent Burke scholars will participate in the conference as speakers and seminar leaders. Detailed information about their work is available at the conference website. The keynoters will be Joseph R. Gusfield and John S. Wright. Featured speakers will include A. Cheree Carlson, Michael Hyde, and Robert Perinbanayagam. Seminar leaders with their topics include Ann George (Burke in the 1930s), Scott Newstok (Burke and Shakespeare), Mari Boor Tonn (Burke and Feminism), and Robert Wess (Transcendence by Perspective).
Visit the conference website (http://communication.villanova.edu/burke/index.htm) for information about nominations for Kenneth Burke Society awards for Lifetime Achievement, Distinguished Service, and Emerging Scholar.
It's expected that this conference, like previous ones, will feature an enjoyable evening with the Burke family, including a reading by Julie Whitaker from her recent collection of Burke's later poetry (Late Poems, 1968-1993, co-edited with David Blakesley).
Finally, a special feature of this conference will be an event celebrating the lives and works of three much-missed members of the Kenneth Burke Society: Bernard Brock, Leland Griffin, and William Rueckert.
Proposals for paper and panels
While always encouraging submissions focused around the conference theme, we also welcome work by faculty as well as students on any subject related to Burkean scholarship. Please identify student proposals as such, indicating school, area of major study, level (graduate or undergraduate). Proposal should be 250-350 words in length (for panels, include 250-350 words for each paper). Submit proposal electronically, as either PDF or MS Word document, to george.boone@villanova.edu, with the words “Submission to Burke Conference” on the subject line of the e-mail.
Deadline for proposals: February 1, 2008. Selections for the conference will be announced April 1, 2008.
The length of completed papers should be appropriate for a 15-20 minute presentation. Completed papers submitted by May 1, 2008 will be eligible for awards, one for the best conference paper, the other for the best graduate student paper. In addition, up to two meritorious undergraduate papers will receive conference grants (travel, housing, conference registration) from Graduate Programs in Communication at Villanova.
About the Conference Location
All events and programs for the convention will be held at the Villanova University Conference Center, located just off of its main campus. The combination historic mansion and contemporary conference facility will allow participants to enjoy a peaceful, bucolic setting, without having to stray far from the day’s meeting and banquet rooms. Conference participants will have three options for housing: the Conference Center itself, the nearby Radnor Hotel, or air-conditioned campus apartments—this last option especially helpful for budget-conscious Burkeans. Details on housing prices and reservations will be posted by January, 2008. Please note: transportation will be provided at no additional cost for all those staying at the Radnor Hotel and campus apartments.
For additional information on paper submission, registration, housing, and other matters, consult the conference website (http://communication.villanova.edu/burke/index.htm) or direct questions to George Boone, Assistant to the Conference Planner (george.boone@villanova.edu), or to Bryan Crable, Conference Planner (bryan.crable@villanova.edu).
US Mail should be directed to Communication Department, Villanova University, 800 Lancaster Ave., Villanova, PA 19085-1699, USA.
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Members of the Kenneth Burke Society can use the information below to purchase important books by and about Burke at a significant discount. These days, it's important to support the publishers of "Boik Woiks" (as KB would put it) so that we continue to benefit from their efforts to provide an important venue for our scholarship. The Kenneth Burke Society appreciates their generosity.
Parlor Press offers a 20 percent discount on all books by and about Kenneth Burke, including Essays Toward a Symbolic of Motives, 1950 to 1955, Kenneth Burke on Shakespeare, Letters from Kenneth Burke to William H. Rueckert, 1959-1987, Poetic Healing (Huglen and Clark), a Parlor Press t-shirt with a caricature of Burke (available June 1, 2007), and forthcoming Burke books, such as Literature as Equipment for Living and Kenneth Burke and His Circles . You need to use this form (PDF format) to order your books or other paraphernalia. You may also call Parlor Press with your order at 765.409.2649.
Parlor Press Website: http://www.parlorpress.com
Roman and Littlefield offers a 25 percent discount to KBS Members through 2/10/2008 on these titles. Use this discount code when ordering online or by phone: 4S7KBJOU
Roman and Littlefield Website: http://www.rowmanlittlefield.com
Say Press offers a 20 percent discount on its Burke titles, including A Concise Kenneth Burke Concordance, Persuasion, Proposals, and Public Speaking, The Seven Cs of Stress: A Burkean Approach, and Psychotic Entelechy: The Dangers of Spiritual Gifts Theology. Please use this online order form: http://mywebpage.netscape.com/lindsaystan/KBS-SayPress.html
Say Press Website: http://www.saypress.com
The University of California Press offers a 20 percent discount to KBS members on its Burke books using this code, which you should enter at the time of your online purchase: 07D1676
UC Press Website: http://www.ucpress.edu/books/
[Ratified November 14, 1986. Revised May 8, 1993.]
Constitution
Article I
Name
Section 1. The name of this organization shall be the Kenneth Burke Society.
Section 2. Official use of the Kenneth Burke Society's name shall be made only through the authority of the officers of the Kenneth Burke Society or by members of the Kenneth Burke Society at the triennial convention business meetings.
Article II
Purposes
Section 1. The purpose of the Kenneth Burke Society shall be to promote the study, understanding, dissemination of, research on, critical analysis of, and preservation of the works of and about Kenneth Burke.
Section 2. The Kenneth Burke Society, a not-for-profit organization, exists for educational, scientific, and literary purposes only. No part of the organization's net earnings shall inure to the private benefit of any individual or group. No substantial part of the activities of the Kenneth Burke Society shall be the carrying on of propaganda, or otherwise attempting, to influence legislation. The Kenneth Burke Society shall not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements) any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office.
Article III
Membership
Membership in the Kenneth Burke Society shall be open to any person or institution interested in promoting the Kenneth Burke Society's purpose.
Article IV
Affiliate Organizations
The officers or by members of the Kenneth Burke Society at triennial convention business meetings, may upon petition from an association whose objectives are consistent with those of the Kenneth Burke Society, grant to such an association the status of affiliate organization.
Article V
Officers
Section 1. The officers shall be: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Editor of Publications.
Section 2. The Vice President shall succeed to the office of President.
Section 3. The officers shall be nominated and elected as specified in the Bylaws.
Section 4. The duties of the officers shall be as specified in the Bylaws.
Section 5. In the event of the incapacity of any officer, the remaining officers shall, at their discretion, elect a replacement or establish a nomination and election procedure for so doing.
Article VI
Committees
The Kenneth Burke Society shall have such ad hoc committees as shall be created by the President or by members of the Kenneth Burke Society at the triennial convention business meetings and such ad hoc committees as shall be created by any other officers with advice and consent of the President or by members of the Kenneth Burke Society at the triennial convention business meetings.
Article VII
Program Sessions and Business Meetings
Section 1. Program sessions to promote the purposes of the Kenneth Burke Society shall be held as specified in the Bylaws.
Section 2. Business meetings for all members of the Kenneth Burke Society shall be held as specified in the Bylaws.
Section 3. A quorum for a business meeting shall be one percent of the members of the Kenneth Burke Society.
Article VIII
Chapters
Section 1. With the advice and consent of the officers of the Kenneth Burke Society or by members of the Kenneth Burke Society at the triennial convention business meetings, members of the Kenneth Burke Society may form Chapters within other professional organizations and associations whose principles are consistent with the purposes of the Kenneth Burke Society.
Section 2. Each Chapter may elect the officers and adopt an organizational arrangement which is appropriate to the organization and association in which it functions.
Section 3. Each Chapter may sponsor program sessions, hold business meetings, elect its own officers, distribute publications, and sponsor other activities consistent with the purposes of the Kenneth Burke Society.
Section 4. Each Chapter shall delegate a representative of the Chapter to report on the activities of the Chapter at triennial business meetings of the Kenneth Burke Society.
Article IX
Triennial Convention
Section 1. The Kenneth Burke Society shall sponsor a convention for all members of the Kenneth Burke Society every three years referred to, in this document, as the triennial convention.
Section 2. At the triennial convention business meeting of the Kenneth Burke Society, the members shall elect a Chief Convention Planner whose primary responsibility shall be to appoint a Convention Planning Committee and to plan the triennial convention with the advice of the Convention Planning Committee.
Section 3. The Chief Convention Planner and the Convention Planning Committee shall select the convention site and dates for the triennial convention.
Section 4. The Chief Convention Planner and the Convention Planning Committee shall be responsible for the activities and organization of the triennial convention.
Section 5. The Chief Convention Planner and the Convention Planning Committee shall establish a convention fee for the triennial convention in accordance with the Kenneth Burke Society's financial needs.
Article X
Amendments
Section 1. The officers, by majority vote, may initiate amendments to this Constitution.
Section 2. Any member of the Kenneth Burke Society may petition the officers, which shall then mandate them to consider a proposed amendment.
Section 3. Any 25 members of the Kenneth Burke Society may present a petition that will mandate the officers to submit a proposed amendment to the members.
Section 4. Any amendment initiated as specified in the Sections above shall be voted on by the Kenneth Burke Society membership at the triennial convention business meetings. Such an amendment shall be approved by a simple majority of the members voting.
Article XI
Dissolution
The Kenneth Burke Society may be dissolved only at a special meeting called for such purposes, and in the manner prescribed by the relevant federal and state laws, by vote of the three-fourths of the members present. Upon any such dissolution of the Kenneth Burke Society, the Treasurer shall, after paying or making provision for the payment of all of the liabilities of the Kenneth Burke Society, dispose of all of the assets of the Kenneth Burke Society exclusively for the purposes of the Kenneth Burke Society in such manner, or to such organization or organizations organized and operated exclusively for charitable, educational, literary, or scientific purposes as shall at the time qualify as an exempt organization or organizations under Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 ( or corresponding provisions of any subsequent Federal tax laws), as the officers may determine.
Bylaws
Article I
Dues and Fees
Section 1. Annual dues for members of the Kenneth Burke Society shall be determined by the members of the Kenneth Burke Society at the triennial convention business meetings.
Section 2. Upon petition of 25 members of the Kenneth Burke Society, the officers must submit any decision to change dues to the members at the next triennial convention business meeting of the Kenneth Burke Society. A simple majority of those voting shall constitute approval.
Article II
Meetings
Section 1. Meetings of the Kenneth Burke Society and of its constituent bodies are normally open to all members. Each body shall establish its own rules.
Section 2. The Kenneth Burke Society shall assume no responsibility for statements of opinion expressed by participants in program sessions sponsored by the Kenneth Burke Society or in such other conferences and meetings as it may sponsor or which may be sponsored by any Chapter of the Kenneth Burke Society.
Section 3. The Kenneth Burke Society shall sponsor program sessions at its triennial conventions. Program sessions shall be under the direction of the Chief Convention Planner (or whomever the Chief Convention Planner may designate for this purpose). Policy implementation and financial obligations of such program sessions shall be subject to the approval of the Chief Convention Planner and the Convention Planning Committee, governed by the policies approved by members of the Kenneth Burke Society at triennial convention business meetings.
Section 4. Program sessions shall be organized by the Chief Convention Planner (or whomever the Chief Convention Planner may designate for this purpose). Whenever possible, a call for papers shall be distributed to all members of the Kenneth Burke Society and papers shall be competitively selected, through a "blind review" process, by a Selection Committee appointed by the Chief Convention Planner (or whomever the Chief Convention Planner may designate for this purpose).
Section 5. The Kenneth Burke Society shall hold periodic business meetings for all members of the Kenneth Burke Society, at least at the triennial convention of the Kenneth Burke Society, and at other times and places to be determined by the officers of the Kenneth Burke Society. The officers shall notify all members of the Society of the date, time, location, and agenda of each business meeting at least two months prior to the meetings. Business meetings may be held in association with the scheduled activities of other professional associations and organizations.
Article III
Eligibility for Office
A person must be a member of the Kenneth Burke Society to be eligible for (1) nomination to candidacy for any elective office of the Kenneth Burke Society; (2) appointment to any appointive office or committee position in the Kenneth Burke Society; and (3) election to any elective office in the Kenneth Burke Society.
Article IV
Nomination and Election of Officers
Section 1. Any member of the Kenneth Burke Society may nominate any eligible person for any Kenneth Burke Society office during a scheduled election at a triennial convention business meeting of the Kenneth Burke Society.
Section 2. The nominee for any office receiving a simple majority of the votes cast at a triennial convention business meeting of the Kenneth Burke Society shall be elected. Should no candidate receive a majority of votes cast, a runoff election shall be held between the two candidates receiving the largest number of votes.
Section 3. Elected officers shall assume office at the conclusion of the triennial convention business meeting immediately following their election.
Section 4. Elected officers shall serve three (3) year terms of office.
Article V
Duties of Officers
Section 1. The President shall serve as presiding officer of the Kenneth Burke Society at its triennial convention business meetings and shall discharge the responsibilities normally adhering to the office. The President shall be responsible for the administration of the Kenneth Burke Society's business meetings.
Section 2. The Vice President shall discharge the responsibilities normally adhering to the office and shall succeed to the office of the President in the event of the death, disability, or resignation of the President. The Vice President shall succeed automatically to the office of President at the conclusion of the President's term of office.
Section 3. The Secretary shall perform the usual duties adhering to the office.
Section 4. The Treasurer shall perform the usual duties adhering to the office.
Section 5. The Editor of Publications shall select the editorial staff and shall perform the usual duties of an editor-in-chief.
Article VI
Publications
Section 1. The Kenneth Burke Society shall publish a scholarly newsletter. The name of the newsletter shall be the Kenneth Burke Society Newsletter.
Section 2. The Kenneth Burke Society shall publish other scholarly publications as shall be determined by the membership of the Kenneth Burke Society at its triennial convention business meetings.
Section 3. The Kenneth Burke Society shall assume no responsibility for statements of opinion expressed by individuals in any publication sponsored by the Kenneth Burke Society or sponsored or published by any Chapter of the Kenneth Burke Society.
Article VII
Parliamentary Authority
In the absence of any provision to the contrary in the Constitution or Bylaws, all business meetings of the Kenneth Burke Society or the subsidiary bodies of the Kenneth Burke Society shall be governed by the parliamentary rules and usages contained in the current edition of Robert's Rules of Orders, Newly Revised.
Article VIII
Amendments
Section 1. Amendments to these Bylaws may be initiated by a majority of the officers or by a petition addressed to the officers and signed by 25 members of the Kenneth Burke Society.
Section 2. Proposed amendments to these Bylaws shall be presented to the members present at the triennial convention business meeting of the Kenneth Burke Society for vote. Such an amendment shall be adopted if it is approved by a majority.
Your Kenneth Burke Society Membership entitles you to premium content at KB Journal, book discounts, and more. Read more about it here. If you registered and attended the 2011 KBS Triennial Conference at Clemson, your membership in KBS is active until the next conference in 2014.
The membership options are listed below. Click on the link to review the option and then, if desired, add it to your shopping cart. When ready, you may check-out and pay online securely through PayPal with a credit card, an echeck, or an existing PayPal account. Your membership expiration date will be updated automatically.
Thanks for your support of the Kenneth Burke Society.
Membership in the Kenneth Burke Society entitles you to premium content at the KB Journal site, including premium bibliographies, archives of newsletters, discounts for future conferences, and valuable coupons from publishers for discounts on Burke books. In addition, membership dues support publication of KB Journal, KBS awards, archival projects, and conferences.
This membership is good for a lifetime. If you're renewing a membership, your membership will have its expiration date set to "never."
Membership in the Kenneth Burke Society entitles you to premium content at the KB Journal site, including premium bibliographies, archives of newsletters, discounts for future conferences, and valuable coupons from publishers for discounts on Burke books. In addition, membership dues support publication of KB Journal, KBS awards, archival projects, and conferences.
Your membership is good for one year. If you're renewing a membership, one year will be added to your current expiration date.
Membership in the Kenneth Burke Society entitles you to premium content at the KB Journal site, including premium bibliographies, archives of newsletters, discounts for future conferences, and valuable coupons from publishers for discounts on Burke books. In addition, membership dues support publication of KB Journal, KBS awards, archival projects, and conferences.
This membership is good for three years. If you're renewing a membership, three years will be added to your current expiration date.
A student membership in the Kenneth Burke Society entitles you to premium content at the KB Journal site, including premium bibliographies, archives of newsletters, discounts for future conferences, and valuable coupons from publishers for discounts on Burke books. In addition, membership dues support publication of KB Journal, KBS awards, archival projects, and conferences.
This membership is good for one year. If you're renewing a membership, one year will be added to your current expiration date.
Name: ______________________________________________________
Title: ______________________________________________________
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University: ______________________________________________________
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Include in public directory of members? ___ Yes ___No
Dues: Regular: $30 per year; $75 for 3 years
Student: $10 per year
Lifetime: $250
To join or renew your membership, please send a check made out to "Kenneth Burke Society" and mail it to:
Virginia Anderson, Treasurer
Indiana University Southeast
4201 Grant Line Road
New Albany IN 47150
Some archival issues of the Kenneth Burke Society Newsletter are available to active Society members in PDF format. Here, we list the issue date, volume, number, and front page headline.
December, 1993: "Kenneth Burke Dies at Home in Andover, November 19, 1993" (180 kb)
Volume 9, Number 1
June, 1995: "Burke Centenary" (423 kb)
Volume 10, Number 1
May, 1996: "Books & Bibliography" (250 kb)
Volume 11, Number 1
October, 1998: "Continuing Our Conversation" (1999 Iowa Conference Preview) (598 kb)
Volume 12, Number 1
April, 1999: "Culture, Criticism, Dialectic: Engaging Kenneth Burke" (1999 Iowa Conference Program) (316 kb)
Volume 12, Number 2
June, 2000: "1999's Iowa Conference" (Conference Reports) (457 kb)
Volume 13, Number 1
The Kenneth Burke Discussion List has been active since 1997 and is moderated by David Blakesley. In 2007, there were 240 subscribers. To subscribe or adjust your subscription details, go to the KB List Information Page:
https://lists.purdue.edu/mailman/listinfo/kb
If you have questions that can't be answered there, please send a note to Dave via our online contact form: