Association For Rhetoric Of Science And Technology

Communication: Inquiry, Energy, and Risk - Deadline Friday, April 22, 2011

ASSOCIATION FOR RHETORIC OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

NCA Pre-Conference Theme: 
“Communication: Inquiry, Energy, and Risk”

Deadline: Friday, April 22, 2011

The Association for Rhetoric of Science and Technology (ARST) will host its annual pre-conference prior to NCA. We invite submissions of works in various stages of progress, including non-traditional presentations or projects. Presentations addressing the ways in which communication impacts the production, dissemination, and utilization of scientific and/or technological knowledge are welcome. Participating ARST pre-conference panelists will be invited to develop position papers with their fellow panelists during the pre-conference session for eventual submission to the Project on the Rhetoric of Inquiry, An Interdisciplinary Journal of Rhetorical Analysis and Invention (POROI): http://ir.uiowa.edu/poroi//. POROI Editor David Depew will be in attendance.

This year the theme of the pre-conference will focus on “Communication: Inquiry, Energy, and Risk.” Energy is a central term in many discourses, used both metaphorically and literally, and can be defined broadly. Environmental and human-induced disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, the BP Oil Spill, and the Japanese nuclear emergency, underscore the risk yoked to energy production. Scholarship can make sense of contrasting definitions and their persuasive functions around our energy futures in the face of these risks, whether around nuclear energy, the volatility of prices for fuel and food, the proposal and rejection of carbon cap-and-trade, or the stimulus package’s focus on wind and solar production.

Please submit your 250 word abstract proposals to Aimee-Marie Dorsten, Wilson College, adorsten@wilson.edu, by Friday, April 22, 2011. Include your name, the names of any co-presenters, your address, email, and school affiliation. Please write: “ARST NCA Pre-conference” in the Subject line. We look forward to your joining us for what should be an enjoyable pre-conference. For more information on ARST, visit http://www.arstonline.org/.