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Eighth International Writing Across the Curriculum Conference May 18-20, 2006 The Conference Center & Inn at Clemson University Clemson, South Carolina

Proposal Deadline: September 26, 2005.

We are delighted to announce the Eighth International Writing Across the Curriculum Conference. We encourage proposals from all disciplines and from cross-disciplinary teams on a wide range of topics of interest to faculty, graduate students, and administrators at two- and four-year colleges. These topics include:

· WAC: Writing Across the Curriculum
· WID: Writing in the Disciplines
· CAC: Communication Across the Curriculum, which includes oral, visual, digital, and written communication · ECAC: Electronic Communication Across the Curriculum.

We invite proposals of five session types: individual presentations; full panels; roundtable sessions; poster sessions; and pre-conference workshops. In addition, we invite submission of proposals in the following broad categories:

Theme A: Teaching: Using WAC, WID, CAC, or ECAC in Teaching Disciplinary Courses

Theme B: Research, History, Theory, and Contemporary Practice

Theme C: Program Design, Implementation, Administration, Outreach, and Assessment

Theme D: WAC, CAC, and Technology

Theme E: The Politics of WAC

Theme F: Cross Thematic and Other Related Topics

For program proposal forms and additional conference information, please see our website < www.clemson.edu/pearce/wac2006>. Please also feel free to contact the conference planners at wac2006-L@clemson.edu or fax, 864.656.1846. You may also contact the conference co-directors: Art Young and Kathi Yancey, 864.656.3062, Department of English, 616 Strode Tower, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634-0523.

Art Young
Dept. of English
Clemson University
Clemson, S.C. 29634-0523
(864)656-3062
fax: (864)656-1846
http://people.clemson.edu/~apyoung/

I am currently reading The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova . Not for school, but for pleasure. It is a reallly good read.

The NYTimes.com has the first chapter:

The Historian Chapter One

Read the NY Times Book Review

Scholarship Trumps the Stake in Pursuit of Dracula

Garlic and crucifixes are traditionally part of the arsenal for vanquishing vampires. But in “The Historian,” the Dracula-da Vinci Code hybrid that has emerged as the most heavily hyped novel of the summer, the first-time author Elizabeth Kostova tries a different tactic. Perhaps even the undead can be talked to death.

In a ponderous, many-layered book that is exquisitely versed in the art of stalling, Ms. Kostova steeps her readers in Dracula lore. She visits many libraries, monasteries, relics of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires, crypts, restaurants, scholars and folk-song-singing peasants. Every now and then a mysterious pale, sinister figure will materialize, only to vanish bewilderingly. The book’s characters find this a lot more baffling than readers will.

The Historian

The New York Times reports CBS is filming prototypes of new evening news formats. Katie Couric has also been reported as having talked with Leslie Moonves, president of CBS. Couric’s contract with NBC is up next year.

CBS Moving to Find a New Look for News

Seven months after Leslie Moonves, the chairman of CBS, exhorted his colleagues to re-engineer the network’s evening newscast, the drafting process has reached an apparent milestone: the news division has begun to record and edit prototypes of how that broadcast could soon look.

Again, WFAA is changing their morning team anchors. Debbie Denmon, who I will miss, is OUT! Denmon has been demoted to weekend mornings, which are usually reserved for the young new people who lack the overall experience.
Now hair boy, Justin Farmer (yes, he has that anchor hair) and New Yorker Jackie Hyland are in. Read the story here:

Ch. 8 announces new duo for mornings

Mr. Farmer, 36, comes to Channel 8 from a Fox-owned station in Denver and previously worked at Dallas’ KDAF-TV (Channel 33). Ms. Hyland, 37, makes the move from the WB affiliate in New York City. He will start in mid-August, and she will join the broadcast in early September.

Many Going to College Aren’t Ready, Report Finds

Only about half of this year’s high school graduates have the reading skills they need to succeed in college, and even fewer are prepared for college-level science and math courses, according to a yearly report from ACT, which produces one of the nation’s leading college admissions tests.

Pottermania 2005: A Harry Potter Conference Friday October 14, 2005 Co-sponsored by UC Riverside’s English Department and the Center for Ideas and Society

Call for Papers

Pottermania 2005 will be a one day conference for scholars and fans of the Harry Potter novels. Given the broad interest in all things Potter, our aim is to hold a conference open to the general public and the press, creating a forum for scholarly analysis of the books as well as a forum for open discussion between scholars and fans of these works. Our hope is that we will be able to provide a space for scholarly discussion that is at the same time welcoming to a more general reading audience. In order to accomplish this goal, we are asking for shorter presentations, of approximately 10 minutes, and are encouraging the use of more creative and interesting presentational methods. We are also building in more time for open discussion than that found at many conferences.

Proposals are sought for papers on any topic relating to the Harry Potter novels, the films, the general Harry Potter phenomenon, or the fan community. Potential topics include but are not limited to:

Harry Potter and Issues of Translation and Adaptation Philosophical, Political, and Ethical Issues: May include the depiction of evil or the issues of slavery, sexism, and racism Harry Potter seen through the lens of ethnic or gender studies, anthropology, sociology, psychology, folklore, etc.
Harry Potter and Its Influences
Harry Potter and Genre Considerations
Harry Potter and Audience Expectations
Harry Potter and Educational Theory
Harry Potter in the Context of Young Adult or Children’s Literature Harry Potter and Fanfiction Harry Potter and Its Reception: May explore the varied responses and political controversies surrounding the books

Proposals should take the form of an approximately 500-word abstract, as well as a 50-100 word summary for the program book and a 50-100 word biography. All proposals must be received by email by September 1, 2005. Please send all abstracts and questions to Craig Svonkin at svonkco@netzero.com

This symposium is an unofficial event and is not endorsed by Warner Bros, the Harry Potter book publishers or J. K. Rowling and her representatives.
PERMISSION TO COPY, FORWARD, OR POST PUBLICLY IS GRANTED

Liz Smith, famous gossip columnist, who is moving her column to Variety magazine says it will be hard to compete with the bloggers!

Spreading the Gossip at Snail Mail Speed

“I can’t get any scandal anymore,” said Ms. Smith, in her ninth decade at age 82. “I’m more of a philosopher, nowadays, because nobody can compete with the bloggers.”

Ms. Smith as Socrates might seem like a stretch, but she may be on to something. Because of an ever-expanding blogosphere, keeping a juicy item secret until the next day’s paper seems positively quaint. So when Ms. Smith’s column begins appearing in Variety next month, she might be more observer than reporter.

Christians are concerned with the upcoming movie The Da Vinci Code. So much in fact, they asked Ron Howard to put a disclaimer on the movie that says the story is fictional. I think the book has stirred up conversation and that’s exactly what it should do.

Sprinkling Holy Water on ‘The Da Vinci Code’

Like the novel, Mr. Calley said, the movie can be a tool for discussing the origins of religion, even challenging its basic assumptions, which he said is a good thing. “In our society, most societies, we grow up with our religion given to us by our parents,” he said. “We’re never truly oriented into the history of it, the subtlety of it. The amazing thing about this book is it’s provocative: Is it all true? Isn’t it true? As a history book it’s extraordinary. As an exploration of the evolution of a particular religion, it’s extraordinary.”

A word of advice: People with cellphone cameras should NOT become star stalkers.

Ethics issue for citizen snappers

Budding amateur photographers and citizen journalists should not be tempted to become star stalkers says the founder of an amateur photo agency.
Kyle MacRae, whose agency Scoopt represents mobile snappers so they get paid for their work, said there are serious ethical issues at stake.

The London bombings on both July 7 and July 21 have shown that average citizens know how to break a story. Cellphones are the new mobile newsroom.

Shaping the media with mobiles

By 21 July, the day of the four attempted bombings, and the arrest of the suspects a week later, a routine had been established. Everyone with a mobile phone or a DV camera knew the power of their images and eyewitness accounts - and what to do with them.

The BBC received 67 pictures and 13 videos on 21 July, and a further 20 pictures on the day of the suspects’ arrests. On Sky News, one woman gave a running commentary as police, through a loudhailer, tried to persuade one of the suspects to give himself up. On BBC Radio, another eyewitness was interrupted on-air by what sounded like explosions.