some 4C's randomness

Wednesday:
Best day of the conference. Rhetoricians for Peace all-day workshop, with a focus on propaganda. Illuminating discussions of LeBon, Freud, Lippman, Ellul (must read his "The Formation of Men's Attitudes"), and Lasswell. Most theoretically engaged of the three RFP workshops I've attended over the past three years. Wonderful short film: "Happiness Machines," from a four-part BBC series called Century of the Self. Film outlined the storied career of Edward Bernays, nephew of Freud, who fathered the modern profession of public relations. Bernays sought to channel Uncle Sigmund's notion of the "all-consuming self" and turn various inert desires into profit. Started out as press agent for Caruso, but made name for himself working for Woodrow Wilson's regime, crafting their WWI message. Responsible for turning public support toward entry into war by using a "make the world safe for democracy" message, a rhetoric markedly similar to that used during run-up to Iraq war. Bernays also known for breaking taboo on women smoking by creating soundbites like his famous "torches of freedom" line, meant to sell smoking to women as an act of independence. Bernays virtually invented the media event by planting debutantes with cigarettes at various civic events. Goebbels later used the writings of Bernays (notably his masterwork Propaganda) as a template. And Bernays worked with industry during New Deal era to shape a pro-business 'democracy=capitalism' message (e.g., "manufacturers built America") to try to squelch great society social programming. Must read Bernays' Propaganda, as well as Larry Tye's biography. Absolutely fascinating stuff.

Wednesday Night, Arizona party...catching up with various AZ pals: Tilly and John, Sharon, Marvin, Patty, Amy, Michael, Tracy, Glo. Later, very nice dinner at Italian Village.

Thursday:
WPA breakfast...catching up with John and John. Both wpa grants given to research teams led by folks who used to teach in Youngstown (yeah!). Keynote address, which was enjoyable without really saying much. Great session on the rhetoric of loyalty oaths (Karen Powers-Stubbs, Cathy Chaput, and Tina Whittle), outlining mandated signed oath policy for teachers at state schools in Georgia, contextualized by interesting discussion of Horowitz/right-wing movements against academic freedom. Usually hard to take these threats too seriously, until being reminded that policies like the oaths really do exist. Another good session: "Film, Print, and Physical Embodiment: Working Through Binaries and Toward Rhetorical Activism." There, Cynthia Ryan did a kind of show and tell of her work on African-American women's magazines, tracing symbiotic relationship of individual and community identity construction. Also, Kristie Fleckenstein walked through theory of osmosis as methodology of consuming visual rhetoric, using 'women in black' peace marches as her text. My old U of Detroit mentor Hugh Culik presented with Anna Culik on a dual-enrollment program for "at risk rich kids" from Grosse Point (tony Detroit suburb), which during the 90s (shortly after I graduated) used an electronic critique curriculum to engage disaffected kids who were failing out of high school but largely turned things around during the project (most graduated, went on to college, and several are in high-prestige grad programs now).

Went to publisher's party over at Field Museum. Neat gathering, which I usually opt out of, but did end up having a good time. Later Nicole and I had burgers and drinks at Miller's Pub--which fast became the official C's late-night gathering spot--with Jay and Heather.

Friday:
Misc. sessions, hanging out in book display area (staffing Rhetoricians for Peace table), pizza at Pizzano's (pretty good), prepping for presentation. Our panel went well. Roxanne had travel problems and didn't make it. Jay and Cindy talked through universal design theory and outlined anti-remediation writing course they've designed down at Miami. Stephanie Kerschbaum showed transcripts of peer review conversations that her students had during review of papers where she foregrounded attention to intersectional markers of difference. I talked through critique of Million Dollar Baby as a case study for intersectionality's use of juxtaposition and metaphor. Good feedback afterward, and we had a super audience (one of the largest audiences I've had at C's). Fun stuff.

Nap, followed by working-class studies special interest group. Irv Peckham and Leo Parascondola did short papers, but mostly sig co-chairs Bill Thelin and Jen Beech had participants discuss in small groups competing definitions of class and their respective usefulness within the academy. Important stuff, to be sure, though class studies often gets bogged down in the definition mud.

Miami U. party that night, and those cats at Miami are goodly enough to invite even *former* employees! Lots of catching up with my former grad students there (no fewer than four students from my 'rhetorics of social class' course last spring were presenting versions of their seminar papers from said class...good job guys!). Spririted conversation with John Heyda about the art, ethics, and general ins and outs of CD reissues...when outta nowhere the fuzz busts in. Yes, the fine security crew at the Palmer House--same folks responsible for the Being John Malcovich-esque only slower elevators?--shut down the fiesta due to noise complaints. We adjourned to the over-priced hotel bar and vowed to spread wild, hyperbolic rumors about why the party was broken up. Nicole and I went up to the rock and roll party (hadn't been to that in years) where the band that I'm pretty sure played at my brother's wedding in 1984 was wowing the crowd. Seriously, folks, if this mother's ever held in Detroit, I must convince the fine folks at McGraw Hill to show this crew what real rock and roll is (I'm thinking Detroit Cobras). We danced for about an hour (am I making stuff up, or did the band seque from Otis Redding's "Hard to Handle" into "Like a Virgin" at one point?), and turned in.

Saturday, made the drive back to motown in the a.m., thinking about Edward Bernays, intersectionality, and possibilities for next year's working-class studies sig.