“Kenneth Burke in 2021: Seeing the Past, Envisioning the Future”

June 24-25, 2021
Online, hosted by the University of Maryland
View the Conference Program
Conference Organizer: Damien Pfister, University of Maryland, dsp@umd.edu
Submission deadline: 30 April 2021.
Submit proposal: : KBS 2021 Google Form Submission

Keynote Speakers

Theon Hill, Wheaton College
Kyle Jensen, Arizona State University

Overview and Update

One year ago, the Kenneth Burke Society postponed the Triennial Conference due to COVID-19. The conference has now been rescheduled for June 24-25, 2021, as a remote event. Although 2020 is (thankfully) in the past, the conference theme of “Kenneth Burke in 20/20: Seeing the Past, Envisioning the Future” will still guide our gathering. We envision a lively mix of synchronous and asynchronous presentations anchored by two keynote addresses from Dr. Theon Hill of Wheaton College and Dr. Kyle Jensen of Arizona State University.

In order to check virtual conference fatigue, we plan on having a slightly truncated schedule over two days, with no concurrent sessions. Six live sessions will be complemented by asynchronous presentations that will be made accessible for all those registered for the conference.

Attending KBS 2020(1) will be free for all participants who are members of the KBS. Not yet a member? Student memberships are only $10 for a year, and regular memberships are only $25!

Schedule (all times EST)

Day 1, Thursday June 24, 2021

10 am—Keynote, Dr. Theon Hill
11-12:15—Session 1
12:15-1:00—Lunch break
1-2:15—Session 2
2:15-3:30—Session 3
3:30-4:30—Social Hour

Day 2, Friday, June 25, 2021

10 am—Keynote, Dr. Kyle Jensen
11-12:15—Session 4
12:15-1:00—Lunch break
1-2:15—Session 5
2:15-3:30—Session 6
3:30-4:30—Social Hour

Submissions may be 350-word paper or panel proposals. They can be directly submitted via the following link: KBS 2021 Google Form Submission. Proposals should be submitted by April 30, with acceptances by May 15.

For more information, and to join KBS or renew your membership, please visit: https://www.kbjournal.org/join_kbs

Conference Organizer: Damien Pfister, University of Maryland, dsp@umd.edu
KBS President, Bryan Crable, Villanova University, bryan.crable@villanova.edu

About the Conference Theme

In our current moment, appeals to history are commonplace—whether in slogans seeking to recapture an idyllic “America,” in news stories seeking to link current white supremacist violence to that of past decades, or in academics’ reflection upon the past practices and attitudes that continue to do consequential work in the present. As Burke would remind us, of course, these appeals are quite complex; our narratives of the past are dialectically equivalent to our assumptions about the nature of the present.

Yet, there is another complication at work here. It is the contention of this conference, and of its organizers, that Burke’s writings and thought remain vitally relevant to the analysis and navigating of the conditions of contemporary social life—here in the US and across the globe. Yet, calling us to embrace Burke for the future does require that we take stock of our past. The Kenneth Burke Society, and Burke Studies itself, are, of course, deeply implicated in the conversations started in many disciplines regarding the kinds of scholarship, and scholars, who have been traditionally valued and elevated, and the kinds of systemic inequalities that this has fostered. The Society, and the field of Burke Studies in general, has—without, to draw on a quote from Burke, deliberate intent upon the part of anyone—for too long functioned as an exclusionary space, reproducing an equation of Burke with “white” and “male.” This has worked to denigrate and marginalize work by the many women (starting with Marie Hochmuch Nichols) who have been excellent readers and scholars of Burke. This has also worked to discourage students and faculty of color from finding a home in the Society—and has rendered illegible those scholars of color who do, and have done, excellent work with Burke’s texts.

Although the KBS is not alone in this regard, this is our past. The task, then, is to make something different for the future, to find possibilities in the past that were not seized (by Burke, or those who followed in his footsteps), possibilities that can aid in that effort.

The conference theme thus calls for papers and proposals that explore the relevance of Burkean thought for collectively envisioning—and speaking into existence—a new and different kind of future. As Burke says in his afterword to Attitudes Toward History, “throughout the History (the Changing Story) of Acceptances and Rejections there broods the fantastic Maybe of the transformations.” Over the course of the convention, a combination of keynote and plenary speakers, attendees, and seminar leaders will engage in a collective effort to find the hopeful and just Maybes in our History of Acceptances and Rejections. 

Submit your proposal here: KBS 2021 Google Form Submission

 

Fast Facts

Conference Dates: June 8-11, 2017
Location: East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania
PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS CLOSED
Proposal Acceptance Notifications were emailed on March 17, 2017
Registration Window: April 24, 2017 to June 1, 2017. (Late registration will begin June 2, 2017.)

REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE HERE
RENEW KBS MEMBERSHIP HERE (All conference attendees must be current members of the Kenneth Burke Society)
For accommodations options, click HERE.
For travel information including local airports, airport shuttle, and car rentals, click HERE.
You can also help support student travel to the conference.

Conference Website: http://kbjournal.org/kbs17
Program Chair: Ethan Sproat (Ethan.Sproat@uvu.edu)
Program Co-Chair: Annie Laurie Nichols (alnich@umd.edu)
Onsite Conference Coordinator: Cem Zeytinoglu (czeytinogl@po-box.esu.edu)
Conference Keynotes: Anne George, Texas Christian University; James Klumpp, University of Maryland

CONFERENCE PROGRAM

Read the Story of the Conference Poster

Call for Nominations for the 10th Triennial Kenneth Burke Society Awards

KBS 2017: Call for Nominations for Conference Paper Awards

Conference Theme

The Tenth Triennial Conference of the Kenneth Burke Society welcomes proposals that focus on conflicts in and among various communities as well as various communities’ unique modes—or agencies—of waging, navigating and/or resolving conflict. As with prior KBS conferences, we also welcome all proposals from all disciplines—and from all students and scholars of Kenneth Burke’s work. We welcome proposals that address any aspect of Burke’s life or work.

More generally, the Tenth Triennial Conference will focus on these broad themes:

Conflicts. From its Latin roots, the word conflict literally means “together-fight.” Kenneth Burke strongly believed that humanity’s underlying penchant for conflict could be harnessed away from physically harmful actions and refocused toward symbolic/discursive behaviors.

Communities. In the 1970s, Burke wrote, “I never think of ‘communication’ without thinking of its ultimate perfection, named in such words as ‘community’ and ‘communion’.” Indeed, Burke’s lifelong motto Ad Bellum Purificandum is the aphoristic representation of a “perfected” rhetorical perspective that ceaselessly employs a “dialectical resource whereby any conflict of powers can be presented as a ‘balance of powers.’”

Worlds. Today we, too, find ourselves in a fractured world profoundly fraught with—and largely defined by—conflicting worldviews. Whatever our divisions, we symbol-using organisms remain inexorably united in that we are all-together the world-stuff that replicates the world in symbols. In this respect, symbolic divisions—that is, conflicts in human communities—are remarkable achievements if only because humans must begin with some accord concerning the symbols they use among themselves before they can use those symbols to engage in discord.

More specifically, the Kenneth Burke Society welcomes submissions that consider and critique the perspectives and tools Kenneth Burke employed toward understanding, interrogating, and negotiating conflicts, communities, and worlds.

• How can Burkeian ideas help people learn to negotiate the dialectic of identity and difference?
• How can a theory of identification allow for necessary diversity?
• How might Burke’s work anticipate or fail to account for emerging new publics?
• What implications does Burke pose for 21st-century pluralistic education at all levels?
• In what ways could Burkeian thought navigate secularism, religious civil rights, and state religions?
• What does Burke studies mean amid the continual negotiations of race, racism, racial identity, and race politics?
• What implications does Burke’s notion of “entitlement” pose for natural-born, immigrant, and/or undocumented residents of any country?
• How could Burke’s theories of the body and non-symbolic motion bridge any apparent divides among cisgender, LGBTQ, heteronormative, homonormative, pan-sexual, non-binary, and/or intersex identities?
• How does Burke’s thought inform our understanding of the ever-growing number of technologically mediated global villages—e.g. global fan cultures; ethno-cultural, religious, and/or racial diasporas; hacktivists/hive-minds; and more?
• How does Burke help or hinder our understanding of the ways communities are negotiated and renegotiated in a postcolonial and increasingly postnational world?
• What does it mean to “purify war” in the face of psychological warfare, economic warfare, cyberwarfare, false-flag military operations, international “black-ops” and drone warfare, and/or international terrorism?
• How does Burke’s spectrum of non-symbolic motion and symbolic action inform or challenge notions of ambient rhetoric, ontology, epistemology, and other philosophical implications of human communication?

Over the course of the conference, a combination of keynote speakers, featured presenters, and seminar leaders will explore these topics and more. Keynote speakers will be announced in February 2017. Seminars, seminar leaders, and featured speakers will be announced in March 2017.

We invite individual presentations, panels, and seminar topics exploring any of the above sets of concerns. Proposals should be submitted by CLICKING HERE. The submission window runs from November 1, 2016 through February 15, 2017. All proposals are due by 11:59 p.m. on February 15, 2017. Proposals for individual presentations should be 250-350 words in length. Proposals for panels or other formats may be up to 500 words in length. Acceptances will be announced by March 7, 2017.

Registration

Attendees may register for the conference online starting March 25, 2017. As with past conferences, registration fees will include all meals and special events. Further details will be published on the conference website from now until the conference.

The Venue

East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania is located a little over 30 miles west of Kenneth Burke’s farm in Andover, New Jersey, and about 70 miles west of Newark Liberty International Airport. East Stroudsburg is nestled between the Pocono Mountains and the Delaware Gap National Recreation Area. A list of lodging and dining options in and around campus will be published on the conference website soon.

Transportation from Newark Liberty International Airport

There are multiple ways to get from the airport to the conference site. More specific travel options will be published on the conference website soon.

Fast Facts

Conference Dates: July 17-20, 2014
Proposal Deadline: February 14, 2014
Submit Proposal to: kbsconference2014@gmail.com
Acceptance Notification: March 14, 2014
Please note that acceptance notifications went out March 14, 2014. If you haven't heard from us, please email the conference organizers right away.
Registration Window: April 1, 2014 to July 1, 2014. Register Here (Late registration will begin July 2, 2014.)
Conference Website: http://kbjournal.org/kbs14
Conference Chairs: Paul Lynch (plynch11@slu.edu) and Nathaniel Rivers (nrivers1@slu.edu)
Conference Keynotes: Jodie Nicotra will present "Compulsion and 'Transcendence Sideways': Burke’s Technological Attitudes," and Thomas Rickert will present "Making Hope Out of Nothing at All: Amechania in Burke, Nietzsche, and Parmenides." Both talks engage the conference theme of Attitudes Toward Technology/Technology’s Attitudes. Find abstracts here.
Conference Seminars: For a complete list (and descriptions) of seminars click here.
Conference Poster: Click Here. (Poster designed by Nathaniel A. Rivers. Animated gif generated by Chris Lindgren)

Conference Program

Call for Nominations for the 9th Triennial Kenneth Burke Society Awards

KBS 2014: Conference Paper Awards

Conference Theme

Attitude mediates action and motion. Attitude is incipient action. Media have attitudes. Media are incipient. We act through media and media act through us. This dance of attitudes, both human and nonhuman, shapes action. Action is always in media res.

Taking both Burke’s attitude and his rhetorical philosophy of technology as points of departure, The Ninth Triennial Conference of the Kenneth Burke Society welcomes proposals that focus on attitudes toward technology and technology’s own attitudes. We also welcome proposals that focus on any Burkean subject. The conference will be hosted by Saint Louis University in historic Midtown, home of the Grand Center, the place for the arts in St. Louis, from July 17-20, 2014. Saint Louis University is also home to the Walter J. Ong, SJ, Center for Language, Media and Culture as well as the Ong Archives. In the middle of the country, in the middle of the city, we will grapple with being in media res.

In a retrospective to Attitudes Toward History, Burke defines attitude as “the point of personal mediation between the realms of nonsymbolic motion and symbolic action” (394). For Burke, these realms are tightly knitted, and as Debra Hawhee reminds us, we should see them as “an irreducible pair, contiguous but distinct” (Moving Bodies 158). Stuff and story dance in attitudes.

In his reexamination of Burke’s status as a luddite, Ian Hill reminds us that “Burke’s writing was fraught with technological anxiety, and his negative attitude toward technology developed over many decades.” Nevertheless, Hill demonstrates how Burke developed a “rhetorical philosophy of technology.” “Burke’s concept of technology entailed that rhetoric motivates technology, and that technology motivates behavior. For Burke, the realms of technology and rhetoric are inseparable because technology and motivation are fundamental conditions of human existence.”

The Kenneth Burke Society conference welcomes not only those who are particularly invested in Burke but also those who ask the same sorts of questions, explore similar avenues of scholarship, and see rhetoric as tightly knit to symbols, bodies, and environments. We are building a big tent in St. Louis. The Ninth Triennial Conference will feature participation by students and scholars from a wide range of fields, and we welcome proposals that address topics of continuing relevance in Burke studies, including Burke and his circles; archival research in the Burkean corpus; the meaning and relevance of particular Burkean texts; Burke in the fields; the future of Burkean studies; and new applications of Burke’s insights to contemporary issues. We especially encourage those proposals that focus on attitude and technology: the range of conceivable connections and potential points of departure is limitless.

The theme of attitudes toward technology and technology’s own attitudes calls on conference participants to engage Burke in a contemporary scene increasingly saturated and mediated by technology:

• In what ways can we revisit, challenge, or augment Burke’s work in light of contemporary, digital technology?
• In what ways has Burke’s work (in particular, his notion of “technological psychosis”) been prescient of contemporary popular treatments of technology (What Technology Wants, Alone Together, The Shallows, You Are Not a Gadget)?
• How might Burke’s thought anticipate or inform rhetorical theory and related areas as it rethinks the place of the material and of objects in rhetorical activity? Recall Burke’s discussion of air conditioners in “(Nonsymbolic) Motion/(Symbolic) Action”: “Such bodily responses as increased warmth and accelerated respiration place a greater burden upon the air conditioning device, which is equipped with mechanical ‘sensors’ that register the change in conditions and ‘behave’ accordingly” (834).
• How might Burke’s interest in the body inform discussions of race and gender in digitally mediated environments? Likewise, how might contemporary scholarship in these areas inform Burke (challenge, discount, or otherwise augment him)?
• How does Burke’s focus on the nonsymbolic resonate with new materialist and feminist new materialist approaches (e.g. Jane Bennett, Karan Barad)?
• How do the above questions expand Burke’s circles? How can we use such questions to bring new thinkers into the Burkean parlor?

Over the course of the conference, a combination of keynote speakers, featured presenters, and seminar leaders will explore our attitudes toward technology and technology’s own attitudes. Keynote speakers, seminars, and seminar leaders will be announced in January 2014.

We invite individual presentations, panels, and seminar topics exploring the above sets of concerns. Proposals should be submitted via email to kbsconference2014@gmail.com. The submission window runs from October 1, 2013, through February 14, 2014. All proposals are due by 11:59 p.m. on February 14, 2014. Proposals for individual presentations should be 250-350 words in length. Proposals for panels or other formats may be up to 500 words in length. Acceptances will be announced by March 14, 2014.

Registration

Attendees may register for the conference online starting March 17, 2014. As with past conferences, affordable registration fees will include all meals and special events. Further details will be published on the conference website from now until the conference.

The Venue

Saint Louis University is located in St. Louis, MO. The Busch Student Center is located in bustling Midtown St. Louis. For a list of dinning options in and around campus click here. On-campus lodging is available at the recently built Hotel Ignacio, the Water Tower Inn, and in the recently renovated Marchetti Tower West.

The Hosts

The conference chairs are Paul Lynch (plynch11@slu.edu) and Nathaniel Rivers (nrivers1@slu.edu). The conference is sponsored by Saint Louis University, the Walter J. Ong, SJ, Center for Language, Media and Culture, and the Kenneth Burke Society.

Transportation from Lambert Airport

There are multiple ways to get from the airport to the conference site/residence hall. St. Louis Metrolink will take you to the Grand Avenue stop, which is about about half a mile south of Marchetti Towers (3530 Laclete) and the Busch Student Center (20 N. Grand), and about a mile north of the Water Tower Inn (3545 Lafayette). If you prefer to take a bus from the Grand Stop to either location, you can take the 70. The Metro Link Trip Planner can be found here.

If you prefer an airport shuttle, here is GO Best Express. A cab from Lambert to the SLU campus will run approximately $38.00.

On site transportation will be provided for those attendees staying at the Water Tower Inn

Fast Facts Conference Dates: May 26-29, 2011 Proposal Deadline: January 20, 2011 Registration Starts: February 11, 2011 Conference Website: http://kbjournal.org/2011conference Full Conference Program Schedule at a Glance Keynote Speakers Seminars Travel and Accommodations (book now!) Conference Chair: David Blakesley (dblakes@clemson.edu) 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.

Click on the image to see the full-size Tagxedo, which uses the terms from Burke's passage about the "unending conversation of history" in The Philosophy of Literary Form for its inspiration (see p. 110-11).

The Conference Theme

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.”

• What cultural problems need to be solved?
• What rhetorical practices cause, cloud, or intensify those problems?
• Where, when, and how does change occur?
• What genres of persuasion and identification encourage or enable change?
• What role do we as teachers, artists, scholars, critics, citizens play in creating change?

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:

• Burke and his circles
• Archival research in the Burkean corpus
• The meaning and relevance of particular Burkean texts
• Burke in the fields
• The future of Burkean studies
• New applications of Burke’s insights to contemporary issues

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.

Proposal Submission

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.

Registration

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.

The Venue

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 Hosts

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.

Questions

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.

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.

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

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

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

• The Rhetoric of Redemption: Kenneth Burke's Redemption Drama and Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech (Bobbitt)
• Making Sense of Political Ideology: The Power of Language in Democracy (Brock, Huglen, Klumpp, and Howell)

Roman and Littlefield Website: http://www.rowmanlittlefield.com

Say Press

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

University of California Press

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; July 1, 2008; May 29, 2011]

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 conference 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 conference 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

Members of the Executive Committee of the Kenneth Burke Society shall be the officers, the immediate past President, and the immediate past Conference Planner(s). All members are voting members. This committee shall have authority to act on behalf of the Kenneth Burke Society between the business meeting at one triennial conference and the business meeting at the next. Any action by this committee may be reconsidered at a triennial conference business meeting.

The Kenneth Burke Society shall have such ad hoc committees (e.g., career award committees) as shall be created by the President or by members of the Kenneth Burke Society at the triennial conference 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 conference business meetings.

Article VII

Program Sessions and Business Meeting

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 conference 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 that 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 Conference

Section 1. The Kenneth Burke Society shall sponsor a conference for all members of the Kenneth Burke Society every three years referred to, in this document, as the triennial conference.

Section 2. The Executive Committee or the triennial conference business meeting of the Kenneth Burke Society shall elect a Chief Conference Planner(s) whose primary responsibility shall be to plan the triennial conference in consultation with the Executive Committee and any additional committees deemed necessary. The Executive Committee shall announce the time and place of the triennial conference at least nine months in advance.

Section 3. The Chief Conference Planner(s) shall submit a final conference report on costs, attendance, etc. to the Executive Committee no later than six months after the conference.

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 conference 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

Bylaw 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 conference 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 conference business meeting of the Kenneth Burke Society. A simple majority of those voting shall constitute approval.

Bylaw 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 conferences. Program sessions shall be under the direction of the Chief Conference Planner(s) (or whomever the Chief Conference Planner(s) may designate for this purpose). Policy implementation and financial obligations of such program sessions shall be subject to the approval of the Executive Committee and Chief Conference Planner(s), governed by the policies approved by members of the Kenneth Burke Society at triennial conference business meetings.

Section 4. Program sessions shall be organized by the Chief Conference Planner(s) (or whomever the Chief Conference Planner(s) 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 if necessary, through a "blind review" process if appropriate, by a Selection Committee appointed by the Chief Conference Planner(s) (or whomever the Chief Conference Planner(s) 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 conference 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.

Bylaw 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.

Bylaw IV

Nomination and Election of Officers

Section 1. Any member of the Kenneth Burke Society may nominate any eligible person, provided this person is willing to serve, for any Kenneth Burke Society office during a scheduled election at a triennial conference 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 conference 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 conference business meeting immediately following their election.

Section 4. Elected officers shall serve three (3) year terms of office. The Secretary and Treasurer may each be re-elected, serving six (6) consecutive years altogether.

Section 5. The business meeting at a triennial conference may authorize an email (or mail) ballot.

Bylaw V

Duties of Officers

Section 1. The President shall serve as presiding officer of the Kenneth Burke Society at its triennial conference 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. If the secretary is unable to attend the triennial conference, the President will appoint another Executive Committee member to take minutes during the business meeting. The secretary (or appointed substitute) will submit these minutes to the Executive Committee for approval within 3 months of the conference.

Section 4. The Treasurer shall perform the usual duties adhering to the office. The Treasurer shall present a report on Society finances at the triennial conference. If the Treasurer is unable to attend the conference, s/he will submit a report to the Executive Committee for presentation at the conference.

Section 5. The Editor of Publications shall oversee any publications sponsored by the Society.  Sometime during the year prior to a triennial conference, the Editor will solicit nominations for a new editor and make a recommendation to the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee's choice of a new editor will be  announced to members. . The Editor will normally serve a term of three years, though this term limit may be waived by the Executive Committee and the business meeting of a triennial business meeting if exigent circumstances deem a waiver to be advisable.

Bylaw VI

Publications

Section 1. The Kenneth Burke Society shall publish scholarly publications as shall be determined by the membership of the Kenneth Burke Society at its triennial conference business meetings.

Section 2. 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.

Bylaw 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.

Bylaw 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 conference business meeting of the Kenneth Burke Society for vote. Such an amendment shall be adopted if it is approved by a majority.

Bylaw IX

Institutional Memory

A majority vote of the Executive Committee or the business meeting of a triennial business meeting may authorize the listing (see below) of significant actions under article IX for the purposes of institutional memory.

The business meeting at the 1996 conference established a three-year membership option and determined that dues for this option shall be $25 for graduate students and $50 for others. (See October 1998 Newsletter, p. 32.)

The business meeting at the 1999 conference established a lifetime membership option and determined that dues for this option shall be $150. Complimentary memberships were also offered to members of Burke's family. (See June 2000 Newsletter, p. 24.)

Bylaw X

Awards

Section 1. The Kenneth Burke Society shall present awards at the triennial conference for: (a) Emerging Scholar, recognizing promise of a Burke scholar who has established a record of publication (a book or journal articles/book chapters) as a graduate student or assistant professor (or, for independent scholars or non tenure-track faculty, within his/her first 6-9 years of work); (b) Lifetime Achievement, recognizing extraordinary achievement in Burke studies; and (c) Distinguished Service, recognizing extraordinary service to the Society.
 
Section 2. The Executive Committee shall select three Awards judges from among past recipients no later than three months prior to the triennial conference. Judges should represent more than one discipline whenever possible.

Section 3. The Executive Committee shall issue a call for nominations no later than three months prior to the triennial conference. The call should list past recipients and ask for nominations to be submitted to the Awards judges no later than one month prior to the conference. Nominees must be Society members. The Emerging Scholar nominee may be a new member; Lifetime Achievement and Distinguished Service nominees must have been members for at least fifteen years or, in cases where membership records are unclear, must have attended the triennial conference five times and/or served the Society as an officer, conference planner, etc. Awards judges should submit their decision to the Executive Committee and/or Conference Planner no later than two weeks prior to the conference so plaques may be prepared.

Section 4. The Kenneth Burke Society shall present an annual award for best article in the KB Journal. Every January, the Executive Committee shall select three judges to evaluate the articles published in the course of the year and to select a best article for the year the following January. Judges should be people who don't expect to appear in the journal during the year and should represent more than one discipline whenever possible. Judges may be members of the editorial board or past recipients but need not be. Recipients will be announced in KB Journal; at each triennial conference, the previous three annual recipients will be honored.

Section 5. A list of past recipients of the Society and journal awards will be maintained by the Executive Committee and posted on KB Journal.

Your Kenneth Burke Society Membership entitles you to premium content at KB Journal, book discounts, and more. Read more about it here.

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.

• Regular One-Year Membership in the Kenneth Burke Society
• Regular Three-Year Membership in the Kenneth Burke Society
• Student One-Year Membership in the Kenneth Burke Society
• Lifetime Membership in the Kenneth Burke Society

Thanks for your support of the Kenneth Burke Society.

Archival issues of the Kenneth Burke Society Newsletter are available to active Society members in PDF format. The list below includes the issue date, volume, number, and front page headline. This archive was prepared by Heather Christiansen, Clemson University.

October, 1984: "Logology is Our Logo" (606 kb)
Volume 1, Number 1

July, 1986: "Kenneth Burke: Himself - A Letter From Andover" (662 kb)
Volume 2, Number 1

October, 1987: "Video Tapes Ready" (551 kb)
Volume 3

January, 1989: "New Officers of SCA Branch" (169 kb)
Volume 4

April, 1989: "Kenneth Burke Society National Convention Announcement (1990)" (494 kb)
Volume 5, Number 1

October, 1989: "Autumn in Andover" (463 kb)
Volume 5, Number 2

April, 1990: "Dramatizing Technology: Extrapolating a Future from the Writings of Kenneth Burke" (1.7 mb)
Volume 6, Number 1

April, 1990: "Special Pre-Conference Issue" (721 kb)
Volume 6, Number 1a

October, 1990: "Airlie in 93" (1.6 mb)
Volume 6, Number 2

April, 1991: "Book Review: The Selected Correspondence of Kenneth Burke and Malcolm Cowley 1915-1981" (781 kb)
Volume 7, Number 1

October, 1991: "Monument to a Man of Monumental Mind" (496 kb)
Volume 7, Number 2

April, 1992: "Some Burkeian Scenes in Japan" (551 kb)
Volume 8, Number 1

October, 1992: "Activities in Airlie" (616 kb)
Volume 8, Number 2

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 2013, there were 265 subscribers when the list migrated to its new server and address (kb AT kbjournal.org). To subscribe or adjust your subscription details, go to the KB List Information Page:

http://kbjournal.org/mailman/listinfo/kb_kbjournal.org

If you have questions that can't be answered there, please send a note to Dave via our online contact form:

http://kbjournal.org/users/david-blakesley

President

David Blakesley
Clemson University
dblakes@clemson.edu

Vice President

Kris Rutten
Ghent University
Kris.Rutten@ugent.be

Immediate Past President

Bryan Crable
Villanova University
bryan.crable@villanova.edu

International Liaison

Jouni Tilli
University of Jyväskylä, Finland
jouni.tilli@gmail.com

Treasurer

Michael David Measel
Georgia Tech
mmeasel@g.clemson.edu

Secretary

Ann George
Texas Christian University
A.George@tcu.edu

Editor of Publications

David Blakesley
Clemson University
dblakes@clemson.edu

At its triennial conference, the Kenneth Burke Society gives three awards to KBS members who exemplify high standards in Burkeian scholarship and service, as chosen by the membership and past awardees. The award categories and past recipients are listed here:

• The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes extraordinary achievement in Burke studies. Lifetime Achievement nominees must have been members for at least fifteen years or, in cases where membership records are unclear, must have attended the triennial conference five times and/or served the Society as an officer, conference planner, etc. Previous recipients are Leland Griffin (1990); William Rueckert (1993); Bernard Brock (1993); James Chesebro (1999); Tim Crusius (2002); Jack Selzer (2005); Wayne Booth, Michael Burke, Julie Whitaker (2008); Bryan Crable (2011); James Klumpp (2014), Robert Wess (2017).
• The Distinguished Service Award recognizes extraordinary service to the Society. Distinguished Service nominees must have been members for at least fifteen years or, in cases where membership records are unclear, must have attended the triennial conference five times and/or served the Society as an officer, conference planner, etc. Previous recipients include Sheron Dailey (1990), James Chesebro (1993), Dale Bertelson (1996), Robert Wess (1999), Clarke Rountree (2002), David Blakesley (2005), Mark Huglen (2008), Ann George (2011), Elvera Berry (2014), Ed Appel, Richard Thames, and Herbert Simons (2017).
• The Emerging Scholar Award recognizes the promise of a Burke scholar who has published in the field of Burke students as a graduate student or assistant professor (or, for independent scholars or non tenure-track faculty, within his/her first 6-9 years of work). The Emerging Scholar nominee may be a new Society member. Previous recipients include Debra Hawhee (2002), Ryan Weber and Nathaniel Rivers (2005), Elizabeth Weiser (2008), Kyle Jensen (2011), Kris Rutten (2014), Jouni Tilli (2017).

Kenneth Burke Society Triennial Conference
Clemson University, Business Meeting: Sunday, May 29, 2011

President, Ann George, chaired the KBS business meeting.
The 2008 (Villanova) minutes were approved as distributed.

OFFICERS ELECTED

            Vice-President: David Cratis Williams
            Treasurer: Virginia Anderson
            Secretary: Elvera Berry

REPORTS

Treasurer:  Virginia Anderson has been organizing and updating membership records in order to avoid confusion and non-canceled checks.
Current records indicate: 76 paid members + several non-paid participants.

Balance as of May 2011	2085.62
Savings	1336.10
Balance (minus forthcoming expenses):	4910.01
Expenses (incomplete as of May 29, 2011)

Virginia also reported:

• She has been working on the Official “filing” of the Society with New York State. (Original legal document is missing at this point.)
• Membership remains an issue to be addressed. Dues  have been $20 (3 years, $50); students $10 (3 years, $25)

2011 Conference: David Blakesley

• Dave will be submitting a formal report with expenses, etc. He indicated there were 106 registrations (half students).
• He will be sending a call to participants for papers to be considered for a Conference book (South Carolina Press).

Special appreciation was expressed to Dave for a successful Triennial, including significant participation from young Burke scholars!

Journal: Ann George/Clarke Rountree 

• Clarke indicated that Andy King had expressed some interest in producing a summer edition of the KB Journal. If so, great!
• Andy’s journal-successor has not yet been named.
• Many signed a card of Missing and Best Wishes that Elvera sent to Andy.

DISCUSSION

Membership and Dues

• How can we encourage and sustain membership?
• What do members “get” for their money?
• Should any online-areas be restricted to “members only?”
• Would such restriction violate spirit of access and openness?
• Could members receive significant discounts on books?

(Secretary’s note: Questions raised in 2002/2005/2008 remain: i.e., Should dues be raised? What are the benefits of membership? Which resources should be open to all? Should a portion of the online journal or other materials be for members only?)

Suggestions discussed:

• A periodic newsletter to maintain connections between triennial conferences
• Receiving such an email (e.g., twice-a-year) might include a short column from the Executive Committee and alert membership to new KB works being published; reviews of publications; national and regional conferences with a Burke-presence (Communication, English, Rhetorical Studies, Writing, etc.); and the like.
• The Burke list resides with David at Clemson; he offered to provide a template for a periodic form of correspondence that might make this feasible.

Question: How will we follow up on these ideas?

2014 Triennial Conference Location

• Advantages/disadvantages of several geographic locations were discussed.
• Discussion of university conference-sites with institutional host-coordinators vs. free-standing conference sites seemed to favor an institutional base.
• The preference would be to distribute the workload by separating the functions of host and program planner.
• Recent sites for possible return included: Penn State, Pittsburgh, Villanova.
• The decision was to put out a formal request for possible hosts/sites.

Constitutional Changes: Ann George

Ann presented recommendations coming from the Executive Committee for several changes in the Constitution:

• Article IX, Sections 2, 3  PASSES
• Bylaw V (Duties of Officers), New Sections 3, 4, 5 PASSED
• New Bylaw X (Awards) 

(Passed for now—logistics of timing to be reviewed by executive committee)

• Discussion took place regarding whether the editor of the KB Journal should be a full member of the Executive Committee. The decision was to have an Executive Committee composed of President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and immediate Past President. The editor will serve as ex-officio member of the Executive Committee.

Respectfully submitted,

Elvera Berry, Secretary

Elvera B. Berry, Ph.D.
Professor of Communication
Roberts Wesleyan College
Rochester, NY14624
585.594-6333
berrye@roberts.edu

For the Record: Scott McLemee was plenary luncheon speaker (article appeared June 2, 2011), and Jack Selzer entertained with Donald Duck (Friday) and Fishing Stories (Banquet).

2011 Awards-Recipients (presented at the Saturday evening Banquet)

• Lifetime Achievement Award = Bryan Crable 
• Distinguished Service Award = Ann George 
• Emerging Scholar Award = Brian O’Sullivan
• Outstanding Paper = Adiel Suarez-Murias
• Any other awards?  Have I made any errors in names?

Kenneth Burke Society Triennial Conference, Clemson University, Executive Committee: Sunday, May 29, 2011

Virginia Anderson, Elvera Berry, David Blakesley, David Cratis Williams, Ann George, Clarke Rountree

Incoming President, Clarke Rountree, chaired the Executive Committee Meeting

Treasurer’s Report

Virginia Anderson has been organizing and updating membership records in order to avoid confusion and non-canceled checks. Questions arose regarding:

• Who pays/does not pay dues?
• What difference do dues make in terms of participating in the Triennial?
• What information (e.g., treasurer’s report) should be public?
• What information should be for Executive Committee?
• What data should be transferred to a central location to be kept by whom?

(David will be getting the financial information to Virginia and help clarify membership records.)

The Journal

Discussion focused on appointment of a new editor. David Blakesley reported that several were willing to be considered for the position: David Tietge (Monmouth), Paul Lynch (St. Louis), and Nathaniel Rivers (in transition from Georgetown to St. Louis). In view of experience and the current centralized housing of publication-related materials, it was decided to name David Blakesley “Editor of Publications” and ask Paul Lynch and Nathaniel Rivers to assume primary responsibility for the KB Journal as “managing editors.”

(We’ll need some email exchange regarding some of this once David has a response from Paul and Nathaniel)

• identification of role(s) of “Editor of Publications” vis-à-vis journal and other website material, etc. 
• delineation of responsibilities of the “managing editors.”
• role of journal personnel vis-à-vis Executive Committee (cf., Business meeting discussion of bylaws).                 

Additional Actions Taken

Ethan Sproat gave KBS his property interests (from his digitization work) to the DVD, KB: A Conversation with Kenneth Burke. The Treasurer will store the letter/legal document. (Where will we announce how to purchase these now?)

Dues: – KBS membership will be renewed at the same time every 3 years—namely, during the Triennial Conference. Current members out of synch because their membership falls short of 2014, will be given a free membership to that date (including those who renew for "One Year" on the KB Journal website). Those who run over three years will be given a discount on the Conference in 2014.

• New dues have been increased to $30/year for one year (which will no longer be  an option as of 2013). Three-year dues will go to $75. Lifetime members will now pay $250.
• Post-Executive Meeting: Student dues will remain at $10/year until 2013; three-year dues will be $75 at the 2014 Triennial Conference.

Triennial Conference

• Clarke will send out a call for conference hosts and planners (two separate duties by two different people) later this summer. Ideally, we will have someone whose institution can support the conference.

NOTE: President Clarke’s 81 totally dominated the post-Conference golf outing!

2011 Burke Triennial Conference: Business Meeting Attendance
Attendance at Triennial Business Meeting: Sunday, May 29, 2011

Ed Appel
Virginia Anderson
Elvera Berry
David Blakesley
Chris Carter
Miriam Marty Clark
DavidDzikowski
Mike Feehan
Ann George
Greig Henderson
Mark Huglen
Jim Klumpp
Joel Overall
Nathaniel Rivers
Clarke Rountree
Ethan Sproat
Dries Vrijders
Ryan Weber
Robert Wess
David Williams

2011 Burke Triennial Conference: Executive Committee Meeting
Clemson: Sunday, May 29, 2014

Virginia Anderson
David Blakesley
Elvera Berry
Ann George
Clarke Rountree
David Williams