tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post4745065244987107157..comments2024-03-10T20:46:19.274-04:00Comments on In the Middle: ASLE 2013Cord J. Whitakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224143153295429986noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-1804351818688323562013-06-11T09:48:43.863-04:002013-06-11T09:48:43.863-04:00And, for the record: there was nothing in my opini...And, for the record: there was nothing in my opinion bizarre about the question itself; speaking about ecocriticism from experience has a venerable tradition behind it. But the way its sudden posing was handled and the response it garnered because no one helped shape its point when collaboration via moderation was needed ... that was too bad.Jeffrey Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17346504393740520542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-82176504190446606232013-06-11T09:43:11.028-04:002013-06-11T09:43:11.028-04:00KU! KU! Now I know!
Thanks for the note, Serpil.
...KU! KU! Now I know!<br /><br />Thanks for the note, Serpil.<br /><br />Joni, my impression overall is that ASLE is extremely welcoming. As to the particular session you are speaking a bout: from my perspective there was a failure on the moderator's part. First, the questioner should have been politely asked to wait until the conversation between Cary and Stacy had been conducted; I'm still not sure why an eager question meant that we skipped something many of us were really looking forward to. Then when the questionw as posed, I believe that it is a moderator's responsibility to ensure that queries are really questions, not response essays. There are very polite, very helpful ways for a moderator to step in, clarify, and move a question along to its actual posing -- ways that help keep conversation lively and hurt no feelings. It wasn't just the initial question that would have been assisted by a moderator doing some moderation!Jeffrey Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17346504393740520542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-12951547063218756602013-06-11T09:34:27.006-04:002013-06-11T09:34:27.006-04:00On the topic of puzzling questions, I was sitting ...On the topic of puzzling questions, I was sitting next to the young man who asked the first question so many found troubling because of its length. He was new to ASLE, a master's candidate, from Nepal, struggling to articulate, in English, some ideas formed, I assume, from his experience in another place and language. He prefaced his question with these details about who he was. There were many people sitting around him, near the back of the audience, who were frankly appalled at how his question was handled. ASLE strives to be welcoming to grad students from around the world. We give travel grants for them to get there. <br /><br />Better moderation of the question would have helped. A moderator could have said, "I hear you saying this, is that what you are asking?" But instead, there was what many considered a very unfortunate lack of willingness to listen carefully to the question from a young person who had traveled half way around the world to attend ASLE. Some left the room in disgust after the bungled handling of a sincere question. The young man also left. I do not know what his thoughts were as he left. I do understand that an auditorium is a hard place to conduct nuanced moderation. <br /><br />For the record, Stacy Alaimo, from the stage, tried to listen to what he had asked and she answered the question as best she could. Bravo Stacy!! But the greater audience was led, by comments from the stage, and others from some not even in the room, to think that something weird or monstrous or unprofessional had happened at the back of the room. I am troubled very much by the response, brewing in the blogosphere and beyond, to "puzzling questions" and the implied idea that those who may not understand the discussion from the stage are somehow just not sophisticated enough in handling new vocabularies and fields . From where I sat, it looked like a very unfortunate response to a person asking a question from a non-First World place and language and perspective. I thank Stacy for her caring response to a sincere question. She managed to answer, as best she could, the question I heard him ask. Joni Adamsonhttps://sites.google.com/a/asu.edu/joniadamson/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-26762690251676143472013-06-10T11:48:15.983-04:002013-06-10T11:48:15.983-04:00I'm really, really glad medievalists are repre...I'm really, really glad medievalists are representing our field at interdisciplinary conferences. And I'm glad you had such a good and fruitful time!<br /><br />But can I correct a wee little thing that's bugging me (the way that crocked pictures on a wall bug me -- I just can't help it)? It's not UK, it's KU, though I can understand the confusion. For whatever reasons, the shorthand for the University of Kansas is flipped to KU (perhaps to distinguish it from Kentucky, which I believe is referred to as UK). As a born and bred Kansan with slight OCD tendencies, this is wigging me out! :)<br /><br />Now, keep doing the important and good work and showing the world that medievalists are cool! :)Dr. Viragohttp://quodshe.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-68236749730704617682013-06-04T10:25:04.227-04:002013-06-04T10:25:04.227-04:00Sleep deprivation is always part of a successful A...Sleep deprivation is always part of a successful ASLE conference. Glad you had a good experience at your first ASLE.<br /><br />jo(e)https://www.blogger.com/profile/01488562158252331555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-6552467422105747962013-06-03T15:13:06.730-04:002013-06-03T15:13:06.730-04:00Glad you liked the post!
That's a good questi...Glad you liked the post!<br /><br />That's a good question and one I've been pondering. I'm not sure if I'm ready to say it is ecocriticism itself as the attractor of such questions; but maybe, with its loose borders and accentuating of the personal and its general nebulousness it also pulls in many who are still trying to figure out what it is all about. That doesn't explain why they should be the first questioners to present, though: usually not knowing something makes you hesitate. Doesn't it?Jeffrey Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17346504393740520542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-60064014575091829732013-06-03T14:14:52.781-04:002013-06-03T14:14:52.781-04:00Thank you so much for this, Jeffrey - inspiring an...Thank you so much for this, Jeffrey - inspiring and epic! So cool to see friendships and alliances emerge. To what do you ascribe the puzzling questions? We had a couple in our eco-critical art history panel at Kalamazoo and facebook garners a few. New field?Different vocabularies? Divergent goals?Anne F. Harrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09817277664812733936noreply@blogger.com