Friends,
Wanted to send you one last email regarding the forthcoming 2008 Rouge Forum Conference.
We are pleased to have over 150 people registered so far, who will join us at various times throughout the weekend of the conference. There is, however, still plenty of room for others, so please feel free to continue spreading the word.
As you know, we’ll be kicking things off Thursday night at the Blue Mountain Coffeehouse (400 East Main St., across from the Louisville Bats Stadium).
Friday morning, beginning at 7:30, we would invite you to be our guests at Breadworks and Heine Bros. Coffee, located in the Douglass Loop at 2200 Bardstown Rd., just two blocks from campus (at the conference website: www.rougeforumconference.org, the homepage has a link to an interactive map of Louisville by clicking on the text, “Louisville, KY” in the description of the conference).
The conference will begin at 8:30 in Frazier Hall in the Brown Activities Center (a map of Bellarmine can be found on the conference webpage.)
Back to back paper sessions will begin promptly at 9:00. We have now posted abstracts for most papers under “Paper session details” at the conference website. I think you will agree that the papers/performances over the course of these two days should prompt some insightful and critical discussion.
Our lunch time will feature Dr. Milton Brown as our speaker. Lunch has been relocated to the Deli at the Douglass Loop, just two blocks from campus. Carpooling will be made available, particularly for our out of town guests.
After lunch, we will have one more paper presentation session before we conclude the afternoon with a panel discussion on revolutionary, radical, (and other?) pedagogies, featuring Dr. Nancy Patterson, Mr. Greg Queen, and Dr. Joe Cronin.
In your conference packets we will make several recommendations for you on dinner locations that will be but minutes from Bellarmine’s campus.
The evening will conclude with a panel discussion on the potential connection between schools and the military, under the title “No child left Unrecruited?” The panel will be moderated by Dr. E. Wayne Ross and will feature Dr. Faith Agostinone Wilson and Dr. Rich Gibson.
On Friday, we would also invite you to visit the Thomas Merton Center, which houses the largest collection of Thomas Merton archives, located in Bellarmine’s library, as well as the opening of Bryan Reinholdt’s (BU grad and RF member) art show in Wyatt Hall.
Saturday’s events will take us to U of L’s campus. (We also have a map of this campus on the conference website.)
The morning will begin at 8:30 with a welcome in the Red Barn, and sessions will start promptly at 9:00.
These first two paper sessions on Saturday morning will also be paralleled by the possibility of professional development for teachers. We have two sessions to choose from: Critical Literacy and Green Education.
At lunch, provided by Tess Krebs in the Red Barn, we will be engaged by a special session of the Saturday Academy. Dr. Blaine Hudson will moderate a discussion about the recent Supreme Court decision which overturned Jefferson County’s student assignment plan. The discussion will feature Ms. Deborah Stallworth, Mr. DeWayne Westmoreland, Mr. John Heyburn, and Dr. Tracy K’Meyer.
After lunch we will have one final session of fine papers before we conclude with two addresses one from Dr. Rich Gibson, the other, our keynote, from Dr. E. Wayne Ross, who will address our conference theme: Education: Reform or Revolution?
Again, for dinner, we will provide a list of local restaurants. And, the evening will conclude with an opportunity to take in some spoken word and music, featuring Louisville’s own Harry Pickens (soulful jazz pianist) and The Uprising (Americana style music inspired by resistance).
On Sunday, we will conclude our conference with one final gathering at 10:00 at the Kentucky Alliance against Racist and Political Oppression HQ, The Braden Center, 3208 W. Broadway.
With over 60 presenters and 30 papers,
3 panel sessions,
3 main addresses,
2 professional developments,
2 cultural events,
and an opportunity to explore two of Louisville’s universities, its locally owned restaurants, and social justice organizations, we hope you find this year’s conference a place to affirm your work, stretch your thinking, and engage in a unique community-building experience.
I want to again thank my partner, Gina Stiens, and friends/colleagues, Mary Goral, Sonya Burton, David Owen, Rich Gibson, and Wayne Ross for their tireless efforts in pulling this conference together.
See you in a week! In solidarity. adam