THE ASSOCIATION FOR CORE TEXTS AND COURSES (ACTC) FOURTEENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Theme: WHO ARE WE? OLD, NEW, AND TIMELESS ANSWERS FROM CORE TEXTS
Sponsored by
Assumption College
and Co-sponsored by
Saint Anselm College &
Thomas More College
Thursday, April 3 - Sunday, April 6, 2008
Radisson Hotel, Plymouth Harbor, Massachusetts
Plenary Speakers Thursday through Saturday:
Wm. Theodore de Bary, Columbia University, author,
Confucian Tradition & Global Education.
Joseph Bottum, editor, First Things;
Anne Leavitt Dean of Social Sciences, Malaspina-University College;
Phillip R. Sloan, President ACTC, University of Notre Dame, editor,
Controlling Our Destinies: Historical, Philosophical, Ethical, and Theological Perspectives on the Human Genome Project.
Theophus Smith, Emory University, author, Conjuring Culture: Biblical Formations of Black America.
Sunday, April 3: Business meeting.
HOTEL RESERVATIONS: Please see below for new arrangements this year.
ATTENDEE PANEL OR PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS:
All proposals -- paper or panel -- should include names, institutional affiliations, addresses,
email and phone contact numbers of presenter(s). All proposals should include
paper title(s) and a one paragraph abstract. In addition, PANEL PROPOSALS should
organize a panel of specific presenters with a title for the panel. No more than
two panel members from the same institution may be present on one panel, but panel
proposals with only two presenters are welcome. ACTC's Institute office will form
or complete panels out of individual submissions.
A volunteer faculty member from one of the sponsoring institutions will be contacting
you around October 15th, November 15th, or December 1-10th to remind you about the
conference and to offer help in advancing a proposal to us. All potential conferees
are welcome to contact the Executive Director of ACTC, J. Scott Lee, with questions
about panels and proposals: jscottlee@prodigy.net.
To encourage collegial discussion, ACTC papers are short (5 pages, double-spaced),
treat one core text for ¾-1 page, and develop the conference theme. Scholarly papers
(10 pages) may be submitted for publication in our selected proceedings, but only the
short papers may be read at the conference.
To encourage collegial discussion, ACTC papers are short (5 pages, double-spaced),
treat one core text for ¾-1 page, and develop the conference theme. Scholarly papers (10 pages)
may be submitted for publication in our selected proceedings, but only the short papers
may be read at the conference. For publication criteria, see:
publications.
While the submission of a complete paper is not required for acceptance on a panel,
attendees whose paper proposals are accepted are expected to come to the conference with
the completed paper. All conferees are invited to submit these papers to ACTC for publication
in our selected, peer-reviewed proceedings. More than 200 openings will be available for panel
presentations and proceedings submissions.
Registration of your paper or panel proposal, or simply your intent to attend the conference,
may be done either by going to the ACTC website, www.coretexts.org and filling out the
Online Registration Form, or by sending in a paper or panel proposal with your name, position,
all contact information, including address, telephone numbers, and email address to
Rosa Grundig, ACTC
1928 Saint Mary's Road
Saint Mary's College
Moraga, CA 94556.
Early submission before November 1 increases chances of acceptance.
VOLUNTEERS FOR PANELS CHAIRS, who serve only as introducers
and discussion initiators, will be happily accepted. If you wish to volunteer,
see the Online Registration Form. Only organizers of panels may serve as chairs
and presenters at the same time; all other chairs may not present at the same panel.
DEADLINE FOR PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS IS DECEMBER 31st, 2007. NOTIFICATION OF ACCEPTANCE
IS SENT WITH THE AGENDA AND REGISTRATION ON OR SHORTLY AFTER JANUARY 31st, 2008.
CONFERENCE THEME
Who Are We? Old, New, and Timeless Answers from Core Texts
Who are we? This year's conference seeks to explore the possible meanings for this
question and the answers which the past, present, and future may provide through the
reading of core texts. Plymouth, Massachusetts is an appropriate setting to explore
such a perennial question.
Tocqueville begins his great work, Democracy in America, by observing that "people
think they can see the germs and virtues and vices of [a young person's] maturity
taking shape" at the time that "the doors of the world first open and [young people]
come into touch with [their] fellows." De Tocqueville finds this thought to be
"a great error," for he is convinced that in the attention paid by a mother, in the
surrounding world of childhood, in the first words of parents and companions that
provoke thought, and in the early experiences of youth, "the whole [person] is there,
if one may put it so, in the cradle." Thus de Tocqueville warms to his true subject:
"Something analogous happens with nations. People always bear some marks of their origin."
Readers and teachers of core texts might, at once, accept and challenge Tocqueville's
analogy as an approach to the question of "Who are we?" Surely, each individual is reared
in circumstances which bring the traditions, institutions, and habits of civilizations and
cultures, governments and associations, education, religion, and family to bear on forming
who they are up to that age (be it 18 or 45) when a person decides to go to college. But the
encounters of new college students with core texts and the hopes and convictions of teachers
in core text programs seem to say, "college is a new beginning for you." If this beginning
is really new, then it would seem that the answers to "Who are we?" should be very different
for students at the beginning and end of a baccalaureate. What difference, then, might core
texts make to the answers to this question? Is there a maturity which we expect, and can we
direct our programs and our readings of core texts toward helping achieve that? Do we remain
just as we were, or are we radically changed after encounters through core texts with ourselves
or the other?
If, upon reading core texts, our answers to the question "Who are we?" do change, then with what
kinds of answers might we reply? Are there transcendent answers or, at least, perennial answers
which the human condition requires we learn with each generation? If so, why? Can our hearts
still hear timeless answers? Or, are there answers which seem "fated," yet still in human hands,
still part of what we make of ourselves? Tocqueville's subject was democracy, and he had, according
to him, a 700-year development of equality to contextualize his transnational and transcontinental
view of how to think about his subject. So, though his point of departure was the claim that
"America [at his time of writing] is the only country in which we can watch the natural quiet growth
of society," he knew that the origins of democracy did not begin in European settlement and he looked
to a "future of [each nation's] history" in which an answer to our question might be "We are democrats"
in almost all nations of the earth.
Only someone as educated as Tocqueville could have possessed such a long view. Do not core text programs
share this long view of questions about who we are and, indeed, extend their view to the ancients of
the West and to civilizations around the globe? If we ask our question, are we not prompted by our core
texts to answer the question through identifying with perennial truths, religious traditions, or histories
of cultures, and civilizations?
But surely Tocqueville answered as an historian. Core text programs, though often historically organized,
are not necessarily directed toward producing histories or historians or historical answers to the questions
that they probe. Philosophers, theologians, political scientists, anthropologists, fine artists, and critics
all contribute as faculty to building core text programs and to selecting the texts students read. Since
core text programs do seem to involve the cooperation of so many disciplines, we know that in the formation
of those programs and in the selections of texts, the circle we draw around self and other is often quite
different from the circle we draw in our disciplines. Thus, cannot core text programs ask who are we as
educators and teachers? If we are not educating young minds to identify with our own particular disciplines,
then what are we educating them to identify with and to pursue in liberal arts education?
The equality of which Tocqueville spoke has also shaped the gender, and ethnic, racial, and national cultures
of those who are participating in forming core text programs. The contribution of individuals working together
to build core text programs is made still more complex through the missions and traditions of institutions,
especially in relation to their organization as research universities, masters universities, liberal arts
colleges, and community colleges. The regional, national, and religious seats of our institutions have their
effects upon the selection of texts and the development of our programs. Indeed, we see core text programs
being organized in institutions in South America and in the Far East. As these programs embrace traditions
of texts which are based in Hispanic traditions, Eastern languages, or, ultimately, global constructions of
texts and curricula, the question of "Who are we?" seems salient in sorting out the complexities, and perhaps
providing answers, to our programs' purposes and form. We cannot be all things. Yet, our identities are
undeniably layered. Are we congregants shaped by core text readings? Are we citizens of a country,
or Westerners, Southerners, Easterners, or Global villagers? Are we liberal artists? Who are we?
CONFERENCE FEES AND MEMBERSHIP
Registration includes price of six meals
(Thursday night reception and dinner, three breakfasts and two lunches) regardless of days of
attendance, plus admission to all activities, & subvention for published proceedings of the conference.
All individuals attending ACTC are encouraged to become members.
However, all individuals attending ACTC
for the second time must become members, and all individuals presenting papers must become members.
Registration fee: US$/CAD 260.00 / registrant.
Individual membership: US$/CAD 50.00 (if paid by personal check, discounted to US$/CAD 25.00).
Thursday night guests: US$/CAD 45.00.
The registration fee is lower than last year and the cost of membership, if paid by personal check, is
lower. When combined with hotel night rates, the actual total cost for the conference is lower than
last year for many attendees.
Payment forms will be sent to you in late January. ACTC does not accept credit cards because the cost of
using them would have to be passed on to conference attendees. ACTC cannot and will not pro-rate fees.
CONFERENCE REGISTRATIONS AND/OR PAYMENTS POSTMARKED AFTER MARCH 22nd, 2008 WILL BE SUBJECT TO A LATE REGISTRATION FEE OF $ 50.
Parties interested in book displays or displays for programs or projects should contact the ACTC office
at rgrundig@stmarys-ca.edu.
HOTEL REGISTRATION:
ROOM AVAILABILITY AT THE RADISSON PLYMOUTH HARBOR WILL NOT MEET DEMAND FOR THE CONFERENCE,
SO WE HAVE ARRANGED FOR ROOM BLOCKS AT SEVERAL OTHER CONFERENCE HOTELS AS WELL. EITHER A
TWO-BLOCK WALK OR CONVENIENT FREE TRANSPORTATION WILL TAKE CONFERENCE ATTENDEES TO AND FROM
THE RADISSON TO OTHER HOTELS.
Hours of ground transportation operation will be:
| Thurs. | 12:00 PM-11:00 PM |
| Fri. | 6:30 AM-10:00 PM |
| Sat. | 6:30 AM-10:00 PM |
| Sun. | 6:30 AM- 5:00 PM |
| Mon. | 6:30 AM- 1:00 PM |
Ground transportation will ALSO run to the Plymouth/Kingston MTBA stations, too.
Radisson, Plymouth Harbor:
Single or Double Rate: $ 89.00/night.
Off-site rate: Single or Double: $ 79.00. Book early in the Radisson!
Off-site hotels, in descending order of proximity from Radisson:
Walking:
Best Western (2 blocks)
Transportation:
Comfort Inn (5 minutes by transportation)
Pilgrim Sands (8-10 minutes; $ 20 higher for a bay view room)
ALL HOTEL REGISTRATIONS WILL TAKE PLACE THROUGH THE RADISSON HOTEL, PLYMOUTH HARBOR: 877 500 0050 or 508 747 4900.
Room blocks at above rate will be held until FRIDAY, MARCH 14th. After March 14 rooms and rates are subject to availability.
To make a hotel reservations, call toll free: 877 500 0050, local 508 747 4900. Ask for reservations and give the name of the group, ACTC or Association for Core Texts and Courses. Or fax your reservation to: 508-746-5386
AIRPORTS AND GROUND TRANSPORTATION:
From Boston/Logan:
Take the Silver Line from Logan Airport to South Street Station.
Take the "Old Colony Lines" = Kingston/Plymouth Lines.
Trains run on weekdays to Kingston or Plymouth, departing South Street, from 7:11 AM to 10:40 PM,
arriving Kingston or Plymouth between 8:10 AM and 11:33 PM.
When you reach the Halifax stop, call the hotel at 508 747 4900 and ask the front desk to
send the van to pick you up for free. Trains run on Sundays (and Saturdays) between Kingston
or Plymouth between 7:05 AM and 9:30 PM. They arrive at South Street Station between 8:02 AM and 10:24 PM.
Check schedule available at http://www.mbta.com
Fares 1.70 + 7.25.
Or
Reserve, a couple days beforehand, with Access Express.
Approximate costs are $ 160 roundtrip for a van holding one to three people;
steep discounts for up to 10 are available. ACTC cannot make arrangements.
Website: http://www.accessexpress.info; tel: 1 866 746 5715
Or
Rent a car via your airline
Website help on ALL visitor-to-Boston area questions:
http://www.bnbboston.com/top_level/travel_boston_information.htm
From Providence, T.F. Green: Car rental through your airline.
Questions? Write or call:
Rosa Grundig
ACTC Liberal Arts Institute at
Saint Mary's College of California
1928 Saint Mary's Road
Saint Mary's College
Moraga, CA 94556.
Phone: 925 631 8597
Email: rgrundig@stmarys-ca.edu
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