SETTLEMENT & SURVIVAL
If you're headed to the History of Science Society meeting next week, please add our panel SETTLEMENT & SURVIVAL (o38) to your schedule!
Friday November 18 11AM (Mezzanine, Georgian)
Nathan Kapoor (Illinois State, formerly of the Oklahoma parish) and I organized this session to bring some amazing emerging scholars to the conference. The best part is you don't have to hear either of us present our research!
Abstract: This panel contributes to a discussion of “settlement and survival.” We consider how the two concepts are deeply interconnected across geographies and temporalities. How do scientific conceptions of survival and its imperatives animate acts of displacement and dislocation, and whose survival is prioritized in moments of turmoil? We approach these questions as matters of scientific and technical authority, knowledge creation, and sociotechnical imaginaries.
Our panelists are Rebecca Marcolina, James Esposito, and Kirke Elsass.
THE GAUNTLET
You may remember that in organizing this session, I was adamant that this be a GOOD experience, as opposed to any of the myriad flavors of Not Good one can experience at such conferences. So in case you can't make it, here's my Chairing a Panel at a Big Conference and Protecting Your Presenters from Not Good Experiences philosophy.
In my little Sermon From the Chair at the top, I'll briefly outline what feedback should do in such a situation. Not all feedback is good and plenty of it can be explicitly Not Good.
We're looking for generative discussion that provokes new and deeper thinking, produces ideas and insights, and enriches both the audience's understanding and the panelist's perspective on their own work.
We're looking for constructive criticism, not attacks or takedowns or performative intellectual sparring. Criticism should be given sparingly, kindly, and with the express aim of helping panelists to improve their work (rather than discouraging them from pursuing it at all).
That ties into the last tenet of Good feedback, which is to always be encouraging. The point is to help each other. Not to eliminate the competition, or demoralize the "enemy," or identify a nemesis. Is this profession not difficult enough?
We are also soliciting Focused Feedback. We asked the panelists what type of feedback would be most helpful for them, and will point out these areas of focus to the audience ahead of discussion. Some want help with additional sources and context, others would like more guidance on research process and developing a small project into a large one.
The last component is enforcement. If the Chair is not willing to tell people to shut up when they're being rude or unhelpful, none of these ideas will matter. And you better believe I will bring the hammer down.
I hope you can add us to your schedule if you're attending the conference! It's gonna be a good time! See you in Chicago.