As we near the close of the twentieth century, scholars of communication face a number of pressing challenges, some ancient and some brand new. It is vital at this time that departments of communication begin a self-definitional discourse that confronts these challenges directly, articulating the identity and mission of these communities of scholarship.

With the reorganization of departments and schools at CSUN, the fín-de- millenium could not have come at a better time. (Of course it really could not have come at any other time, but that's not really relevant, is it). The Department of Speech Communication is in the process of becoming the Department of Human Communication. The challenges posed by our department's name change and the challenges posed by scholars of rhetoric, communication, language, performance, and cultural studies into the twenty-first century mirror each other. This year, graduate students have a unique opportunity to contribute to the ongoing conversation about the future directions of scholarship in this department as well as the future directions of our field.

Join Us!

Join us for a two-day colloquium in CSUN's luxurious Speech Communication Building. The colloquium will feature panels of presentations by CSUN students discussing and/or performing their contributions to the field.

The conference schedule and abstracts of student presentations will be made available on the World-Wide Web.

Participation

Proposals for participation by graduate students in the Department of Speech Communication will be accepted until April 16, 1996. Contributions by CSUN graduate students in other departments or by non-CSUN students will be considered but not solicited.

Proposals should include name of presenter, title, brief (approximately 150 words) abstract, and contact address (email is preferred). If the presentation is part of the requirements for one of the seminars, please include the seminar number on your proposal. Presentations will be 10-15 minutes long, and will be organized into panels which allow for discussion by audience members.

Please send a brief abstract (100-200 words) before the deadline to Ben Attias in SP229 or by email to hfspc002@csun.edu. Visit our web page at <http://www.csun.edu/~hfspc002/conf96/>