20th Annual Conference  

Janus: Looking Forward

  Looking Backward

Click here to see photos from this years conference.

This year's conference featured a diverse group of humanities scholars and instructors from around the state.  We are pleased to offer an excellent program of diverse presenters and participants who will examine our theme from several different and exciting approaches.

Keynote Speakers

Friday's Speaker, Rev. Robert J. Spitzer

Distinguished professor, author and frequent guest speaker, Rev. Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D., is President of Gonzaga University.  Father Spitzer's interests are ethics in organizations and culture, metaphysics, the ontology of physics, and the dialogue between faith and reason.  Fr. Spitzer taught at St. Louis University as a teaching assistant in 1977-78, at Seattle University as an instructor in 1978-80, at Georgetown University as an instructor and assistant professor in 1984-1990, and at Seattle University as an associate professor between 1990-1998.  He won the Bunn medal for most outstanding faculty member at Georgetown University in 1990 and the Seattle University award for most outstanding professor in 1996.  Fr. Spitzer started several national institutes including the Philosophical Institute of Physics (Washington, D.C.) in 1987, the Institute of Professional Ethics in Seattle (1994) and the Institute on Character Development in Seattle (1995).  In addition, two books of his will be published this year: 1)  The Spirit of Leadership: Optimizing Creativity and Change in Organizations, Executive Excellence, Provo, Utah.  2) Healing the Culture: A Common Sense Philosophy of Happiness, Freedom and the Life Issues, published by Ignatius Press, San Francisco.  He is currently working on a manuscript on quantum cosmology entitled Real Time: Horizons and Parameters of Reflecting on Quantum Cosmology.

Saturday's Speaker, Daniel Kemmis

Daniel Kemmis, Director of the Center for the Rocky Mountain West, is the former Mayor of Missoula, a former Speaker and Minority Leader of the Montana House of Representatives, and a four-term Montana legislator.
Mr. Kemmis is the author of two books: Community and The Politics of Place and The Good City and the Good Life.  He has had articles published in national and regional magazines and journals on such topics as community and community building, city design, bioregionalism, and the economy and politics of the West.  He was recognized by the Utne Reader in 1995 as one of its "100 Visionaries."  In 1997, President Clinton awarded Mr. Kemmis the Charles Frankel Prize for outstanding contribution to the field of the humanities.  Also in 1997, he was the recipient of the Society for Conservation Biology's Distinguished Achievement Award for Social, Economic and Political work.  In 1998, the Center of the American West awarded him the Wallace Stegner Price for sustained contribution to the cultural identity of the West.  In the fall of 1998 he was awarded a fellowship by the John F. Kennedy School Institute of Politics at Harvard University.  In February, 2000, he was honored as the Pinchot Distinguished Lecturer in Washington, D.C.

This was the 2000 CONFERENCE PROGRAM

Thursday, October 12: Gallery Reception, Spokane Art Museum; 8 PM

Friday, October 13:

8-9 am - Registration - Conference Headquarters Room
8-9 am - Breakfast - Ballroom B
9 am - 8 pm - Art Exhibit - Main Lobby
9-9:15 am - Announcements and Introductions - Ballroom B
9:15 - 10:15 am - Keynote Address: Robert J. Spitzer - Ballroom B
10:15 - 10:30 am - Coffee Break - Ballroom B

SESSION ONE 10:30 - Noon

• Book display by Auntie’s Bookstore - Main Lobby
• Round Table Discussion: The Evaporating Classroom
     Coordinators: Judy Bentley, Bryan West & Mary Hyatt - Audubon
• Vijay K. Kapur 
     “The Comprehensive Global Classroom Curriculum” - Manito
• Don Johnson & Anne Kelly-Glasoe
     “An Integrated Curriculum: Spanish 103 & Latin American Studies” - Willow 1 
• Don Foran
     “How Poetry Saves the World,” - Willow 2
• Alice Derry
     “An Anthology of German Poetry” -  Willow 2

LUNCH    Noon - 1:30 pm    Ballroom B   

SESSION TWO 1:30 - 3:30 

• Round Table Discussion: Humanities Assessment: Measuring the Immeasurable
     Coordinators: Michael Shurgot & Jerry Zimmerman -  Audubon
• Tom Simon
     “Blues as Poetry" - Manito
• David Such
     “Composing for Non-Western Instruments” - Manito
• William Krieger
    “Edward Bellamy, Russell Conwell, Henry George, and John Humphrey: 
     How Backward Was Their Forward Looking?” - Willow 1
• Rich Baldasty
     “Oliver’s Window & Cecilia’s Tomb: Actual and Virtual in History and Fiction” - Willow 1
• Lisa Anne Rasmussen
     “The Status of Painting in the Electronic Classroom” - Willow 2
• Hugh Remash
     “Retooling Americans: Implications for Humanities” - Willow 2

COFFEE AND DESSERT    3:30 - 4:00    Ballroom B

  SESSION THREE  4:00 - 6:00 

• Round Table Discussion: Education, Inc. 
     Coordinators: Mark Doerr, John Gonzales, Sarita McCaw, and Lynn Dunlap - Audubon
• Carol Hamilton and Jane Lister Reis
     “Head, Hands, and Heart: Holding Space for Renewal On Our Campuses,” - Man ito
• George Ives, “Humanities and the Internet: New Educational Possibilities” - Man ito
• Terry Mirande, Almut McAuley, and Justin Hart
     “Issues in Literary Translation” - Willow 1
• Jean Weber and Michael Kiefel
     “Revitalizing the Art of Story Telling” - Willow 2

SOCIAL HOUR / POETRY READING  6:00 - 7:00    SKYLINE II

BANQUET AND AWARDS  7:00 - 8:30    SKYLINE II

Friday, October 13:

8 - 9am -  Breakfast - Ballroom B
9 - Noon - Book Display by Auntie’s Bookstore - Main Lobby
9 - Noon - Art Exhibit - Main Lobby
9:00 - 10:00 am - Keynote Address: Daniel Kemmis - Ballroom B

SESSION FOUR 10:00 - Noon

•Plenary Session - “Colleges and Communities: Gaining Consensus” - Ballroom B

12:30 - 1:30 pm - Representatives lunch and meeting - T.B.A.

2:00 - 4:00 pm - Art Walk: Riverside Park, “Bowl & Pitcher” -Downtown Spokane
Leaders: Tom Davis, Spokane Poet & Carolyn Stephens, Spokane Falls Community College

For online registration click here

To see last year's conference highlights click here.