Program of the 1997 Conference on Communication and Environment

The Fourth Biennial Conference on Communication and Environment

July 26-29, 1997, Syracuse, New York U.S.A.

Saturday, July 26

5-6:30 pm Conference Opening Reception in the Dining Room Foyer & Patio

6:30-9 pm Dinner and Keynote

Welcome, Introductions, & Announcements, Sue Senecah, SUNY-ESF

Keynote Speaker: Henry Lickers, Director of the Environmental Division of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne and noted scholar of Naturalized Knowledge Systems. (Tentative)

9:30 pm Post-Program "Highlight on Spots":

Informal sharing of news clips, ads, video clips, etc. brought by participants

Sunday, July 27

6:15-7:15 am Early morning guided bird walks , meditation by the lake . . .

7:15-8:15 am Breakfast and Announcements

8:30-8:45 am Welcome by the Oneida Nation to their ancestral lands

9-10:30 am

Panel I - Environment & Culture.
Chair: Star Muir, George Mason University

• Rhetoric, Environment, and the Incorporation of Meaning: From NEPA to Pollution Prevention.
  John Opie and Norbert Elliot, New Jersey Institute of Technology
• Developing a 'Media Sensitive' Environmental Attitude Measure.
  James Shanahan, Lisa Pelstring, and Katherine McComas, Cornell University
• Reconciling Environmental Values, Social Justice, and Material Production Across Intercultural and Intracultural Settings.
  Kent Goshorn, University of Pennsylvania
• Nature Imagery in Indigenous Documentary.
  Steven Leuthold, Syracuse University

10:45-12:15 pm

Panel II - The Communication of Risk.
Chair: James Shanahan, Cornell University

• Anti-Environmental Discourse and the Approaching Millennium: Reconstituting Public Perceptions of 'Environmental Overkill'.
  Star Muir, George Mason University
• Define and Conquer: Technical Definitions and the Rhetoric of Risk Communication.
  John Carpenter, Michigan Technological University
• Fusion Discourse: A Possibility for Public-Expert Communication Through Identification of a Third Perspective.
  Caitlin Young, University of Cincinnati
• Reasons Why: Describing Polarized Orientations Toward Perception of Environmental Risk.
  Craig Trumbo, University of Nevada-Reno

12:30-2:45 pm Lunch on the Patio

Panel III - Jobs in Environmental Communication.
Chair: Craig Waddell, Michigan Technological University

Roundtable Participants: J. Robert Cox, University of North Carolina; Stephen Depoe, University of Cincinnati; Kevin Doyle, Environmental Careers Organization; Brant Short, Northern Arizona University; Nicholas Smith-Sebasto, University of Illinois-Urbana; Rae Tyson, USA Today; JoAnn Valenti, Brigham Young University; Peggy Durbin, Los Alamos National Laboratory.

3:15-4:45 pm

Panel IV - Themes for Approaching Environmental Media.
Chair: John Opie, New Jersey Institute of Technology

• The Discourse of Pollution Prevention: A Rhetorical Analysis and Case Study.
  Nancy Coppola, New Jersey Institute of Technology
• Viewers Work: Framing Environmentalists.
  James Lalumia, Youngstown State University
• Computerized Content Analysis: Identifying Themes and Frames in Text on Pesticides, Wetlands, and Forest Salvage.
  Bonnie Riechert and Mark Miller, University of Tennessee-Knoxville
• Packaging Nature from Farm Fields to Supermarket Shelves.
  Jean Retzinger, University of California-Berkeley

4:45-6:30 pm Free Time

• Open bar: beer/wine/soda and snacks
• Documentary Film Witness to the Future, by Branda Miller
• Rachel Carson interactive CD Rom demonstration, by Branda Miller
• Publishers' displays
• Recreational activities (swimming, hiking, volleyball, softball)

6:30-7:45 pm Barbeque Dinner on the Grounds

8 pm Evening Program: the Adirondacks

• Cultural Landscapes as Language, Michael Wilson, Assoc. Director of the Sagamore Institute
• Adirondack Music and Folklore, Dan Bergren, Communication Professor, SUNY Fedonia

Post-Program "Highlight on Spots"

Informal sharing of news clips, ads, video clips, etc. brought by any participants

Monday, July 28

6-7 am Early morning guided bird walks, stretching by the lake . . .

7:15-8:15 am Breakfast and announcements

8:30-10 am

Panel V - Case Studies in Environmental Communication
Chair: JoAnn Valenti, Brigham Young University

• Recovering Environmental Discourse: A Historical-Rhetorical Analysis of Frederick Law Olmstead's Report, 'The Yosemite Valley and The Mariposa Big Trees'.
  Daniel Buehler, University of Maryland
• Association and Dissociation in an Ecological Controversy: The Great Whale Case.
  Francois Cooren, University of Cincinnati, and James Taylor,Universite de Montreal
• Condemning a Corporation: Exxon as Scapegoat.
  Terence Check, St. Johns University
• What's the Problem?: The Rhetorical Definition of Environmental Issues.
  Richard Jones, Texas A&M University

10:15-11:45

Panel VI - Environmental Media: Cases & Content
Chair: Ben Tyson, Central Connecticut State University

• Magazines and a Medium for Environmental Communications.
  Donny Roush, Environmental Science & Research Foundation
• Telling Stories About Global Climate Change: A Content Analysis of the New York Times and the Washington Post from 1980-1995.
  Katherine McComas and James Shanahan, Cornell University
• Escalation of Media Discourse About Nature: News from the Amazon Rain Forest.
  Allen Palmer, Brigham Young University
• Media Coverage of Sustainability: The Agenda, Frame, and Sources.
  JoAnn Valenti, Lillian Billing, and Alisa Brousseau, Brigham Young University

Noon-1:30 pm Lunch "earth blessing", Jack Manno, SUNY-ESF Book Give-aways

1:45 -3:15 pm

Panel VII - Building Environmental Communities
Chair: Stephen Depoe, University of Cincinnati

• Relationships Between Individual and Community-Oriented Motivations: A Three-Part Study of Message Factors for Promoting Conservation of Communal Resources.
  Ben Tyson, Central Connecticut State University
• Redefining the Wilderness Experience: The Grand Canyon, Canyon Forest Village, and Controlled Tourism.
  Dayle Hardy-Short and Brant Short, Northern Arizona University
• Planning as Public Dialog: A Social Communication Perspective on Participatory Processes.
  Amanda Graham, University of Washington
• Ocean Arks and Living Machines: The Culture and Techniques of Sustainability Through Self-Design.
  Richard Boylan, SUNY-ESF

3:30-5 pm

Panel VIII - Environmental Stakeholders
Chair: Brant Short, Northern Arizona University

• Public Involvement, Civic Discovery, and the Formation of Environmental Policy: A Comparative Analysis of the Fernald Citizens Task Force and the Fernald Health Effects Subcommittee.
  Stephen Depoe, University of Cincinnati
• Variability of Stakeholder Views About Citizen Participation in the Fernald Radium Debate.
  Jennifer Hamilton, University of Cincinnati
• Lessons from a Successful Grassroots Environmental Campaign: The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.
  David Shapiro, Ithaca College
• Methods for Collaborative Public Participation in Environmental Conflict Management: A Comparative Analysis.
  Gregg Walker and Steven Daniels, Oregon State University

6:30-9:30 pm Dinner and Skaneateles Lake Cruise

Poetry Performance: Pat Lawler and Janine DeBaise, SUNY ESF

Tuesday, July 29

6-7 am Early morning guided birding, stretching by the lake, . . .

7:15-8:15 am Breakfast and Announcements

8:30-10 am

Panel IX - Other Voices
Chair: Markus Peterson, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department

• Dumping in the Desert of the US/Mexico Border: Issues for the Environmental Justice Movement.
  John Linney, University of Texas-El Paso
• Pitching the Beast: Representations of Non-Human Animals in Contemporary Print Advertising.
  mark meisner, York University
• Ecological Feminism and the Critique of 'Masculine' Regulation Based Discourse in Environmental Decision Making.
  Frank Irizarry, Syracuse University
• An Empirical Exploration of Ecofeminist Issues: Gender Differences and the Feminization of Nature
  Connie Bullis, Carrie Gartner,and JoAnne Gribble, University of Utah

10:15-11:45 am

Panel X - Transcendent Perspectives
Chair: mark meisner, York University

• Ecology According to Silent Spring's Vision of Progress.
  Tarla Peterson, Texas A&M University, and Markus Peterson, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
• Strategic Rhetoric and the Control of Place from Wilderness to Ecosystem: An Exploration of the Legacy of Yellowstone National Park.
  Pete Bsumek, James Madison University
• An Analysis of Systems Theory and Its Relationship to Chemical Manufacturing Companies Communication Strategies and Efforts.
  Ann Jabro, Pennsylvania State University
• The New Casuistry: An Ethical Tool for Conflict Resolution in Environmental Decisionmaking.
  A. Chiaviello, New Mexico State University

Noon-1:30 pm Lunch and Concluding Remarks