The Art and the Act: John Thelwall in Practice is the second memorial conference devoted to the remarkably varied and prolific work of this provocative and inspiring thinker, speaker, writer and activist. The Art and the Act celebrates the conjunction of arts and acts in Thelwall's theory and practice, seeking to connect the wide-ranging communities of “participated action” in which he worked, and to realize in scholarship the democratic values to which he dedicated his life. From politics to speech pathology, poetry to pedagogy, the innovative program alternates papers by international, interdisciplinary scholars and practitioners (including Sir Geoffrey Bindman, Nicholas Roe, Michael Scrivener, & Judith Duchan), with performances, recitations, and hands-on workshops where we collaborate to augment the “common bank” of primary Thelwall materials. Two (+ one optional) days of Arts and Acts include the first full production of a Thelwall play (an original adaptation of The Fairy of the Lake), as well as radical toasts and tastes in the waterfront haunts of privateers, and a “New Peripatetic" colour tour of Thelwallian sites and scenery in Nova Scotia.

Organizers: Dr Judith Thompson (Dalhousie University, Halifax) and Dr Yasmin Solomonescu (York University, Toronto)

Full information about the conference is now available at http://myweb.dal.ca/jthompso/conference/aac.html