RAIL

In the wake of the recent OSSA conference (which was great–thanks again to all the folks in Windsor who made it happen!) I’ve made a couple of updates here at RAIL.

First, I’ve finally got the list of grad programs in argumentation posted. You can find it by clicking here, or by clicking on the “Study Argumentation” tab at the top of this page.  If you are part of a program that should be there and isn’t please let me know.  The basic criterion for inclusion is that the program should be a place where a student could write an MA thesis or a PhD dissertation (or their equivalents) under a committee knowledgeable about argumentation theory. There’s a form on the page itself that can be used to send in the information if your program fits the bill and isn’t mentioned.

Secondly, I’ve heard time and again that one of the most useful features of RAIL is the posting of CFPs. I’ve also oftentimes heard comments that it’s hard to keep track of when and where all the events will be taking place. To help out with this problem I’ve made a calendar for events in argumentation theory. For now, I’m calling it the ArgEvents calendar. It, too, has a tab up at the top of the page.

The basic idea of ArgEvents is to put all the CFPs and announcements for conferences, workshops, seminars, special journal issues, etc. in argumentation theory in one easy to access place. The project is an extension of RAIL, but it is located at a different site–one that gives me a little bit more flexibility, ease, and speed in terms of appearance and management than does WordPress at present. The information in the calendar will have come from a post at RAIL in the “CFP”  category in almost every case. The difference is that there it can be viewed in a format more conducive to planning.

A secondary purpose of the calendar is to archive events so that event organizers, or people who want to plan ahead, can get a feel for what the busiest times of year will be. There is an archive page at ArgEvents that will list past events by year and month for this purpose.

If you have any suggestions for improvements for these new pages, you can post a comment to this page, or just let me know via e-mail: railargumentation at gmx dot com.