2004 RJA CONFERENCE INFORMATION 

Conference Program

February 13 - 15, 2004, Carpenter Hall, Sunset Center, Carmel, CA
(Mission between Eighth & Tenth Streets)

Jeffers, Science, & the Natural & Cultural History of the Big Sur Region

CONFERENCE PROGRAM

Friday, February 13
1:15-4:30: Hike at Point Lobos, conducted by geologist Aaron Yoshinobu and biologist and Big Sur historian Jeff Norman. See below for more information.

Saturday, February 14
8:30 Coffee & President's Welcome

James Baird, University of North Texas

9:00-10:30 Keynote Address

Jeff Norman, biologist and Big Sur historian: “The Historical Models of Some of Jeffers’s Characters”

10:30-12:00 Panel: Sacred Science

Tim Hunt, Illinois State University: “’Good Literature Can Be Popular’: Jeffers, Religion, and Science"
George Hart, California State University, Long Beach: “Rock, Bark, and Blood: Jeffers’s Sacramental Natural History”
Robert Zaller, Drexel University: “Jeffers’s Redemptive Darwinism”
Chair: ShaunAnne Tangney, Minot State University; Executive Director, RJA

12:00-1:30 Lunch (on your own)

1:30-3:00 Panel: When Mind Meets Nature

Rebecca Raglon, University of British Columbia: “November Surf, Winter Storm: ‘The Vast Unconsciousness of Nature’ in Robinson Jeffers’s Poetry”
Petr Kopecky, Fulbright Scholar from the Czech Republic, California State University, San Jose: “Harbinger of Biocentricism: Robinson Jeffers at His Deepest”
John Cusatis, The School of the Arts, Charleston, SC: “The Curious Desire of Knowing: Robinson Jeffers and the Poetry of Science.”
Chair: James Karman, California State University, Chico

3:00-4:30 Panel: Jeffers and Other “Nature Writers”

Ian Roberts, Missouri Western State College: “Robinson Jeffers and Thomas Hardy: Poet-Priests of Science”
Susan Lucas, University of Alaska Southeast: “Bly, Abbey, and the Gospel of Consciousness: A Meditation on the ‘Good’ Use of Robinson Jeffers”
David J. Rothman, Crested Butte Academy: “Jeffers and ‘Nature Poetry’”
Chair: Robert Brophy, California State University, Long Beach

5:00-7:00 Reception and Poetry Reading at Il Fornaio (at the Pine Inn, Ocean Avenue and Monte Verde in downtown Carmel)

Featuring poetry by Jackie Pugh Kogan, Jim Dwyer, Patricia Monaghan, Charles Fort, and Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts

Sunday, February 15
8:00 Coffee

8:30-9:30 RJA Business Meeting

9:30-10:30 Address

William Leslie Howard, award-wining actor and composer: “Speaking Jeffers: The Art of Reciting Master Poetry”

10:30-12:00 Panel: Hard Science and Good Poetry

Ron Olowin, St. Mary’s College: “Robinson Jeffers: Poetic Responses to a Cosmological Revolution”
Aaron Yoshinobu, Texas Tech University: “Robinson Jeffers: Poet and Earth Scientist”
Justin Eichenlaub, University of Pittsburgh: “The Neurological Sublime in Jeffers’s Poetry”
Chair: James Baird, University of North Texas; President, RJA

12:00-1:30 Lunch (on your own)

1:30-3:00 Panel: Considerations of Natural History

Karen Lawson, University of Nevada, Reno: “’These Decent Birds’: Primitive Birds and Inhumanism in Jeffers’s Lyric Poetry”
ShaunAnne Tangney, Minot State University: “What’s the Sixteenth Century Got to Do With It? Exploring the History of Natural History and the Rejection of Anthropomorphism”
Joshua Nettinga, California State University, Long Beach: “Big Sur, the Final Frontier: Robinson Jeffers and the Last Bastion of Possibility”
Chair: Peter Quigley, Minnesota State University, Moorhead

3:00-4:30 Panel: Jeffers and Other “Sciences”

Dirk Aardsma, Independent Scholar: “The Crafting of Cawdor”
Robert Brophy, California State University, Long Beach: “’Scraps and metaphors will serve’: Robinson Jeffers and Scientific American”
James Baird, University of North Texas; President, RJA: “The Natural Science That Isn’t: Robinson Jeffers and the Photographers”
Chair: Tim Hunt, Illinois State University

4:30 Adjourn

PRE-PROGRAM CONFERENCE FIELD TRIP

10th Annual Robinson Jeffers Association Conference Presents
A Field Trip to Point Lobos State Reserve
Friday, 13 February 2004
In conjunction with the 10th Annual Robinson Jeffers Association Conference on 'Jeffers, Science, and the Natural and Cultural History of the Big Sur Region', the RJA will host an informal field trip to Point Lobos State Reserve on Friday, 13 February. During the trip we will examine outcrops of Cretaceous granite, 60 million year old submarine gravity-slide deposits, marine terraces tilted by recent earthquake faults, and other geologic features that represent the bedrock to Tor House and Jeffers’s poetry. As we examine the rocks we will discuss the evidence that Jeffers used to conclude that nature is dynamic and cyclical: 'systole and diastole: the whole universe beats like a heart.' Along the path we will analyze the influence of nature and science on Jeffers’s poetry while surrounded by the source of his inspiration. In addition to geology, we will discuss the ecology, biology, and natural and cultural history of Point Lobos and the Central Coast region.
Where: Point Lobos State Reserve
When: 12:30 PM, Friday, 13 February, meet at the Sunset Center in downtown Carmel; we will carpool and caravan from there to Point Lobos State Reserve. The Reserve opens at 9 AM and closes at 5 PM. If parking is available inside the Reserve we will proceed to Whalers Cove. Otherwise we will begin our walk at the Reserve entrance.
How: By foot we will travel approximately 2-3 miles over gentle, forested hills and along rocky coastal outcrops.
What we will see and do: During the hike we will talk about granite and cypress, birds and fishes, the beauty of things, and if the conditions are optimal we might see "the ocean's tribute." We will also spend some time 'on the outcrop' discussing the origins of granite and the 'connections and disconnections' between Robinson Jeffers’s verses, nature, and science as a means of discovery. And we will hear various readings of Jeffers poems - be sure to bring your favorite short poem; there won’t be time for long ones.
Who: All are welcome. The field trip will be guided by Aaron Yoshinobu (geologist), Jeff Norman (biologist and Carmel historian), and others.
Cost: Point Lobos State Reserve charges $5/car at the entrance; there are no other fees associated with the field trip.
Be sure to bring:
*comfortable walking shoes
*backpack with snacks, water or a thermos with hot coffee
*sunglasses, hat, sunscreen (hopefully not needed)
*rain jacket, clothing layers for variable temperatures (it could be misty, foggy, or even raining)
We will return to our vehicles no later than 5:00 pm, depending on the weather and discussion. For more information regarding logistics of the field trip, please contact Aaron Yoshinobu (806-742-4025) or Rob Kafka (310-825-1983).
For more information, log on to: http://www.gesc.ttu.edu/Fac_pages/Yoshinobu/RJ/RJA_2004_Field_Trip.html