athe (actr)

[Richard P Knowles]

Yeah, well, what Denis said. Except I wasn't suggesting a forum group at
ATHE--on the contrary, I was responding to that suggestion with the
suggestion that we colonize THEM. Well, not really; what I was in fact
trying to suggest is that neither ATHE nor ASTR--nor, to some extent,
ACTR--is the ideal organization. What I'd like us to do is continue to
work on ACTR in order to get it into the shape WE want it to take--which
may be something along the lines Alan is suggesting, or may have more
to do with an Association for Theatre Research in Canada "with a
special interest in the Drama and Theatre of Canada" (and maybe for now
that means constant interrogation of the discourse of nation). But
ultimately, I think we can do what we do BETTER than they do it at ATHE
and ASTR, and that members of those organizations might want to join US--
not with us as a forum or any other subsidiary group, but as a solid
group on its own, with which a formal relationship (discounted memberships,
discounted journals, etc) would benefit anyone. I think it's clear that
Canadianists have been standing on their own (and have been OUTstanding)
in American and International organizations for a long time; we
don't Need a ghetto forum at ATHE to which 8 people will continue to
show up. "They" have been coming to "us" as scolars for a long time, and
will continue to do so; "we" have been recognized as doing some of the
best work at various US conferences for a long time, and we'll
continue to do so. Why don't they start to literally come to us--ie,
to our conferences and publications? Is it time these approaches were made?
 
Ric