150 Years on Kendall Green: The Blog

Hello, everyone! I just want to take a moment to check in. First of all, I’m noticing a number of comments. For the most part, they’re great, and I hope more of you will start to feel comfortable with joining in and commenting. I plan to respond and join in as well, once I’ve finished with these posts. That’s my priority right now. Regardless, I encourage you and any readers that are lurking to join in the dialogue. I’m also hoping that conference participants and presenters will also add their thoughts at some point.

However, since we’re on the subject of comments, I want to remind everyone of the house rules. There have been a handful of comments that are inappropriate/irrelevant. I’ve had to delete or moderate them. If you are here to share your thoughts, have a conversation about the history involved, or even debate a historical theory, so much the better. If you are going to make throwaway, one-line attacks or ad hominem assaults on any person’s character, your comment will either end up in moderation or be deleted. This is not something I enjoy doing, but this blog is not a freewheeling, “anything goes” place; it is for everyone, yes, but it is an academic forum first and foremost. As such, there are limits and rules. Please review them.

Finally, I want to mention that while I know some or all of these posts have or will generate a great deal of interest, they are primarily summarizations/transcripts of the work of scholars. They are not verbatim accounts. It has come to my attention that some people are excerpting or linking to this blog and its posts. That is acceptable, as long as you credit me and this blog (it would also be nice if you acknowledged the presenter as well). To do so otherwise is dishonest, and is more commonly known as plagiarism. Please remember to cite your sources and give appropriate credit any time you quote from or reference any material from this blog. Thank you for your time. Now let’s get back to the conference! =)

Welcome back yet again! I want to take a few minutes to introduce myself, explain what will happen with this blog, and invite you to participate in this forum.

Who Am I?

My name is David Evans, and I’ve had a long association with Gallaudet, and with history in general. I’m a graduate of Gallaudet, where I majored in history. I earned an M.A. in history from Utah State University, and I am currently taking (a very!) extended leave from my doctoral studies in history. Like many of you, I am proud of Gallaudet and what it means to the Deaf community (that, and my meager collection of early Buff and Blues testify to my interest!). I’m honored (and very excited!) to be able to be a part of this conference.

I was asked by the conference organizers if I would be willing to donate my time and help with the conference– little did I know that their intent was to have me blog! Some of you are familiar with me from DeafDC, among other forums, so I’m not exactly new to blogging and online forums.

What Will Happen Here?

What I will be doing over the next few weeks will involve the following: 1) I will be posting here, and moderating discussions about the conference, the presenters’ papers, and Deaf history in general; 2) I will be live-blogging each presentation during the conference itself, and 3) I will be posting on and moderating follow-up discussions in the aftermath of the conference.

While the blog itself will have a limited shelf-life, the intent is to first allow participation in the conference for those individuals who, for one reason or another, cannot attend the conference; second, to allow participation and discussion from the general public on the topics that will be discussed at the conference; and finally, to aid the historical record by preserving opinion and commentary about the topics and the conference itself.

House Rules

Unlike other blogs/vlogs and forums, this blog has a narrow, specific purpose: a live-blog record of the conference, and discussion and commentary about the conference and its components. This means that while comments will be open to one and all, there will be a few rules.

1) All comments left at each post should ideally be about the panels and individual presenters and the subject matter they are presenting on.

2) Comments that have nothing to do with the conference, or that lead to inappropriate comments, will be removed.

3) Personal attacks, vendettas, flames and flame wars, and unconstructive or irrelevant criticism will not be tolerated.

4) Respect each other, and there should be no problems with the above.

5) Finally, these rules are guidelines. Right now, each post will be open for comments. As moderator, I and the conference organizers reserve the right to revise these rules and guidelines at any time, and to alter blog operations, including open comments.

If you have questions or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment. Welcome aboard!