The Leff and Zarefsky Epideictic Panel
In Texts in Context, the edited volume which emerged from the first Public Address Confernce, Michael Leff observes that the origin of the conference, held in Madison, Wisconsin in 1988, could be traced to one of David Zarefsky's ideas. As Leff tells it, the proposal was modest: a "small, informal" gathering that would be "uncommitted to any grand schemes about the course of future scholarship." Modest, indeed. This year we mark the 10th now biennial conference. That gem of an idea offered by David Zarefsky has flourished and evolved, and in fact has had much to do with the course of public address studies. At this milestone in the history of the gathering, a history shared by the many universities that have hosted it and the many scholars who have participated in and been enriched by it, we think it fitting and proper not only to focus on epideictic discourse as a theme, but to invite Professors Leff and Zarefsky to offer their own words in praise or blame of the Public Address Conference.
