The Fourth Annual Meeting of the
The Elemental
University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
Volcanoes National Park, Hawaiʻi
September 27-29, 2012
Conference Program
Thursday, September 27th
Meet in the Koa Room (by the registration desk)
5:30-5:45: Blessing and welcome from conference organizers
5:45-7:15: Session 1: Re-framing the elemental
Moderator: Celia Bardwell-Jones (University of Hawai`i-Hilo)
Dorothea Olkowski (University of Colorado-Colorado Springs), “The Elemental – From the Body of Earth to Capitalism”
Tim Freeman (University of Hawai`i-Hilo), “The Promise of Art in Nietzsche and Heidegger”
7:30-8:30: Session 2: Plenary
Moderator: Chris Lauer (University of Hawai`i-Hilo)
David Macauley (Penn State-Brandywine), “Elemental Aesthetics: On the Imagination and Beauty of the Sensuous World”
8:30-10:00: Reception
Friday, September 28th
All Friday presentations are in the Koa Room.
9:00-10:30: Session 3: The Rupture of the Elemental: Hermeneutics and Hölderlin
Moderator: Jason Wirth (Seattle University)
Brian Treanor (Loyola Marymount University), “Carnal Hermeneutics and Elemental Transformation”
Peter Warnek (University of Oregon), “Fire from Heaven: Hölderlin’s Elemental Tragedy and the Inimitable As Such”
10:45-12:15: Session 4: Engaging Physics
Moderator: Elizabeth Sikes (Seattle University)
Julia Sushytska (University of Redlands), “Knowable Matter of the Elemental: Ancient Greeks and Contemporary Physics”
Bernard Freydberg (Duquesne University), “Mathematical and Elemental Coordinates: The Role of Imagination”
1:45-3:15: Session 5: Elemental Ethics
Moderator: Marjolein Oele (University of San Francisco)
David Kangas (CSU Stanislaus), “The Elemental in Levinas”
Jason Winfree (CSU Stanislaus), “Wonder and the Elemental: Suffering Beyond Ethics”
3:30-6:00: Session 6: Wild Times with Gary Snyder
Moderator: Tim Freeman (UH Hilo)
Jason Wirth (Seattle University), “Painting Mountains and Rivers: Gary Snyder, Dogen, and the Sutra of the Wild”
Elizabeth Sikes (Seattle University), “Wild and Organic: Gary Snyder's Ecological Mind”
Josh Hayes (Santa Clara University), “Back on Fire: Gary Snyder, Heraclitus, and the Play of the Elemental Logos”
7:00-10:00: Dinner (Thai food) and art exhibition at the Ni'aulani Gallery of Volcano Art Center in Volcano village
Saturday, September 29th
9:00-10:30: Session 7: Dis-organizing the Elemental (Koa Room)
Janae Sholtz (Alvernia University), “From Earth to Cosmos: Shattering Elemental Logic”
Arun Iyer (Seattle University), “Grounded in the Abyss: The Instability of the Elemental in Heidegger and Foucault"
10:45-12:15
Session 8A: Environmental Interventions (Koa Room)
Moderator: Ronald Sundstrom (University of San Francisco)
Sam Talcott (University of the Sciences), “Thinking Human and Environment with Bachelard's Elemental Poetics”
Gerard Kuperus (University of San Francisco), “On Fire: The Right of Radical Environmentalism”
Session 8B: Literature and Judgment (Lehua Room)
Moderator: Mariah Partida (University of Hawai`i-Hilo)
Peter Milne (Seoul National University), “The Secret of Reflection: Lyotard's Elemental”
Paulette Kidder (Seattle University), “Interdependent Elements of Satire and Transcendence in Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita”
1:30-3:00
Session 9A: Decomposing Plato and Aristotle (Koa Room)
Moderator: Jessica Lerma (University of Hawai`i-Hilo)
Holly Moore (Luther College), “Plato's Elemental Logic”
Marjolein Oele (University of San Francisco), “From the Elements to Ethics: An Aristotelian Deconstruction of the Four Elements and Their Role in Our Human Rise and Fall”
Session 9B: Eastern Provocations (Lehua Room)
Moderator: Aaron Cornelison (University of Hawai`i-Manoa)
Joseph Harroff (University of Hawai`i-Manoa), “Facing the Elemental with Levinas and Si-Meng Confucianism”
Jing Lui (University of Hawai`i-Manoa), “What Is Called ‘The Unification of Heaven and Man’ (tianrenheyi)?”
3:15-4:45: Session 10A: Presocratic Intimations (Koa Room)
David Jones (Kennesaw State University), “Herakleitos and Eternity's Game: Entering the Nearness of Fire's Tropai”
Mike Shaw (Utah Valley University), “Aether and the Elements in Empedocles”
3:15-4:15: Session 10B: Introduction to Hula Dancing (Lehua Room)
Danielle Meijer
5:15-6:30: Session 11: Plenary (Overlooking Kilauea)
Moderator: Gerard Kuperus (University of San Francisco)
Peter Steeves and Danielle Meijer (DePaul University), “O, Rocks! Tell Us in Plain Words”
7:00-midnight: Pit fire and barbecue at Tim Freeman’s house in Volcano village
Midnight: Visit to caldera
Sunday, September 30th
9:30-noon: walking tour of Kilauea Iki trail
Made in RapidWeaver