A panel discussion on interdisciplinarity at the Nolte Center on the Minneapolis Campus of the University of Minnesota will feature KB Journal founding co-editor and U of M, Crookston Associate Professor Mark E. Huglen, on Thursday, April 10 at 4 pm.

The University of Minnesota’s Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is hosting a panel discussion featuring Associate Professor Mark E. Huglen, Ph.D., from the Crookston campus joined by assistant professors David Beard and David Gore, both from the Duluth campus. The discussion, organized by the Reconfiguring Rhetorical Studies collaborative, will focus on interdisciplinarity – why it is needed, how to make it work and how it has been applied in the past, particularly in the area of rhetoric.

Huglen has served as a central and formative influence on the collaboration effort in the communications department at the U of M, Crookston. From his own research on the rhetoric and poetics of the Viet Nam experience to his groundbreaking work in founding the interdisciplinary KB Journal, which unites scholars in multiple fields with an interest in American literary theorist and philosopher Kenneth Burke, Huglen’s research had significant impetus for this study.

“Dr. Huglen exemplifies, at the scholarly level, precisely the kind of collaboration that the IAS is funding,” says Beard. “We are pleased to have named Dr. Huglen as a collaborating fellow in the Reconfiguring Rhetorical Studies research collaborative; in large part, this collaborative is a natural extension and outgrowth of work Huglen has done for years.”

A number of faculty and graduate students from Duluth and the Twin Cities will be on hand to learn more about Huglen’s current research. He is also scheduled to visit Duluth in late April, timed to coincide with visiting scholars from Texas A&M and the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, to continue this collaboration and conversation. As a part of the conversation, he will discuss the work of the KB Journal as an interdisciplinary enterprise.