It will be if John has his way. As he explains in this post, he’s planning on putting together several panels, starting at MLA 2006 and then continuing into 2007, to 25th anniversary of the publication of Orality and Literacy, Walter Ong’s extremely important and influencial book.
I don’t know if I’ll be able to propose a panel for one of these conferences or not– certainly not MLA, if I can help it– but it is certainly a worthy project. And it might be an interesting time to teach a seminar in Ong, too.
2007 as the year of Ong! Or should that be saved for the centenary in 2012? Do think about a paper topic. I’m also thinking about a session along the lines of “Ong Beyond Orality and Literacy” since, as I’ve suggested many times, Orality and Literacy was only ever meant to be an introduction to the field, and it just skims the surface of Ong’s larger interests into media, consciousness, and culture.