ABSTRACT
Now many years ago, when the author had gotten far enough along in my studies that he could consider being on the job market for the first time, he made a trip to Chicago to attend the National Communication Association (NCA) conference, primarily to go to the job fair. He walked around, not so accidentally overhearing interviews behind the portable dividers, stopping at all the open booths to talk to whomever he could. It was all pretty standard fare, but one conversation he had did stick out. For instance, over a dozen years ago minus one—at yet another conference, this time one about qualitative inquiry—he found myself speaking with a person who he regard as one of the most preeminent people who think with theory in the field. When there’s Western philosophy in qualitative inquiry, it’s typically among thinkers who are fairly compatible with one another.
