“The Contemporary Relevance of the History of Rhetoric”
American Society for the History of Rhetoric

February 15–17, 2019
Belo Center for New Media, BMC 5.208
University of Texas at Austin

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“The Contemporary Relevance of the History of Rhetoric”

Conference Program
PDF Program

FRIDAY, February 15, 2019

12:00–12:15 PM Introductory Remarks

Jay M. Bernhardt, Dean of the Moody College of Communication, University of Texas at Austin

Scott R. Stroud, ASHR President, University of Texas at Austin

12:15–1:30 PM Rhetoric, Pedagogy, and Protest

Chair: Paul Stob, Vanderbilt University

“Reclaiming Sophistic Pedagogies in Contemporary Classrooms to Counter Injustice and Foster Activism”
Ryan Wheeler, Texas Christian University

“Rhetoric in U.S. Higher Education’s First and Latest Global Turn: Rhetorical Education in Early 20th Century Student Peace Movements”
Christopher Minnix, University of Alabama at Birmingham

“Women’s Protest Rhetorics: Tension and Solidarity across Space and Time”
Liane Malinowski, University of North Texas

“Revisiting the 1930 Attempt to Establish a World Center for Women’s Archives”
Lynee Lewis Gaillet, Georgia State University

1:40–2:55 PM Culture, Difference, and Rhetoric

Chair: Martha Sue Karnes, University of Texas at Austin

“The Things We Knew: Pre-WWII Jewish Homiletics and the Refiguring Narratives of American Innocence”
Jamie Downing, Georgia College

“Lands of Sacrifice”
Allison Hahn, Baruch College

“Lay Rhetorical Theory and Argumentum Ad Hitlerum”
Trish Roberts-Miller, University of Texas at Austin

“Towards a Translingual Epideictic: The Rhetoric of I. A. Richards”
Katie S. Homar, North Carolina State University

3:00–4:15 PM Keynote Address 1

“Good People? Speaking Well?”
David Zarefsky, Northwestern University

Introduced by Ned O’Gorman, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

4:30–5:45 PM Present and Past in Rhetorical History

Chair: Kathleen Lamp, Arizona State University

“Eventuality, Porosity, Boundedness, Power, and Communication”
Barry Brummett, University of Texas at Austin

“The Present Is Ever Present: The Dilemmas of Relevance in Rhetorical History”
Angela G. Ray, Northwestern University

“Modernity, Measurement, Memory, and the Modulor”
Dave Tell, University of Kansas

“Imagining the Geopolitical Topos: Or, Coming Together Around a Commonplace”
Allison Prasch, Colorado State University

6:00–8:00 PM Reception at Littlefield Mansion

Co-Sponsored by the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy

SATURDAY, February 16, 2019

8:00–8:30 AM Coffee

8:30–9:45 AM Classical Rhetorical Concepts, Creative Rhetorical Situations

Chair: Richard Enos, Texas Christian University

“‘On Being Included’ in the History of Debate”
Carly S. Woods, University of Maryland

“Cicero in Contemporary African Political Contexts”
Fred Jenga, University of Texas at Austin

“Crisis, Kairos, and Constitutional Argument”
Donovan S. Bisbee, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

“Praise Bee! Ecological Persuasion and the Allegorical Encomium”
Jordan T. Loveridge, Mount St. Mary’s University

10:00–11:15 AM Rhetoric and the American Tradition (Sponsored by the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy)

Chair: Justin Pehoski, University of Texas at Austin

“Rhetoric, Hope, and the Future of Religion in Richard Rorty’s Neo-pragmatism”
Jacob L. Goodson, Southwestern College

“Pragmatism as Religious Rhetoric”
Paul Stob, Vanderbilt University

“Explosion and Exposure: Aerial Photography in America’s Wartime Vision”
Katie P. Bruner, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

“Emerson’s Rhetoric and the Promise of Consensus”
Roger Thompson, Stony Brook University

11:30–12:30 PM Diversity, Relevance, and Beyond in Teaching the History of Rhetoric

Chair: Scott R. Stroud, University of Texas at Austin

Discussants:
David Zarefsky, Northwestern University
Cheryl Glenn, Pennsylvania State University
Susan C. Jarratt, University of California, Irvine
Richard Enos, Texas Christian University
Angela G. Ray, Northwestern University
Rasha Diab, University of Texas at Austin

12:30–1:45 PM Lunch

1:45–3:00 PM African-American Experiences and Rhetoric’s History

Chair: Mary Hedengren, University of Houston-Clear Lake

“The Virtuosity of Frederick Douglass: Expanding and Questioning Rhetorical Traditions by Reading Douglass’s Oratorical Corpus”
Bjorn F. Stillion-Southard, University of Georgia

“Exploring the Epideictic Functions of Memoir: An Analysis of Susie King Taylor’s My Life in Camp with the 33rd United States Colored Troops”
Patty Wilde, Washington State University Tri-Cities

“Dismissing Black Radicals: Stokely Carmichael, Black Lives Matter, and Dissociation”
Justin D. Hatch, University of Texas at Austin

“Martin Had a Dream, Kendrick Have a Dream: Resurgence of Civil Rights Rhetorics in Contemporary Hip Hop Music”
Colleen Wilkowski, Arizona State University

3:15–4:30 PM Keynote Address 2

“Rhetorical Feminism: Rooted in History, Practiced with Hope”
Cheryl Glenn, Pennsylvania State University

Introduced by Scott R. Stroud, University of Texas at Austin

4:30–6:00 PM Greek Rhetoric and Contemporary Politics

Chair: Hannah Foltz, University of Texas at Austin

“Second Sophistic Tactics for the Pax Americana”
Susan C. Jarratt, University of California, Irvine

“Cicero’s Rhetoric of Partisanship”
J. A. (Joanna) Kenty, Radboud University

“From Gorgias to Giuliani: Reading the Sophists in ‘Post-Truth’ America”
Brian Stone, Indiana State University

“Reasonable Reconstruction of Socratic Irony in Modern Political Discourse”
Michael Hoppmann, Northeastern University

“‘Bodily Arts’ and the Erasure of LGBTQ+ Athletes in Sports Commemoration”
Mary Anne Taylor, Emerson College

SUNDAY, February 17, 2019

8:00–8:30 AM Coffee

8:30–9:30 AM The Contemporary Relevance of Kenneth Burke

Chair: Teryl Sands, Mesa Community College

“The Origin Stories of the Twentieth-Century New Rhetorics: Kenneth Burke, Chaïm Perelman and Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca’s Rhetorical Turns”
David Frank, University of Oregon

“The Relevance of Kenneth Burke’s The War of Words to Rhetorical History”
Kyle Jensen, University of North Texas

“Religious Ideologies and Secular Religions: The Rhetorics of Gaston Fessard and Kenneth Burke”
Steven Mailloux, Loyola Marymount University

9:45–10:30 AM The History of Rhetoric’s Value for Digital Rhetoric

Chair: Cindy-Lou Holland, University of Texas at Austin

“Enacting Digital Deliberation through Stasis Theory”
Philip Choong, Indiana University, Bloomington

“Everything’s a Narratio: Rhetoric’s Relevance to the Rise of Digital Storytelling”
Eric Detweiler, Middle Tennessee State University

10:30–10:45 AM Break

10:45–11:45 AM Greek Rhetoric and Its Contemporary Echoes

Chair: Clayton Terry, University of Texas at Austin

“An Exercise in Fitting the Square Peg into a Round Hole: Reshaping Ancient Greek Καιρός into Contemporary Academic Kairos”
Nicole Cardassilaris, Ball State University

“Competition in the Agora: Oliver Wendell Holmes and the Classical Origins of the Marketplace of Ideas”
Karen Whedbee, Northern Illinois University

“Reading Carl’s Tears (with Help from Vico): Legal Irony and the End of the Nomos of the Earth”
Margaret Elizabeth Franz, University of North Carolina

11:45–1:00 PM Roman Rhetoric, Education, and the Cultivation of Habit

Chair: Joe H. Cutbirth, University of Texas at Austin

“Searching for Habits of Caring Rhetoric in Quintilian’s Rhetoric of Care”
Benjamin Firgens, Pennsylvania State University

“The Children and the Ancients”
Elizabeth Gardner, Westmont College

“Affective Poiesis, Roman Rhetorical Theory, and Contemporary Emotion Science”
T. Kenny Fountain, University of Virginia

“Rhetorical Pedagogy, Dread, and the Notion of Home”
Johanna Hartelius, University of Texas at Austin


Conference Organizer:
Scott R. Stroud, University of Texas at Austin

Program Committee:
Ira Allen (Northern Arizona University)
Janet Atwill (University of Tennessee, Knoxville)
Martin Camper (Loyola University)
Robert Danisch (University of Waterloo)
Jeremy Engels (Pennsylvania State University)
James Fredal (Ohio State University)
Elizabeth Gardner (Westmont College)
Cory Geraths (Wabash College)
Richard Graff (University of Minnesota)
Michele Kennerly (Pennsylvania State University)
Brandon Inabinet (Furman University)
Glen McGlish (San Diego State University)
Ned O’Gorman (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)
Robert E. Terrill (Indiana University Bloomington)
Alessandra Beasley Von Burg (Wake Forest University)
Arthur Walzer (University of Minnesota)

Conference Sponsors:
The Moody College of Communication, University of Texas at Austin
Department of Communication Studies, University of Texas at Austin
Department of Rhetoric and Writing, University of Texas at Austin
Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy
International Society for the History of Rhetoric
Taylor & Francis

Call for Paper Proposals

What is the value of rhetoric’s history for our contemporary worries over the powers of persuasion, the misuse of political discourse, and the subverting of democratic forms of discourse? How might traditional concepts in rhetorical theory help us make sense of our contemporary trends in digital rhetoric, online communication, and the functioning of political communities? What can the rhetorical tradition contribute to our discussions concerning fake news, incivility, political gridlock, racism, populist leaders, sexual harassment, environmental degradation, and beyond?

The American Society for the History of Rhetoric (ASHR) invites submissions for a conference that will explore the value of figures, traditions, and topics in the history of rhetoric. The point of this conference is to show the relevance of rhetoric in any tradition or culture. While all quality work in the history of rhetoric will be considered, we especially encourage submissions that utilize important topics, concepts, or figures from the history of rhetoric for our contemporary needs and audiences.

Building upon a diverse range of voices and approaches, this conference seeks to enliven our scholarship on the history of rhetoric, as well as its application in our teaching. Beyond talks by prominent keynote speakers and various opportunities to interact with other scholars, this conference will feature a discussion session on diversifying the teaching of the history of rhetoric.

This event will be held on February 15–17, 2019 in Austin, Texas. Faculty and students interested in presenting at this event are encouraged to submit a 250-word paper proposal to Dr. Scott Stroud, ASHR President, by August 31, 2018, at sstroud@austin.utexas.edu. All submissions should be composed in English, stripped of author identification for peer review, and submitted as either a Word document or a PDF. Accepted presenters must be ASHR members at the time of the event.

For more information on ASHR or its journal, Advances in the History of Rhetoric, visit www.ashr.org