The RhetCanada 2019 Programme is now available on the RhetCanada website, including both the presentation schedule and abstracts. A link to a PDF version of the schedule will be posted shortly. For general information about the conference, see the RhetCanada Conference 2019 page.
RhetCanada 2019 Keynote Speaker: Dr. Roderick Hart
We are excited to announce that Roderick P. Hart is our Keynote speaker for RhetCanada 2019.
Dr. Hart holds the Allan Shivers Centennial Chair in Communication at the University of Texas at Austin and is the author of over a dozen books on rhetoric, media studies, and civic discourse. His works include Political Keywords: Using Language that Uses Us (2005), Political Tone: What Leaders Say and Why (2013), Modern Rhetorical Criticism (4th ed. 2017), and most recently, Civic Hope: How Ordinary Americans Keep Democracy Alive. His latter work in particular is pertinent to this year’s conference theme, Rhetorics of Hope.
Keynote Description
The world is now beset with new forms of tribalism and old forms of nationalism. New and angry voices abound, with political leaders often appealing to the churlishness within us. What to do? This address presents the concept of civic hope, an expectation (1) that enlightened leadership is possible despite human foibles, (2) that productive forms of citizenship will result from cultural pluralism, (3) that democratic traditions will yield prudent governance, but (4) that none of this can happen without vigorous forms of argument at the grassroots level.
The address draws on my recent book, Civic Hope: How Ordinary Americans Keep Democracy Alive (Cambridge, 2018) that asks (1) Who believes in political hope? (2) Have such feelings changed over the years? and (3) What does political hope sounds like when expressed? Drawing on a twenty-year research project, I focus on what people say about politics, what they say but do not mean, and what they mean but do not say.
My core argument is that the strength of a democracy lies in its weaknesses and in the willingness of its people to address those weaknesses without surcease. If democracies were not shot-through with unstable premises and unsteady compacts, its citizens would remain quiet, removed from one another. Disagreements – endless, raucous disagreements – draw them in, or at least enough of them to have a debate. Political already hope exists. We just need to learn how to recognize it and, after doing so, how to applaud it.
RhetCanada Conference 2019 CFP Now Available
The call for papers for the 2019 RhetCanada conference is now available! The conference will take place June 4-6 at the University of British Columbia, and our conference theme is “Rhetorics of Hope.” The deadline for paper proposal submissions is December 12, 2019.
See our RhetCanada 2019 Conference page for more details on the conference.
Keep updated on the conference by visiting our new website, following us on Twitter (@rhetcan), or joining our Facebook group. Also see our Facebook page (soon to be re-branded as RhetCanada) for more rhetoric-related items.
We look forward to receiving your proposals!
RhetCanada 2019 Conference
RhetCanada will be holding its 2019 annual conference at the University of British Columbia. The conference theme is “Rhetorics of Hope.” A detailed CFP will be posted in October 2018.
RhetCanada 2018 Graduate Student Prize Winner: Monique Kampherm
Grad students were out in force at this year’s annual RhetCanada meeting at Congress 2018. Members were treated to grad presentations on a wide variety of topics, including papers on the rhetorics of social media rankings, utopias and dystopias, and science advocacy on Reddit. Judging the grad student prize was particularly challenging. Four students qualified after submitting the draft and final versions by the pre-conference deadlines. The entrants were impressive, both in terms of their papers, whose subjects ranged from from Mennonite martyrology to gender-focused media analysis to the recruitment of women in Canadian mining, and in terms of the polish of their presentations, which often showed evidence of students’ previous work as professional communicators.
In the end, judges John Moffat and Bruce Dadey and advisor Tania Smith awarded this year’s prize to Monique Kampherm for her paper “Democratic Prosopopoeia: The Rhetorical Influence of Embodying a Political Statement Online.” Monique’s paper drew from a wide variety of rhetorical critics and adroitly integrated figurative analysis, digital technology studies, and political studies to examine the rhetorical effects of image filter use on social media during the 2015 Canadian election. While her paper drew on a specific case, it also spoke more generally to the rhetorical implications of how text and image are integrated on social media. Congratulations Monique, and we look forward to next year’s crop of grad student presentations in Vancouver!
RhetCanada Congress 2018 Program Available
The 2018 program for RhetCanada’s annual conference is now available. The conference will take place May 27-29 during the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Regina.
RhetCanada 2018 Programme
RhetCanada/CSSR Proposal Deadline: January 13, 2018
The January 13 proposal deadline for RhetCanada’s annual conference is fast approaching. The conference will take place May 27-29, 2018 at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, which will be held at the University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
The conference theme is “That’s not rhetoric!” “Yes, it is.” The topic invites participants to discuss and debate the borders of our definitions of rhetoric and what they mean to the way we see the world and speak, write, and act within it.
For more information, see the full Call for Proposals.
Funding is available to assist current and recent graduate students with travel expenses. See the Congress 2018 Student Funding page.
Please send proposals to Dr. Tania S. Smith, RhetCanada / CSSR President, Department of Communication, Media and Film, University of Calgary: smit@ucalgary.ca.
CFP: CSSR/SCÉR 2018 Annual Conference/Colloque Annuel
| RhetCanada (Canadian Society for the Study of Rhetoric / CSSR) invites scholars and students of rhetoric to submit proposals for presentations at its annual conference.
Location: Canadian Federation of Social Sciences and Humanities’ Congress 2018, University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Dates: May 27 – 29, 2018 Special Sessions theme: “That’s not rhetoric!” “Yes, it is.” Proposals Due: January 13, 2018 The exchange that comprises our 2018 special sessions topic invites participants to discuss and debate the borders of our definitions of rhetoric and what they mean to the way we see the world and speak, write, and act within it. What are the implications of considering rhetoric as queen of the liberal arts and as mere or empty rhetoric? Is rhetoric’s true home in public discourse, and is it broadly inclusive of genres and media, such as conversation, architecture, graffiti, blogs, and games? Does rhetoric still exist and potentially wield power where it is not named? What do we gain and lose when seeing the world from a “rhetorical” perspective? Proposals for conference papers are not limited to the topic of the special session theme. The society welcomes papers on all aspects of rhetoric, in English or French. We foster dialogue among scholars from diverse disciplines and professions who are interested in rhetoric. We welcome not only mainstream rhetorical scholarship, but also “rhetoric in/and” a wide variety of domains or disciplines and through interdisciplinary frameworks. See the full Call for Proposals and instructions. Funding is available to assist current and recent graduate students with travel expenses. See the Congress 2018 Student Funding page. Proposal submission: By January 13, 2018 send your proposal to Dr. Tania S. Smith, RhetCanada / CSSR President, Department of Communication, Media and Film, University of Calgary: smit@ucalgary.ca.
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RhétCanada (Société Canadienne pour l’Étude de la Rhétorique /) invite ses membres à soumettre des propositions de communication pour son Colloque annuel.
Lieu: le Congrès 2018 de la Fédération Canadienne des Sciences Humaines, Université de Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Dates: les 27 – 29 mai, 2018 Session thématique: “Ce n’est pas de la rhétorique. Mais si!” Date limite de soumission des propositions: 13 janvier 2018 Notre session thématique de 2018 invite les participants à discuter et à débattre des limites de nos définitions de la rhétorique et de ce qu’elles signifient pour la manière dont vous voyons le monde, dont nous parlons, écrivons et agissons au sein de celui-ci. Quelles sont les implications de considérer la rhétorique comme la reine des humanités, de parler de pure rhétorique ou de rhétorique vide ? Le lieu propre de la rhétorique est-il le discours public, est-elle plus largement incluse dans les genres d’expression et les médias, comme la simple conversation, les tweets, l’architecture et les graffiti ? La rhétorique existe-t-elle toujours et exerce-t-elle potentiellement son pouvoir là où elle n’est pas nommée ? Que gagnons et perdons-nous en voyant le monde à travers une perspective « rhétorique » ? Les propositions de communication ne sont pas limitées au seul sujet de la session thématique. Les propositions relatives à tous les aspects de la rhétorique sont bienvenues, en français ou en anglais. Nous favorisons le dialogue entre les chercheurs qui, venus de disciplines et de contextes professionnels variés, s’intéressent à la rhétorique (au sens le plus large). Notre but n’est pas seulement d’accueillir le courant dominant de la recherche en rhétorique, mais bien d’encourager l’exploration de la « rhétorique dans et à travers » une grande variété de domaines ou de disciplines, et suivant des méthodes et des cadres interdisciplinaires extrêmement divers. Voir le CFP complet. Un fonds est également disponible pour aider les actuels ou récents étudiants de cycles supérieurs (Master et plus) pour leurs frais de déplacement. Voir le lien suivant Congress 2018 Student Funding page. Les propositions de communication doivent être adressées d’ici le 13 janvier 2018 à Dr. Tania S. Smith, Présidente de la SCÉR, Department of Communication, Media and Film, Université de Calgary, AB, Canada : smit@ucalgary.ca. |
Kyle Gerber Wins RhetCanada Prize for Best Student Conference Paper / Kyle Gerber a remporté le prix de la meilleure communication proposée par un étudiant/doctorant octroyé par RhetCanada
| Kyle Gerber, a doctoral candidate in English at the University of Waterloo, has won RhetCanada’s student prize for best student conference paper for “‘On Earth as it is in Heaven’: Transitive Action in The Lord’s Prayer.”
Kyle’s paper is an extension of interests he developed while completing an HBA in English at Wilfrid Laurier University and an MA in Rhetoric and Communication Design at the University of Waterloo. Working under Dr. Randy Harris, Kyle studies patterns of rhetorical figures in Mennonite writing on forgiveness, attending to cognitive implications for these patterns. He has published and presented in the areas of Mennonite identity, theology, and literature, and is interested in intersections of rhetorical, cognitive, and Mennonite studies. Kyle’s research is funded by a SSHRC doctoral grant. When not working on his dissertation, Kyle splits his time between learning how to be a father to his 7-month-old daughter Gretchen and moonlighting as a mandolin player in his bluegrass band. According to Kyle, “I’m grateful to be working in a department that fosters diverse modes of inquiry, surrounded by remarkable people, and connected to the broader community of RhetCanada. I’m grateful for Randy’s inspiration, guidance, and supervision, and for the collegial support of the peers in our writing group, Devon, Monique, Saeed, and George; any success I have is a product of what these individuals contribute to my life and scholarship.” Congratulations, Kyle Gerber and the University of Waterloo. |
Kyle Gerber, doctorant dans le département d’anglais de l’université de Waterloo, a remporté le prix de la meilleure communication proposée par un étudiant/doctorant octroyé par RhetCanada pour sa présentation intitulée: « ‘On Earth as it is in Heaven’: Transitive Action in the Lord’s Prayer ».
Il y propose un développement de thématiques qu’il a eu l’occasion d’aborder dans son bachelier en anglais à l’Université Wilfrid Laurier et de son master en Rhétorique et Communication à l’Université de Waterloo. Travaillant sous la supervision du Professeur Randy Harris, Kyle étudie les modèles de figures rhétoriques dans les écrits mennonites au sujet du pardon, avec une attention particulière pour les implications cognitives de ces figures. Gerber a publié et présenté des travaux dans les domaines de l’identité mennonite, de la théologie et de la littérature. Il s’intéresse aux croisements possibles entre la rhétorique, les sciences cognitives et les études mennonites. Sa recherche est financée par une bourse doctorale du SSHRC. Lorsqu’il ne travaille pas à sa thèse, Kyle partage son temps entre son rôle de père pour Gretchen, sa petite fille de sept mois et joue de la mandoline dans un groupe de Bluegrass. Kyle a déclaré : « Je suis reconnaissant d’avoir l’opportunité de travaillé dans un département qui encourage différentes formes d’approches, entouré de personnes admirables, et en connexion avec la communauté plus large de RhetCanada. Je remercie Randy de m’inspirer, de guider et d’orienter ma recherche, ainsi que pour le soutien de mes collègues dans notre groupe d’écriture, Devon, Monique, Saeed et Georges; tous mes succès sont le fruit de ce que ces personnes ont pu m’apporter, tant sur le plan personnel que professionnel ». Félicitations à Kyle Gerber et à l’Université de Waterloo. |
CSSR 2017 AGM summary & minutes
At our conference at the Congress in Toronto, Ontario, at Ryerson University May 30 – June 1, 2017, we had 42 registered delegates as well as several guests, and we had the opportunity to hear 27 well-researched presentations in plenary format.
Minutes of our AGM are available here, and below are the highlights.
The executive team passed a revised constitution this year, making executive roles more flexible, allowing members to be nominated for positions that suit their skills for 2 year terms.
During elections based on the revised constitution, I was voted in as President for a second term of two years. David Beard will serve as VP although he expressed he has no interest in succeeding to the President role in future. John Moffatt will serve as Secretary-Treasurer, although he has expressed that he prefers mainly the Treasurer role by itself. Pierre Zoberman will still provide advice to the Executive as past-president. Now that Past President and Editor roles are separate, we have elected a new journal editor, Tracy Whalen, who has previously served as this society’s journal editor. We also have a new Webmaster (Bruce Dadey), and this is now an elected 2 year position on the executive. M. Shivaun Corry, who has been helping with CSSR’s Facebook presence, has volunteered to be a “Social Media Coordinator” within our team of website & social media assistants.
We are putting together a working group on membership development to assist in retaining and recruiting members and promoting our conference and journal. We still have one position vacant on the Advisory committee, as Whalen should be replaced since she is now editor. We will call for nominations and hold an online vote.
As part of our constitutional revisions, we approved an official “alias” name for our organization, RhetCanada / RhétCanada. I will explain in a separate news post so that it gets emphasized.
At the end of the conference, we held a vote for the special theme of the 2018 conference. The winning theme is “That’s not rhetoric!” “Yes, it is.”