RSA Conference 2026

Individual Paper proposals are submitted individually and arranged into four-paper sessions by the Conference Programming Committee. In 75 minute paper sessions, each author presents their paper for 10-12-minutes, followed by approximately 15 minutes total for questions to all authors and discussion.

Should your submission be accepted to the conference, your individual paper submission will be grouped into a panel with other papers by the Programming Committee.

You will need to choose a category that best describes the area of your submission: Cultural Rhetoric, Feminist/Queer/Trans Rhetoric, Digital Rhetoric, History of Rhetoric, Embodied Rhetoric, Movement/Protest Rhetorics, Public Rhetoric, Performance, Religious Rhetoric, Rhetorical Criticism, Rhetorical Pedagogy, Rhetorical Theory, Rhetorical Methods and Methodology, Rhetoric of Science or Medicine, Environmental Rhetorics, and Other.

Panels provide an opportunity for examining specific problems or topics from a variety of perspectives given that they include 3-4 participants. Panels may present alternative solutions, interpretations, or contrasting points of view on a specified subject or in relation to a common theme. RSA and the Programming Committee especially encourage complete panel submissions.

There will be an extremely limited number of spaces for hybrid panels to accommodate panel presentations in which a member(s) is unable to travel to Portland. These must be requested at time of submission and include a justification for the need for hybrid presentation. We anticipate that demand will exceed the number of slots, so please take care in providing your strongest argument to support your need for a hybrid panel. All panelists, including hybrid participants, will need to register for the conference.

You will need to choose a category that best describes the area of your submission: Cultural Rhetoric, Feminist/Queer/Trans Rhetoric, Digital Rhetoric, History of Rhetoric, Embodied Rhetoric, Movement/Protest Rhetorics, Public Rhetoric, Performance, Religious Rhetoric, Rhetorical Criticism, Rhetorical Pedagogy, Rhetorical Theory, Rhetorical Methods and Methodology, Rhetoric of Science or Medicine, Environmental Rhetorics, and Other.

Roundtables typically include a moderator and 4-6 presenters who make brief, informal remarks about a specific idea or project. They allow for extensive discussion and audience participation. 

You will need to choose a category that best describes the area of your submission: Cultural Rhetoric, Feminist/Queer/Trans Rhetoric, Digital Rhetoric, History of Rhetoric, Embodied Rhetoric, Movement/Protest Rhetorics, Public Rhetoric, Performance, Religious Rhetoric, Rhetorical Criticism, Rhetorical Pedagogy, Rhetorical Theory, Rhetorical Methods and Methodology, Rhetoric of Science or Medicine, Environmental Rhetorics, and Other.

RSA encourages creative special format sessions of non-traditional design. If you have any questions about your session, please contact [email protected].

You will need to choose a category that best describes the area of your submission: Cultural Rhetoric, Feminist/Queer/Trans Rhetoric, Digital Rhetoric, History of Rhetoric, Embodied Rhetoric, Movement/Protest Rhetorics, Public Rhetoric, Performance, Religious Rhetoric, Rhetorical Criticism, Rhetorical Pedagogy, Rhetorical Theory, Rhetorical Methods and Methodology, Rhetoric of Science or Medicine, Environmental Rhetorics, and Other.

The Rhetoric Society of America welcomes proposals for RSA Discussion Groups. These special interest groups are meant to “provide opportunities for focused interaction and collaboration among RSA members who share an interest in exploring particular questions and problems in rhetorical studies. Discussion Groups are to advance the RSA project of supporting development of intellectual common group among people who study and teach rhetoric in a variety of disciplinary locations. The discussion groups will be given space to meet at the biennial conference and advertised in the conference program. The discussion groups should conform to RSA’s present initiative to have members from both Comm Rhet and Comp Rhet involved in all RSA activities. Proposals should come from a team of RSA members and include the names of at least 12 RSA members who have committed to attending the conference. The proposals should “articulate a project for the Discussion Group that involves exploration of an area of interest shared by people from these two disciplinary locations. That area of common interest may be a conceptual or theoretical question, a pedagogical practice, a professional challenge or problem, or a project of public-facing rhetoric appropriate for academic rhetoricians to address.” This is a perfect opportunity for graduate student chapters to form innovative Discussion Groups that might spark the next promising area of research in rhetorical studies. It is also an opportunity for scholars and researchers to meet and work on topics that could turn into publication. Discussion Groups can be on traditional rhetorical areas of study, such as the History of Rhetoric or Feminist Rhetoric. They might also explore pedagogical interests in the teaching of rhetoric. The Discussion Groups are an opportunity to break the usual panel format and offer an occasion to hold an open reading, view and then discuss a film, or engage in hands-on practice, such as building a digital archive. 

Discussion Groups that began in 2024 are invited to continue their conversations: Rhetoric and Climate Justice in the Age of Catastrophe; Just Pandemic Rhetoric: Setting the Agenda for Pandemic Rhetorical Studies; When to Talk, and When to Fight: Organizing Attacks on Higher Ed; Democracy Today: Rhetoric in a Time of Escalation; Rhetorics of Reproductive Justice; Readers-Meet-Authors: A Group of Discussion of Rhetorical Climatology; Study of Extremist Rhetorics Interest Group; and Just Mind/Brain Rhetoric: Affect, Identity & Justice. If you are proposing a continuation of a 2024 Discussion Group, please indicate this in the proposal.