“Rhetorical In/Dignities” RSA 2026 Conference

In 2026, we will turn our attention to “Rhetorical In/Dignities,” asking what it might mean to locate the histories and futures of rhetorical studies through in/dignities. For many of us the promise of rhetoric lies in the persistent vulnerabilities, contradictions, and contingencies of discourse. These entanglements—of dignities with indignities—amplify the need for rhetorical conversations, theories, and debates.

We hope you are able to join us at the conference! Members must be logged into their active member account in order to access the member rates. If you are not yet a member and wish to join (or renew) in order to register at the member rate, please complete your membership first, before purchasing a conference registration. As a reminder, all conference presenters must be members of RSA, so why not check your membership now?

2026 Registration Rates – Register by February 28, 2026 for best rates!

Regular Registration (closes 11:59 pm ET February 28, 2026)

RSA Regular Member Registration – $299
RSA Contingent and Retired Member Registration – $175
RSA Graduate Student Member Registration – $100
Non-Member Registration – $700 (maybe just join!)
Non-Member Graduate Student Registration – $300

Lifetime ENHANCED Registration – $0

Lifetime Enhanced members should have received an email with instructions for registration. This is not the same as a regular Lifetime membership; Lifetime Enhanced memberships are no longer sold. If you are a Lifetime Enhanced member and did not receive an email, please contact [email protected].

Late Registration (March 1 to May 19, 2026)

RSA Member Registration – $350
RSA Contingent and Retired Member Registration – $225
RSA Graduate Student Member Registration – $150
Non-Member Registration – $750
Non-Member Graduate Student Registration – $350

On-Site Registration (Beginning May 20, 2026)

RSA Member Registration – $400
RSA Contingent and Retired Member Registration – $275
RSA Graduate Student Member Registration – $175
Non-Member Registration – $800
Non-Member Graduate Student Registration – $400

PLAN TO JOIN US FOR PRECONFERENCES: THURSDAY, MAY 21

Before concurrent sessions begin on Friday morning, a number of preconference sessions will take place on Thursday, May 21 and you are welcome to join! Some sessions require preregistration so please take note here.

• PITCHING AND PUBLISHING YOUR FIRST BOOK: Thursday 1:00 – 4:00 PM – Led by Kelly Ritter, the workshop is open to any RSA members seeking help in framing a first book topic, articulating their book’s intervention, identifying a publisher that is a good match for their project, and putting that first proposal together. Incorporating both large-group discussion and small group hands-on review and commentary on proposals and ideas, participants will come out of this workshop with a plan for action regarding their project.  There is no cost for this workshop, but you must be a member of RSA and registered for the conference. This session is limited to 20 participants and you must apply. Applications will be accepted until March 1, 2026. For more information or questions, please contact Kelly Ritter at [email protected].
• RSA 26 RESEARCH NETWORK: Thursday 12:00 pm – 5:00 PM –  Apply here by February 20! Join us for the RSA 2026 Research Network.  Join us for the RSA 2026 Research Network. Beginning with a lunch together, the Research Network provides members of our profession, especially graduate students and early-career faculty, with an opportunity to receive feedback on a work-in-progress in a small group session led by scholars committed to supporting new work. We especially encourage advanced graduate students, recent graduates, and beginning assistant professors whose circumstances allow them limited mentorship opportunities to apply this year. Whatever your professional situation, the Research Network is a wonderful opportunity to engage some of the field’s best mentors and focus on projects that matter to you. For more information for questions, please contact Emily Winderman at [email protected] or Timothy Oleksiak at [email protected].
• ASHR/ISHR Preconference: Thursday 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM – The American Society for the History of Rhetoric and the International Society for the History of Rhetoric will be convening together at RSA 2026. The 2026 ASHR Symposium theme, “Rhetorical History’s Past, Present, and Future,” invites scholars to recognize this legacy and to reflect on the theories, methods, and critical practices that define its scope and purpose. Submissions are no longer being accepted but you can attend the presentations to hear a great slate of papers in the History of Rhetoric. For more information for questions, please contact Allison Prasch at [email protected].
• NCERW Preconference: Thursday 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM – The theme of this year’s National Consortium of Environmental Rhetoric and Writing Preconference is Environmental Rhetorics: Enacting Land-Based Praxis Toward Healing, Transformation, and Restorative Activism. For more information, to receive the schedule, or for questions please contact Michelle Kells at [email protected].
• ARSTM Preconference: Thursday 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM – The theme of this year’s Association for the Rhetoric os Science, Technology, and Medicine preconference is impact. The etymological origins of impact trace to seventeenth-century Latin for “push into, drive into, strike against.”[1] In today’s universities, impact often functions like a “god term,” invoking an unquestionable and much-sought but ill-defined good. Universities want more and more impact, often defined by the number of citations accrued by the most prestigious scientists. But counter-movements to this reductive understanding of impact are underway. For example, the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) emphasizes the limitations of citation counts as a measure of research quality and enjoins global stakeholders to seek alternative measurements of scholarly impact that achieve “consistency and transparency” and “directly address the structural inequalities in academia.”[2] In the first place, then, by theming the pre-conference around impact, we invite submissions that interrogate the measures currently used to evaluate research and community engagement as well as those that articulate  more just rubrics for distributing institutional resources, with specific attention to inequities arising from race-, gender-, geography-, and class-based disparities in scholarly publishing. ARSTM Membership is required to attend. For more information on how to become a member, as well as for up-to-date Preconference information, please visit our website at https://www.arstmonline.org/.” For questions, please contact Dustin Greenwalt at [email protected].
• DISCUSSION GROUPS with REFRESHMENTS Thursday 6:00 – 8:00 PM – RSA Discussion Groups 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. In 2026 discussions will include:
  • When to Talk, and When to Fight: Organizing Against Attacks on Higher Ed
  • Study of Extremist Rhetorics Interest Group
  • In/Dignities of Feminist Research: Feminist Responsiveness to Gender Performativity by Conservative White Women
  • Critical Refugee Studies
• CROSS-INSTITUTIONAL CONVERSATIONS – IN DIALOGUE AT RSA with REFRESHMENTS: Thursday 6:00 – 8:00 PM – This session brings together RSA members across career stages for small-group conversations around shared research interests. Participants will be matched in advance based on research focus, with space for on-site sign-ups as well. Designed as an informal, peer-level exchange, the session offers a welcoming way to connect, collaborate, and engage—no paper or panel required. Sign-up here so we can build our groups before you come. For more information for questions, please contact Rachael McIntosh at [email protected] or Mikayla Torres at [email protected].

[1] Origin and History of Impact. (n.d.). Etymonline. https://www.etymonline.com/word/impact

[2] About DORA. (n.d.). Declaration on Research Assessment. https://sfdora.org/about-dora/