News From RSA President Vanessa Beasley

February 28, 2024

A NEWSLETTER FROM THE RHETORIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA

Dear RSA Members,

I am writing with a great deal of news about our Society, its next leaders, and some upcoming opportunities.

First, join me in congratulating Dr. Lisa A. Flores on becoming President-Elect of RSA, effective July 1, 2024.

Lisa A. Flores is the Josephine Berry Weiss Chair of the Humanities and Professor in the Departments of Communication Arts and Sciences and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the Pennsylvania State University. Her research and teaching interests lie in rhetoric, critical race studies, and gender/queer studies. Her current work explores the spatiotemporalities of rhetorical race making, asking how we consider the simultaneity of mobility, containment, space, and temporality. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Distinguished Scholar Award from the National Communication Association, the Rhetoric Society of America 2021 Book Award for Deportable and Disposable: Public Rhetoric and the Making of Mexican ‘Illegality,’ (Penn State UP, 2020), and the Douglas W. Ehninger Distinguished Rhetorical Scholar Award from the National Communication Association (NCA). Her new project, Static Mobilities: Race, Gender, Sexuality and Containment, examines what it means to think race at the intersections of mobility and stoppage. She is Co-Editor, with Christa J. Olson, of the Pennsylvania State University Press book series, Troubling Democracy. An advocate of professional service, Lisa is now or has been active with the National Communication Association, the Rhetoric Society of America, and the Western States Communication Association.

Second, we have results of the recent election of Directors who will join the Board on July 1, 2024, and serve through July 1, 2028.  They are:

Erin Rand – Syracuse University

Allison Prasch – University of Wisconsin-Madison

Jennifer Clary-Lemon – University of Waterloo

Ryan Skinnell – San Jose State University

Mikayla Torres – University of Colorado

Matthew Houdek – Rochester Institute of Technology

I would like to thank all of the candidates for their willingness to serve RSA and its members.

Third, and on a similar note, I would like to congratulate Jenny Rice on the publication of the first issue of Rhetoric Society Quarterly under her editorship.  You can log in to the RSA website to read the issue there.

And finally, don’t forget to join us in Denver in 2024! The conference program is out, and it looks fantastic. Registration rates go up in two days – on Friday, March 1! – so register today!

We have also been asked to share another opportunity in Denver in late May that might be of interest our members:

Extend Your Stay in Denver! Attend the 2024 Public Interest Communication Summer Institute

The Public Interest Communications Educators Network invites you to stay in Denver for a few more days after the Rhetoric Society of America conference to attend the 2024 Public Interest Communications Summer Institute, which will be May 28-30 in downtown Denver. The summer institute is for faculty, researchers, graduate students and administrators interested in exploring the emerging academic discipline of public interest communications and leveraging the power of research-based strategic communications for positive social change. During a day and a half of workshops, we’ll explore concepts, hear case studies from professionals and dive into facets of public interest communications research. Sessions include:

• The intersection of rhetoric and public interest communications
• How to get your research to people who can use it for positive change
• How Black Joy is changing the narrative around the Black experience  
• How to weave public interest communications into your courses and curricula
• And much more!

Grad students will have opportunities to share and receive feedback on research, brainstorm ideas and connect with other students from around the country. Registration is just $100; $50 for graduate students.Secure your spot today! Questions? Contact Angela Bradbery, abradbery@jou.ufl.edu

That’s all for now.  Thank you, as ever, for your engagement in RSA.

Best,

Vanessa B. Beasley

President, Rhetoric Society of America