21 October 2011

Ars Rhetorica Social

Ending a busy week there is an Ars Rhetorica social tonight at 730pm. We're bowling! ... @ Royal Crest Lanes. Come get your bowl and drink on.

19 October 2011

Recap: Dr. David Zarefsky Ars Rhetorica Luncheon

The Ars Rhetorica luncheon with RSA President Dr. David Zarefsky of Northwestern Unviersity was a great success. He spoke about the contemporary state of rhetoric and opened up the floor for a Q&A. Dr. Zarefsky’s disciplinary wisdom shined through as he addressed where the discipline is heading, how to excel as a rhetoric graduate student, and even gave specific suggestions for our own RSA Student Chapter Ars Rhetorica.

Dr. Zarefsky held a sense of grounded optimism about the field of Rhetoric throughout his talk. "As humanities continues to take language seriously more and more disciplines have a growing interest in rhetoric,” said Zarefsky. While the job market for rhetoricians may be tight, unlike many areas of the humanities, Dr. Zarefsky believes that the area of rhetoric is expanding.

Commenting on rhetoric as a stabilized discipline Dr. Zarefsky repeatedly emphasized a discipline is pragmatically “created by the people that exist within it.” Thus, rhetoric is both stabilized and expanded based on the production of its scholars. This also means, added Dr. Zarefsky, that rhetoric growth evidences how “it has not allowed itself to be [methodologically] constricted by the university system.”

Practically he encouraged graduate students to dive deep within the “roots” of a focused trajectory. In this way students can get a concrete grasp on phenomena that can lead to an expanded audience of one's rhetorical findings - such as the audience a book provides.

Concerning Ars Rhetorica specifically he encouraged us to continue to “be as active and visible as you can.” “As you grow within KU,” said Dr. Zarefsky, “you’ll also grow in prestige nationally concerning other organizations like RSA.”

The talk was quite an optimistic, yet grounded, look at the rhetorical field. While we may have departmental overlap it is our generation's task to work together. So as KU Ars Rhetorica moves on, lets push to be more visible locally and nationally. Let’s actively participate in the discourse of rhetoric and stay tuned for the specific ways in which we can expand together.

17 October 2011

Event! - Lunch w/Dr. David Zarefsky

Hi Everyone!

This is just a reminder that KU Ars Rhetorica has the honor of helping host Dr. David Zarefsky, President of RSA, this Wednesday, October 19th from 12-1:30pm in Bailey Room 409! We will have a pizza lunch and Dr. Zarefsky will give a talk on the current state and future of Rhetorical Studies followed by a Q&A session. This is an amazing opportunity for our KU Rhetoricians to meet Dr. Zarefsky and discuss where our field is going in the future.

If you haven't let us know if you'll be attending, please email Evan at center(at)ku.edu so that we can order the right amount of pizza.

I hope to see you there!

Rachel Bloom
KU Ars Rhetorica Chair

16 October 2011

Research Network Forums

Did you want to go to the RSA or CCCC conference this year and are you still looking for a way to present and possibly find funding at KU to travel to them? Luckily, both have Research Network Forums intended for graduate students like us! The deadlines for proposals are coming up, so check them out:

“Gateways to the Future of Research”
RESEARCH NETWORK FORUM AT CCCC
25th Anniversary
March 21st, 2012, St. Louis, Missouri
Proposal deadline: October 31, 2011
HOMEPAGE: http://www.rnfonline.com
Questions? Email Risa P. Gorelick or Gina M. Merys: [email on website]

CFP: Please join us in St. Louis to present a Work-in-Progress presentation or serve as a Discussion Leader (for those who are experienced, established researchers) and/or Editor (for those who edit journals/presses).

The Research Network Forum was founded in 1987 as a pre-convention workshop at CCCC. The RNF is an opportunity for published researchers, new researchers, and graduate students to discuss their current research projects and receive responses from new and senior researchers. The forum is free to CCCC convention participants. You need not be a work-in-progress presenter to attend.

As in past years, the 2012 will feature three plenary addresses focusing on “Gateways to the Future of Research.” This year’s distinguished speakers will be

· Rebecca Moore Howard and Sandra Jamieson, “Take a Deep Breath and Jump: Doing Data-Driven Research When You Aren’t Trained in Data-Driven Methods”
· Charlie Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky, “Open Educational Resource (OER) Projects as Alternative Publication Sites for Writing Teachers”
· Rich Haswell, “CompPile, Writing Studies, and Obligatory Misknowledge”

At the subsequent roundtable discussions, Work-in-Progress Presenters discuss their current projects (in an eight-minute presentation) and gain the responses of other researchers, including the Discussion Leaders. Work-in-Progress Presenters are grouped by thematic clusters, in which they will discuss their projects with other researchers and a Discussion Leader who is a senior researcher. Participants also include editors of printed and electronic journals of composition/rhetoric who will discuss publishing opportunities of completed works-in-progress.

Work-in-Progress Presenters should bring three typed questions that they should copy and distribute to participants at their table (15 copies for the two sessions will do). We encourage participants to bring a copy of the journals they edit/publish, any other publications, and announcements, which will be displayed at the RNF meeting.

Electronic proposal forms are available at www.rnfonline.com which will redirect you to our new Google sites webpage where you can click on “submit a proposal” for the roles of Work-in-Progress Presenter, Discussion Leader, and/or Editor. You may appear on the RNF Program in addition to having a speaking role at the Conference on College Composition & Communication. MEET US IN ST. LOUIS!


RSA Research Network: Sharing Work-in-Progress

Call for Submissions

The Research Network will once again be held at the 2012 RSA Conference in Philadelphia. The purpose of the Research Network is to provide newer members of our profession, especially graduate students, with an opportunity to share a work-in-progress paper in a 75-minute group session conducted by a senior scholar in the field. For our 2012 RSA Conference, the senior scholars include:

Ralph CintrĂ³n (University of Illinois-Chicago)
Chris Farris (Indiana University)
Cara Finnegan, (University of Illinois)
Shirley Wilson Logan (University of Maryland)
Carolyn Miller (NC State U)
Roxanne Mountford (U of Kentucky)
Lester Olson (U of Pittsburgh)
Kendall Phillips (Syracuse U)
Krista Ratcliffe (Marquette University)
Jack Selzer (Penn State University)
David Zarefsky (Northwestern University)
Applications. To participate in the Research Network, submit an online application by November 10, 2011. Also feel free to contact Kim with any questions you may have. Her contact information is: kimberly.newman@mu.edu or 414.288.7033

You will be asked to include the following information in your application email:

Your name and contact information
The name of your educational institution
A ranked list of 3 scholars with whom you would like to work
A title of your dissertation chapter or article draft, plus number of pages

You will be asked to submit a 200-word abstract of your chapter or article draft under separate cover. Here's the link to the application: http://associationdatabase.com/aws/RSA/input_form/display_form_01_show?include_back_button=true&form_no=12

Acceptances. If accepted, participants will be assigned (in groups of six) to a senior scholar who will lead a sessions on May 26, which is the Saturday morning of the conference. Lunch is included. The senior scholar will contact those accepted for her/his group by early December. At that time, the senior scholar will inform participants of the process and the deadline for sharing drafts among group participants. The senior scholar will also provide further instructions for the session as the conference approaches.