Peitho Seeking Short Memorial Pieces on bell hooks (deadline 2-28)

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The Coalition mourns the passing of bell hooks on December 15, 2021. In recognition of her immeasurable legacy, the editorial team at Peitho, the journal of  the Coalition, invites short memorial pieces for the winter 2022 issue. Contributions might reflect on how hooks influenced feminist teaching, research, activism, and more.

 

Reading Lisa Ede: A Tribute (Call for Presenters)

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The Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition is pleased to announce “Reading Lisa Ede: A Tribute,” an April 2022 webinar dedicated to the scholarly legacy of Dr. Lisa Ede. The webinar will be held in mid- to late April. A specific date will be set after presenters are identified.This message is a call for presenters.Lisa Ede in front of bookshelf

The impetus for this event is Lisa’s own way of working. Here is just one example: In Situating Composition (2004), she invites us to reconsider our collective approach to making sense of and telling stories about our field. She asks—or wonders or dares: “Can scholars find ways to resist the tendency for taxonomies to totalize and to sever the connection between scholarly texts and materially embodied experiences? What if it were a common scholarly practice to read against the grain of—as well as with—taxonomies?” (104). 

In this spirit, we invite all colleagues who engage with Lisa’s scholarship, reading with and against the grain, to contact us. We are eager to hear from colleagues at all career stages, students through staff, independent scholars, community practitioners, and retirees. We also welcome examples drawn from all kinds of work, including completed or in-progress undergraduate research, graduate theses and dissertations, scholarly books and articles, pedagogical materials, and public- and community-facing resources. All genres, media, and modes are welcome. 

To make a nomination or self-nomination, send Jess Restaino and Jenn Fishman the following information: 

  • Your name
  • Your current institutional affiliation, academic or otherwise
  • Your current professional role 
  • If you are nominating someone, please offer their name, institutional affiliation, and their current professional role
  • A brief, 250-word description of your (or your nominee’s) engagement with Lisa’s scholarship, including the text(s) and passages you address as well as the genre, title, and audience of your own work. 

We welcome nominations that engage Lisa’s scholarly publications, including her textbooks and collaborative works, her conference presentations, and her public writing. Please contact Jess and Jenn with questions.

Nominations are due February 1st; notifications will be made by February 15th.

Call for Nominations: Graduate Student Representatives to the Executive and Advisory Boards / due January 15th

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Join the 2022–2024 Leadership Team! Call for Nominations, due January 15th. 

Dear Coalition Friends,

A new term of service begins in April 2022, and the CFSHRC Advisory Board is now accepting nominations for our three graduate student representatives: one to serve on the Executive Board (EB), and two to serve on the Advisory Board (AB). All terms are two years in length, and can be renewable if a representative is still in graduate school when their first term completes. (Once graduate students complete their terms or are no longer eligible for re-appointment, they may apply to join the Advisory Board through the regular election process, which occurs biennially in even years.)

Members of both the EB and AB have voting rights, attend regular business meetings, can chair and serve on various committees, adjudicate awards, lead and enact special initiatives, and generally help guide the direction of the organization, though the Executive Board position typically involves a greater commitment of time and labor. Unique to the EB position is an opportunity to co-chair a standing committee on graduate student engagement in the CFSHRC.

For Executive Board nominations, please send the following to Tarez Graban, CFSHRC Immediate Past President, at tarez.graban@gmail.com, by January 15, 2022:

  • current CV
  • brief (2-3 paragraph) statement indicating your prior experiences with the CFSHRC and/or vision for serving on the CFSHRC’s executive board.

For Advisory Board nominations, please send the following to Jessica Enoch, CFSHRC Vice President, at vice-president@cfshrc.org, by January 15, 2022:

  • current CV
  • brief (2-3 paragraph) statement indicating your prior experiences with the CFSHRC and/or vision for serving on the CFSHRC’s advisory board.

A more formal description of advisory and executive board roles can be found in our bylaws here: https://cfshrc.org/about-us/#by-laws.

Come join us! There is always much work to do, and we need you!

 

(Nearly) Final Call: Winifred Bryan Horner Book Award & Nancy Myers Feminist Research Grant

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Dear Coalition Friends,

Some excellent nominations have already come in for two upcoming awards – the biennial Winifred Bryan Horner Outstanding Book Award and the biennial Nancy A. Myers Feminist Research Grant — and we are happy to accept even more! The Horner Book Award is one of the Coalition’s original three awards, while the Myers Feminist Research Grant is still young – only in its third award cycle – but both were created and named to honor Win’s and Nancy’s legacies of mentoring feminist scholars within and beyond the organization and the field.

Feel free to direct queries about either of these awards to tarez.graban@gmail.com. For a list of past award winners, and to learn more about our awards in general, please visit https://cfshrc.org/awards.

With thanks and extreme well wishes for healthy, safety, and sanity
Tarez Graban
2020-2022 Awards Chair
CFSHRC Immediate Past President

 

WINIFRED BRYAN HORNER OUTSTANDING BOOK AWARD

The Winifred Bryan Horner Outstanding Book Award is presented biennially in even years for work in the field of composition and rhetoric to recognize outstanding scholarship and research in the areas of feminist pedagogy, practice, history, and theory. The award carries a $200 honorarium and will be presented at the Wednesday evening meeting of the Coalition at the 2022 Conference on College Composition and Communication.

An eligible nomination will have been published in the two years previous to the year of the award. (For example, a work eligible for the 2022 award will have been published in calendar year 2020 or 2021.) Single or multiple authored books, as well as edited volumes, are eligible. We welcome nominations from authors, editors, publishers, or readers. To be eligible for the award, a nominee must be a member of Coalition at the time of nomination.

Please see the Horner Award Page for review criteria and application details. Nominating statements and physical or electronic copies of the nominated book are due December 1, 2021.

 

NANCY A. MYERS FEMINIST RESEARCH GRANT

The Nancy A. Myers Feminist Research Grant is also presented biennially in even years to help researchers discover, pursue, or continue feminist projects that require funding and funded activities. This award provides up to $700 for eligible activities, including – but not limited to – archival research, translation, interview transcription, and digital archivization and/or digital project development. It will be presented at the Wednesday evening meeting of the Coalition at the 2022 Conference on College Composition and Communication.

Please see the Myers Award Page for eligibility requirements and application details. Application materials are due December 15, 2021.

Feminisms and Rhetorics 2023: Call for Site Hosts

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The Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric & Composition (CFHSRC) is pleased to invite proposals for hosting for the 2023 Feminisms and Rhetorics Conference. The CFSHRC’s Conference Committee and Executive Board seek hosts who are committed to creating a conference that is antiracist, inclusive, and accessible. We welcome interdisciplinary, as well as cross-institutional, collaborative hosting arrangements.

Proposals should be submitted to Jessica Enoch, Coordinator of the CFSHRC Conference Committee, at vice-president@cfshrc.org, by December 1, 2021.

What are we looking for in a site proposal?
Proposals for the 2023 conference should

  • explain plans to “front themes of antiracist activism and center the work of feminists of color,” in keeping with the CFSHRC summer 2020 resolution.
  • identify ways to amplify the voices of disabled scholars and emerging scholars
  • articulate possibilities for antiracist, inclusive conferencing practices through conference planning, featured events, conference themes, and programming
  • address how conference organizers will engage the complexity of their conference location, e.g., acknowledging racist or other exclusionary practices that inform the history of the campus and/or the local community
  • describe strategies to ensure accessibility for all conference participants
  • discuss steps to promote affordability: how will the costs of travel, lodging, food, etc. be approached in order to keep registration costs manageable for those who have limited or no funding? Feminisms and Rhetorics has traditionally drawn around 400 registrants and the conference has been held in the fall, historically starting on a Wednesday and running through Saturday afternoon. In the interest of affordability, we are happy to consider alternative time frames moving forward. Details about previous conferences, along with a hosting FAQ, can be found on our website: https://cfshrc.org/femrhet-conference-call-for-hosts/

Proposal Components
While there is no set format, we encourage proposers to address the following areas:

Conferencing Plans

  • Possible theme(s)
  • Potential keynote speakers and/or featured sessions
  • Ideas for special events and/or social events, particularly programming that amplifies scholars of color, disabled scholars, and emerging scholars
  • Ideas for programming that welcomes participants new to the Coalition and Feminisms and Rhetorics. Applicants might consider programming that moves beyond presenting formal papers to programming around mentorship, community-building, community outreach, pedagogical investments, mentoring, etc.

Venue Information

  • Location: institution, cross-institutional, town/city, region
  • Facilities: meeting rooms, exhibition space, technical resources
  • Possibilities for community outreach and/or engagement with historical-present-day complexity of the site

Conference Details

  • Tentative dates for the conference and for submission of abstracts/proposals from potential presenters
  • Rationale for date selection and opportunities that come with these dates

Accessibility

  • Access to local interpreters and CART services
  • Connection to/collaborations campus/institutional accessibility office
  • Identification of possibilities and opportunities to welcome and amplify the work of disabled scholars
  • See note about Access Coordinator and Coalition Conference Committee below

Travel, Accommodations, and Commitments to Affordability

  • Distance from international airport/s
  • Estimated travel costs from a range of major cities
  • Access by bus, cab, coach, train, etc. and costs
  • Travel between conference venue and accommodation
  • Lodging: university/hotel options, location in relation to conference venue, capacity, costs per person/night, discount rate options
  • Meal options and costs
  • Attention to affordability and cost-savings

Organization and Support

  • Conference committee participants: Details about organizers, responsibilities, administrative support, etc.
  • Institutional support: Level and nature of possible department/institution involvement and funding
  • Additional support: Details of funds, facilities, sponsorship or other involvement from additional organizations

What can the CFSHRC offer site hosts?
Beginning with the 1997 “From Boundaries to Borderlands” conference at Oregon State, the Feminisms and Rhetorics conference has been a centerpiece of the Coalition, serving as an intimate, dynamic, and engaging gathering place for feminist scholars to exchange ideas, build community, and create support networks. To support the teams who make these conferences possible, the Coalition provides the following for FemRhet site hosts:

  1. $2000 seed money, which does not need to be returned later, to conference hosts;
  2. Funding for offsetting costs for graduate students (25% of any proceeds from the previous FemRhet conference). Conference hosts are to use these proceeds specifically to reduce expenses of attending the conference for graduate students;
  3. Flexibility for scheduling the conference. As noted, Feminisms and Rhetorics has traditionally been a fall conference. We recognize that such scheduling may mean higher costs, particularly given greater demand on campus and community resources during the semester. Thus, we ask only that, when determining possible dates for the conference, potential site hosts  be sensitive to the dates of other, similar conferences;
  4. Assistance from our newly established Conference Committee to help ensure  an antiracist, accessible, and inclusive conference experience for all. This committee will work with the Feminisms and Rhetorics Host Committee. Assistance from the Conference Committee includes
    • Funding and arranging for the training of a conference Access Coordinator. The Access Coordinator will be selected by and become a member of the local site host committee. Their work will involve coordinating the majority of access services for the conference, including an accessibility guide for the conference.
    • Providing guidance and support for inclusive conferencing practices such as  an antiracist, inclusive, anti-ableist proposal review process and the selection and engagement of featured speakers or sessions.
    • Creating a Rapid Response Team (RRT) tasked with collecting feedback and responding, in a timely fashion, to grievances relating to antiracism, inclusion, or accessibility during the conference.

The Conference Committee is happy to speak with potential site hosts. Please direct any questions about hosting or the site host proposal process to Jessica Enoch, Coordinator of the CFSHRC Conference Committee, at vicepresident@cfshrc.org.

Online Mentoring Program 2021-2022

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Dear Coalition Members,

We’ll be offering our online mentoring program again this year, in response to continued interest! Whether you are new to the program or are returning to it, the online mentoring arrangement is a way for us to share knowledge about research, teaching, activism, and professional development by matching mentor-mentee pairs who will collaboratively establish a schedule whereby the mentee can make good progress on an agreed-upon project (i.e., job market/prepping application materials; planning research projects/fieldwork; writing/revising materials for publication; developing a syllabus; applying for grants; etc.) within six months or less. Mentors and mentees may continue to work together beyond one six-month cycle if desired.

We want to be as flexible as possible so that mentoring pairs can figure out what works best for them, but we do offer some suggestions for getting started:

  • Determine which specific project you would like to work on with a mentor, or whether you would like help with less tangible things, such as gaining confidence in coursework or dealing with challenges in your workplace.
  • Determine how long you plan to commit. You may wish to start with a six-month commitment, and see how it goes.
  • Determine how often you would like to check-in with your mentor/mentee. Do you want to engage weekly, bi-weekly, monthly? What makes the most sense for your goals and schedules?
  • Determine which medium works best for your relationship (FaceTime, Skype, Zoom, email, phone, etc.).

We are seeking both mentors and mentees. If you are interested in participating either as a mentor, a mentee, or both, please fill out this registration form by August 1, indicating your interest. There is a spot on the form to indicate whether you want to continue with last year’s arrangement, as well.

Feel free to direct any questions to tarez.graban@gmail.com.

With many thanks and well wishes,
-Tarez Samra Graban
Immediate Past President

 

Announcing the Fellowship Pods Program

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I am happy to announce that the Coalition has established The Fellowship Pods Program, a non-hierarchical fellowship program to foster community-building among its membership. The program is designed to respond to members’ calls for a re-imagining and re-structuring of coalition networks that have fostered a culture of elitism and bias. Distinct from the Coalition’s existing mentoring programs that offer guidance regarding professionalization and publication, the Fellowship Pods program will provide space for members to think, organize, and revel with other members around collectively chosen topics and shared interests.

The Coalition hopes that the Fellowship Pods Program will help

  • disrupt charismatic models of leadership in the Coalition
  • encourage participants to establish and maintain relationships with the Coalition membership beyond the confines of Feminism and Rhetorics conferencing, and
  • foster membership collaboration on research, teaching, and community engagement & social justice projects 

The program will run from July 2021 through May 2022. In July, program participants will be assigned to a pod (small group of Coalition members), and, in their first meeting(s), members will determine the anticipated topics and activities that will animate their pod’s year-long dialogue and/or collective action. 

THE ASKS:

  1. If you are interested in the Fellowship Pods Program, please email me (mpettus@mec.cuny.edu) and then anticipate receiving an email from me later in the month that provides more information about the initiative, including details about the enrollment process. Note that, to register and participate, you will need to be a member of the Coalition. You can join the Coalition via our website. Rates are $10/year for graduate students and $25/year for faculty (other membership categories and options are available on the website as well). If you are financially unable to become a member at this time but still wish to participate in the Fellowship Pods Program, please let us know.
  2. The Coalition hopes that much of the community-building in the pods will happen organically, so pod members are asked to determine the focus of their fellowship in conversation with each other. Additionally, I want to honor requests that space for identity-based, career-focused, and other themed-pods, including pods based on hobbies and crafts, be created. Therefore, if you would like to join a pod with a pre-established focus, please email me the specific theme and a brief description of the pod you would like established by June 21, 2021. I will advertise these themed-pods during the general enrollment period so that other program participants may elect to join them, if they desire. 

(Note: If you do not wish to join a pod with a pre-established focus, your first action for the program will be to complete the enrollment process later in the summer.)

Please feel encouraged to email me with any questions and concerns. I am serving as the coordinator of the program during its first year, and I welcome all feedback about the program. 

Sincerely,

Mudiwa Pettus (she/her)
CFSHRC Executive Board Member-at-Large
Assistant Professor of English
Medgar Evers College, CUNY
mpettus@mec.cuny.edu

 

More Awards and a Call for Awards Committee Members

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This is a rather rich year of award competitions, so I send a reminder that we are still accepting applications and/or nominations for three upcoming awards: (1) the Nan Johnson Graduate Student Travel Award; (2) the Lisa Ede Mentoring Award; and (3) the new Shirley Wilson Logan Diversity Scholarship Award. These awards were created to celebrate the lives, legacies, and accomplishments of three outstanding women. We encourage you to apply directly for the Nan Johnson and Shirley Wilson Logan Awards, or to nominate your mentors for the Lisa Ede Award!

I am also pleased to post the first call for nominations for the 2021 Presidents Dissertation Award (due June 15, 2021)!

Feel free to direct any queries to tarez.graban@gmail.com. For a list of past award winners, and to learn more about our awards in general, visit https://cfshrc.org/awards.

We also need several robust committees to help adjudicate these awards! If you are interested in serving, please reach out to me (tarez.graban@gmail.com) as soon as possible, indicating your interest.

With thanks and well wishes for 2021,

Tarez Graban
CFSHRC Immediate Past President
2020–2022 Awards Chair

 

NAN JOHNSON OUTSTANDING GRADUATE STUDENT TRAVEL AWARD

The Nan Johnson Outstanding Graduate Student Travel Award is presented biennially in odd years to graduate students working in the field of composition and rhetoric and it recognizes outstanding scholarship and research in the areas of feminist pedagogy, practice, history, and theory. This award is usually tied to the Feminisms and Rhetorics conference, but because our 2021 programming is in flux, a temporary adjustment has been made to this award for 2021.

This year, the Coalition will confer up to 5 awards of free conference registration for graduate students to virtually attend a Summer or early Fall 2021 conference of their choosing (occurring between June 1 and October 31), where the recipients can share and deepen their understanding of the areas of feminist pedagogy, practice, history, and/or theory—including the 2021 RSA Summer Institute!

Please see the award description for eligibility criteria and application details. Applications are due April 1, 2021. Awards will be conferred virtually during Summer 2021.

 

SHIRLEY WILSON LOGAN DIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP AWARD

The new Shirley Wilson Logan Diversity Scholarship is presented biennially in odd years to encourage feminist scholarship (particularly historical in nature) by graduate scholars from diverse and historically un or underrepresented groups. This award was designed for first-time presenters at the Feminisms and Rhetorics conference, but because our 2021 programming is in flux, a temporary adjustment has been to this award, as well.

This year, the Coalition will confer up to 6 awards of $500 each to first-time presenters at a Fall 2021 conference – occurring between September 1 and December 1 – at which they are presenting feminist scholarship.

Please see the award description for eligibility criteria and application details. Applications are due May 1, 2021. The Coalition will confer the awards and host a one-time virtual session bringing awardees together sometime during Fall 2021.

 

LISA EDE MENTORING AWARD

Finally, we invite you to submit nominations for outstanding feminist mentors to the Lisa Ede Mentoring Award, which is presented biennially in odd years to an individual or group with a career-record of mentorship. In this case, “mentoring” can include formal and informal advising of students and colleagues; leadership in campus, professional and/or local communities; and other activities that align with the overall mission and goals of the Coalition. The award carries an honorarium of $200 per person or $500 for a group of three or more people and is typically announced at the biennial Feminisms and Rhetorics Conference. However, for 2021, the Coalition will confer this award virtually during Fall 2021.

Please see the award description for eligibility criteria and application details. Applications are due May 15, 2021.

 

PRESIDENTS DISSERTATION AWARD

In recognition of the close relationship between scholarly excellence and professional leadership, the Presidents Dissertation Award is given to the author(s) of a recently completed doctoral dissertation that makes an outstanding contribution to our understanding of feminist histories, theories, and pedagogies of rhetoric and composition. This annual award is adjudicated every year and carries a $200.00 honorarium, but it is presented in odd years at the biennial Feminisms and Rhetorics Conference. However, for 2021, the Coalition will confer this award virtually sometime during Fall 2021.

For the 2021 Award, any doctoral dissertation that engages feminist histories, theories, and/or pedagogies of rhetoric and composition — and is completed between 6/1/2020 and 5/31/2021 — is eligible. Please see the award description for details. Nominations (including self-nominations) are due June 15, 2021.

Upcoming Awards: Nominations reminder and call for Nan Johnson, Shirley Wilson Logan, and Lisa Ede Awards

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Dear Coalition Friends:

We are pleased to accept nominations for three upcoming awards: (1) the Nan Johnson Graduate Student Travel Award; (2) the Lisa Ede Mentoring Award; and (3) the new Shirley Wilson Logan Diversity Scholarship Award. These awards were created to celebrate the lives, legacies, and accomplishments of three outstanding women. We encourage you to apply for the Nan Johnson and Shirley Wilson Logan Awards, or to nominate your mentors for the Lisa Ede Award!


NAN JOHNSON OUTSTANDING GRADUATE STUDENT TRAVEL AWARD
The Nan Johnson Outstanding Graduate Student Travel Award is presented biennially in odd years to graduate students working in the field of composition and rhetoric and it recognizes outstanding scholarship and research in the areas of feminist pedagogy, practice, history, and theory. This award is usually tied to the Feminisms and Rhetorics conference, but because our 2021 programming is in flux, a temporary adjustment has been made to this award for 2021.

This year, the Coalition will confer up to 5 awards of free conference registration for graduate students to virtually attend a Summer or early Fall 2021 conference of their choosing (occurring between June 1 and October 31), where the recipients can share and deepen their understanding of the areas of feminist pedagogy, practice, history, and/or theory—including the 2021 RSA Summer Institute!

Please see the award description for eligibility criteria and application details. Applications are due April 1, 2021. Awards will be conferred virtually during Summer 2021.


SHIRLEY WILSON LOGAN DIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP AWARD
The new Shirley Wilson Logan Diversity Scholarship is presented biennially in odd years to encourage feminist scholarship (particularly historical in nature) by graduate scholars from diverse and historically un or underrepresented groups. This award was designed for first-time presenters at the Feminisms and Rhetorics conference, but because our 2021 programming is in flux, a temporary adjustment has been to this award, as well.

This year, the Coalition will confer up to 6 awards of $500 each to first-time presenters at a Fall 2021 conference – occurring between September 1 and December 1 – at which they are presenting feminist scholarship.

Please see the award description for eligibility criteria and application details. Applications are due May 1, 2021. The Coalition will confer the awards and host a one-time virtual session bringing awardees together sometime during Fall 2021.


LISA EDE MENTORING AWARD
Finally, we invite you to submit nominations for outstanding feminist mentors to the Lisa Ede Mentoring Award, which is presented biennially in odd years to an individual or group with a career-record of mentorship. In this case, “mentoring” can include formal and informal advising of students and colleagues; leadership in campus, professional and/or local communities; and other activities that align with the overall mission and goals of the Coalition. The award carries an honorarium of $200 per person or $500 for a group of three or more people and is typically announced at the biennial Feminisms and Rhetorics Conference. However, for 2021, the Coalition will confer this award virtually during Fall 2021.

Please see the award description for eligibility criteria and application details. Applications are due May 15, 2021.

Feel free to direct any queries to Tarez Graban (tarez.graban@gmail.com), Immediate Past President. For a list of past award winners, and to learn more about our awards in general, visit https://cfshrc.org/awards.

With thanks and well wishes for 2021,
Tarez Graban
2020–2022 Awards Chair

Call for Proposals: Feminist Workshop @ Conference on Community Writing 2021

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Another day, another opportunity from the Coalition! We are pleased to announce that CFSHRC will host a feminist-themed workshop at the 2021 Conference on Community Writing!

The conference, to be held online October 21-23, 2021, will focus on the topic “Weaving Narratives For Social Justice Action In The Local, National, Global.” The full CFP for the conference can be accessed at https://communitywriting.org/2021-call-for-proposals.

At this time, we invite individuals and groups to submit 250-500-word proposals for the Coalition’s online, interactive workshop session. As described in the Conference on Community Writing CFP,

Workshop sessions  will consist of 90 minutes of interactive presentation and collaborative work with the audience. We encourage workshop facilitators to include both academic and non-academic stakeholders for community writing. Thus, successful workshop proposals will provide a theoretical background, a discussion of community context, a presentation of fruitful collaboration, and practical tasks for the audience that the workshop panel might facilitate. Experts lead interactive and educational sessions designed to help attendees learn new skills and processes that they can apply in their own lives and neighborhoods and at their own institutions or places of work. Past workshops have included sessions on fundraising, organizing activism, contemplative practice, and building relationships between college and community.

Proposals of no more than 500 words should be submitted by FEBRUARY 5, 2021 to Wendy Sharer at president@cfshrc.org. In addition to a description of the proposed workshop, please include names, titles, affiliations and email contact information for all proposed workshop leaders.

Proposals will be reviewed by a subcommittee of the Coalition’s Advisory Board, and a selection made by March 15, 2021.

Descriptions of interactive workshops from previous Conference on Community Writing meetings are available online as follows:

Best,
Wendy Sharer,
President CFSHRC