2025-2026 Award Announcements

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Dear Coalition Colleagues, 

I hope this email finds you well. I’m writing with the happy news of announcing the award announcements for the Presidents’ Dissertation Award, the Winifred Bryan Horner Outstanding Book Award, and the Nancy A Myers Feminist Research Grant. Please see descriptions online and on our webpage. Please consider nominating and applying! See more information on our awards on the Coalition’s web page.

Presidents’ Dissertation Award:

In recognition of the close relationship between scholarly excellence and professional leadership, the CFSHRC 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 award is adjudicated every year and carries a $200.00 honorarium. 

Eligibility: Any doctoral dissertation that engages feminist histories, theories, and/or pedagogies of rhetoric and composition and is completed within appropriate time frames (see below) is eligible for this award.

  • For the 2025 Award: Any PhD dissertation completed (defended and filed/deposited with the institution) between 6/1/2024 and 5/31/2025 is eligible.

Review Criteria: The doctoral dissertations that receive this award will not only rigorously engage extant feminist research and scholarship in rhetoric and composition, reflective of the many cultural and intellectual traditions that comprise our field; they will also enhance our understanding of feminist academic work in rhetoric and composition through the methods and methodologies they employ, the critical praxes they model, and the conclusions they draw along with the invitations they offer for subsequent inquiry and exchange.

Submission Procedures: The deadline for nominations for the next award cycle (the 2025 Award), including self-nomination, is October 15, 2025. Nominees should submit an electronic copy of the completed dissertation in its final form, as it was submitted to the author’s (or authors’) home institution to Jess Enoch, Immediate Past President, at jenoch1@umd.edu. Please also provide documentation of completion, including date of submission/deposit to the institution.

The 2025 award recipient(s) will be invited to receive their awards at the 2026 Conference on College Composition and Communication.

The Winifred Bryan Horner Outstanding Book Award

Description: 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 $200.00 honorarium and is presented at the Wednesday evening meeting of the Coalition at the Conference on College Composition and Communication.

Eligibility: An eligible work must have been published in the two years previous to the year of the award. Work eligible for the 2026 award will have been published in calendar year 2024 or 2025.) 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.

Review Criteria

  • Is the work relevant to and may it be situated within the broadly defined fields of feminist research in Composition and Rhetoric?
  • Does the work demonstrate a fair and balanced research agenda in the form of feminist inquiry: archival, historical, classroom-based, community based, empirical, or theoretical work?
  • Is the need for this research within the field clear and compelling?
  • Is this research problem couched within existing scholarship of the field?
  • Does the scholarship provide a framework by which the field may be advanced by other researchers?
  • Does the work make a substantial contribution to the field?

Nominations and Contact: The nomination deadline for the 2026 award is October 15, 2025. Nominations must include five (5) copies of the book and a brief (500 words) nominating statement. Electronic submissions are accepted. Alternatively, please send all materials to:

Jess Enoch,

Immediate Past President, CFSHRC
Department of English

University of Maryland

2119 Tawes Hall
College Park, MD 20742

Contact Jess Enoch (jenoch1@umd.edu) to submit nomination materials for the award or for additional information.

The Nancy A Myers Feminist Research Grant

Description: The Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition offers a biennial research grant of up to $700 for researchers to pursue or continue feminist projects that require funding to conduct such activities. These include but should not be limited to archival research, translation, interview transcription, and digital archivization and/or digital project development. The award is announced at the annual Coalition event at the Conference of College Composition and Communication in even years.

Eligibility

  1. Applicants must show evidence of a solid project/proposed project that relates to the mission of the Coalition (see below) and necessitates this additional research support activity.
  2. Preference will be given to scholars with no other documented source of funding
  3. Applicants may be at any stage of a research project that necessitates the supporting activity the grant would propose.
  4. Applicants must be members of the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition.

How to Apply: The submission date for applications is January 9, 2026. Applicants should submit a completed application form and two confidential letters of recommendation to Jess Enoch, Immediate Past President (jenoch1@umd.edu). Questions should be directed to this address as well.

[Download research grant application]

CFSHRC Online Mentoring Program Sign Up

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Greetings!

In response to continued interest, the Coalition is pleased to offer our online mentoring program again this year! 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 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 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, indicating your interest. There is a spot on the form to indicate whether you want to continue with last year’s arrangement, as well.

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 (Zoom, WebEx,  Facetime, email, phone, etc.).

Feel free to direct any questions to jenoch1@umd.edu

All best,
Jess Enoch
Immediate Past President

Peitho Summer 2025 Issue: Menstrual Rhetorics and Girlhood Culture

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The Peitho Editorial Team is proud to announce the publication of the summer 2025 issue, guest-edited by Jen Almjeld and Sarah Hagelin. The topic of the issue is Menstrual Rhetorics and Girlhood Culture, and Almjeld and Hagelin write:
This issue is a scholarly contribution to these sorts of discussions centered on girls and periods. The issue features eight articles that consider girlhood and menstruation from a variety of perspectives: in young adult literature, in online teen magazines, in healthcare, in activism, and as deeply personal, embodied experience. We see this issue creating space to talk seriously, critically, and from multiple perspectives about an experience steeped in cultural and political misunderstanding and misrepresentation.
The articles in this issue blend personal reflection with scholarly analysis to discuss menstruation among trans youth, in Gaza, among youth with eating disorders, representations of menstruation in media, and more
Cover Art: At the top is a black bar with the following text in a serif font: “Summer 2025,” “Peitho,” and “Vol. 27.4.” Underneath that are the words “Menstrual Rhetorics” in a large handwriting font (white with light turquoise offset), and under that, “and Girlhood Culture” in a light orange font. On the right side of the image is an assemblage of red flowers on a menstrual pad. On the left side, a circle with two dark coral drops in the middle and a # sign at the top of the circle. Toward the bottom of the image is a calendar with drops on specific dates indicating a menstrual period. At the bottom of the image are the words “PERIOD power,” and “Talking periods for and with all bodies that menstruate.”

Cover Art: At the top is a black bar with the following text in a serif font: “Summer 2025,” “Peitho,” and “Vol. 27.4.” Underneath that are the words “Menstrual Rhetorics” in a large handwriting font (white with light turquoise offset), and under that, “and Girlhood Culture” in a light orange font. On the right side of the image is an assemblage of red flowers on a menstrual pad. On the left side, a circle with two dark coral drops in the middle and a # sign at the top of the circle. Toward the bottom of the image is a calendar with drops on specific dates indicating a menstrual period. At the bottom of the image are the words “PERIOD power,” and “Talking periods for and with all bodies that menstruate.”

Sustaining the Coalition and Funding Programming

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Dear Coalition Members,

What a wonderful FemRhets at UNH this month! Being together at conferences is critical to our professional lives and our Coalition. But we have other structures of support to like: Glenn AtA webinars, virtual mentoring partnerships, Peitho, our awards and grants, and our annual Cs events. Many of you have supported the Coalition with your time and energy as volunteers—thank you! But someone of you asked if you can help in other ways, and indeed you can. Here’s how:

The Coalition officers invite you donate to the Coalition through this Donately campaign. If you have the means and desire, any amount is welcome, and all donations are tax deductible.

Please make your donation to the CFSHRC through this Donately page. Also, please note that we have Sustaining and Lifetime memberships that help promote the fiscal future of the Coalition. We so appreciate your support as we plan: FemRhets 2027 held at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, future issues of Peitho, upcoming awards and webinars, and our annual gathering at Cs (Wednesday, March 4).

We are a lean, volunteer-run professional organization, so we also deeply appreciate everyone volunteering for committees and stepping up to help when and however you can. Thanks, in advance, for any support you can give.

In solidarity,
Becca Richards (Pres.), Cristy Beemer (VP), Jess Enoch (Immediate Past President), David Gold (Treasurer), and Risa Applegarth (Secretary)

Feminisms and Rhetorics 2027 Site Announcement: U of Minnesota- Twin Cities!

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Dear Coalition,

On behalf of the Conference Planning Committee, we’re thrilled to announce the site for the 2027 conference:

University of Minnesota-Twin Cities! 

The conference theme will be “Resistance/Resilience: Sustaining Feminist Activism,” and will be hosted by Drs. Liane Malinowski and Jacklyn Fiscus-Cannady in the U of M Department of Writing Studies.

Some members of the Coalition may recall that the University of Minnesota also hosted FemRhets in 1999. This is the first time in the history of the Coalition that we have returned to a former conference site! Stay tuned for the CFP in 2026.

Many thanks to the current members of the Conference Planning Committee members who circulated the call for hosts, encouraged submissions, and reviewed applications. Committee members are: Patrick Thomas (chair), Holly Anderson, Moushumi Biswas, Cristy Beemer, Erica Cirillo-McCarthy, and Rhea Lathan. Please be in touch with Coalition President, Becca Richards (president@cfshrc.org) regarding opportunities, questions, or concerns.

The Coalition’s Conference Standing Committee supports conference site hosts in their efforts to host conferences that are antiracist and inclusive, affordable, accessible, and transparent in their conference planning.

Share Your Ideas for 2025-2026 Cheryl Glenn Advancing the Agenda Webinar Series

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The CFSHRC Cheryl Glenn Advancing the Agenda Webinar series hosts 3 events a year (typically between October and June) to provide members with mentoring/workshop events focused on a variety of feminist-related topics. Last year, for example, we discussed the presidential election and coalition building strategies, grant proposals, and community engagement work. These events and those that preceded them in previous years have been deeply meaningful and broadly engaging, so we’re thrilled to continue the Webinar series thanks to financial support from Cheryl Glenn!

The planning committee (co-chaired by Patty Wilde and Jenna Vinson) and I invite you to suggest topics, workshops, discussion leaders/scholars you’d like to see in the next year. Additionally, we welcome self-nominations, too. To receive full consideration, we’d appreciate your responses to this survey by August 1, 2025.

For those of you attending Feminisms and Rhetorics this week, consider nominating a panel you attend for a webinar. If you hear a panel/presentation that you think would help our Coalition, we’d love to know about it. Again, you can submit your ideas using this Google Form link: https://tinyurl.com/mr3e2vy2.

While we won’t be able to take up every idea, we appreciate any nominations and suggestions. And we look forward to seeing you at an upcoming webinar!

Thank you so much!
Becca Richards, President
Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition.

 

Spring Issue of Peitho (27.3 2025)

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We’re proud to announce the spring 2025 issue of Peitho! This is a special issue on Transnational Feminist Rhetorical Studies, and it features a foreword by Chandra Talpade Mohanty. The articles blend personal writing and scholarship in autoethnography, counterstory, and poetry, and the contributors inspire us to transnational solidarity in a world gripped by nationalism and war. It’s our (Rebecca and Clancy’s) last issue as co-editors, and we appreciate all the people who’ve made our editorial term a success: authors, reviewers, artists, readers, and more. Thank you!
Cover for Current Issue
Alt Text: A street sign with a poster pasted on it that reads, in French, “SOS Iran, Femme Vie Liberté” and that has the Peitho 27.3, Spring 2025 included on it.

DEMYSTIFYING ACADEMIC EDITORIAL WORK: A ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION WITH PAST, CURRENT, AND FUTURE PEITHO EDITORS

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DEMYSTIFYING ACADEMIC EDITORIAL WORK:

A ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION WITH PAST, CURRENT, AND FUTURE PEITHO EDITORS

Flyer contains the same information as the content in this annoucement.

Monday, June 9, 12:00 p.m. EDT

Register at https://tinyurl.com/PeithoEditors

Peitho is transitioning to a new editorial team, and we are taking this opportunity to reflect on editorial work. Please join us for — and please spread the word about — a webinar/roundtable conversation, via Zoom, with Jen Wingard, Rebecca Dingo, Clancy Ratliff, and the new incoming editorial team: Jamie White-Farnham, Bryna Siegel Finer, and Cathryn Molloy.
This roundtable is for faculty, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, independent scholars, and anyone else who’s curious about editing academic journals. We will discuss questions including the list below, and please bring your own questions:
* When is a good time in my career to do editing work?
* What kinds of institutional support do editors need to have?
* When a journal is seeking new editorship, should I apply individually or with a co-editor?
* What are some ways to try out editorial work without making a long-term commitment?

CFSHRC Volunteer Survey for 2025-2026 Opportunities (6/1/25)

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Dear CFSHRC members and supporters,

What a year it’s been! I hope the end of the academic term brings everyone some much needed rest and joy. Many heartfelt thanks to the 80+ volunteers who have served the this year on committees, advisory boards, and task forces! As a volunteer-run professional organization, the Coalition only works when members (like you!) step up to make this organization more inclusive, accessible, anti-racist, and welcoming.

To continue this urgent work, especially during these uncertain times, we’re reaching out to you to see if you could volunteer your expertise and energy to further these efforts and/or to continue the Coalition’s tradition of recognizing achievements in feminist research, teaching, and mentorship. We hope you will take a few minutes before June 1 to complete this brief survey and to offer your assistance as we move forward.

Please see at the end of the survey that— as always—we’re also interested in your ideas about areas and programming you’d like to see the Coalition develop. Thank you, in advance, for your suggestions and expertise! We hope to see many of you at Feminisms and Rhetorics in July; registration is open.

Warmly,
Becca Richards
President, CFSHRC and the Executive Committee

P.S.: Here’s the entire URL to the volunteer survey in case the embedded link doesn’t work for you:  https://forms.gle/QxjQTueiKRvUzZuc8

Kelli R. Gill and Vee Lawson to Co-lead Lead Coalition Social Media & Outreach

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Kelli R. Gill and Vee Lawson to Co-lead Lead Coalition Social Media & Outreach

We are excited to announce that Drs. Kelli R. Gill and Vee Lawson will co-lead the Coalition’s social media and outreach as Digital Media and Outreach Directors (DMOD) starting from June 2025. We wholeheartedly thank our selection committee Drs. Gavin Johnson, Jennifer Nish, and Nisha Shanmugaraj, who collectively suggested the idea of CO-DMOD. We also thank our President, Dr. Rebecca Richards, and our Executive Board have collectively endorsed the suggestion of the committee to have Drs Gill and Lawson as Co-DMODs for CFSHRC.

We are all very excited as both Drs Gill and Lawson bring such great strength to transform our social media presence.

The selection committee noted that they were extremely impressed by both candidates. Here’s what they said:

“As a committee, we believe that the Coalition could benefit from having Kelli Gill and Vee Lawson as Co-DMODs. We endorse the idea of Co-DMODs because Gill and Lawson’s experience is equally matched, and their ideas for how to forward the Coalition’s digital outreach complement each other extremely well. Additionally, we are aware that the duties have outgrown the labor of a single DMOD and believe Co-DMODs would be a meaningful investment in the long-term vision of expanding our Coalition”

Dr. Nish noted that Lawson’s specific suggestions for moving the Coalition to platforms more aligned with our values and enhancing accessibility in the content offer an actionable, global vision that addresses recent political shifts in social media. Dr. Shanmugaraj and Dr. Johnson noted that Gill’s vision of addressing long-term racial disparities within the Coalition and creating digital campaigns that deliver on Coalition goals offers a granular approach that is also much needed. Together, Gill and Lawson offer a comprehensive vision for the DMOD position.

New Co-DMOD Bios


Image 1: Head Shot of Kelli Gill in front of brick building.

Dr. Kelli R. Gill (she/her) is a rhetoric and composition scholar currently serving as a Marion L. Brittain Postdoctoral Fellow at The Georgia Institute of Technology where she works and teaches at the intersection of culture, power, and technology. Her current project examines digital food communities in order to better understand how internet spaces replicate white supremacy and how users navigate these spaces in order to survive, dissent, and resist. In addition to cooking and enjoying good food, in her spare time she enjoys crafting, playing video games, and hiking with her two pups.

Her vision as Co-DMOD: I recognize the power of digital media to erase, address, or uplift the bodies which make up our communities and as co-DMOD, I will work to create inclusive spaces which serve and advance the mission of CFSHRC to cultivate and sustain all who do feminist work.


Image 2: Head shot of Vee Lawson front of a red and green wall

Vee Lawson is an assistant professor at San José State University where they teach courses in professional writing. With roots in feminist digital rhetorics, Vee researches how feminist, queer, and trans communities navigate online spaces that are often not designed for them. Their current project focuses feminist storytelling and complex empathy as a pro-social response within forums formed to snark on fundamentalist Christian influencers.

Their vision as Co-DMOD: I hope to expand the CFSHRC’s presence to emerging platforms that align with the Coalition’s values (such as Bluesky), following our members’ lead in platform adoption while ensuring accessibility across channels.

With Deep Gratitude and Respect

After four years of serving as DMOD, Dr. Sweta Baniya takes the leave and hands it over to the next generation of scholars. Dr. Baniya says she is very excited to handover the duties of DMOD in such great hands and can’t wait to see the new ways that they will uplift the CFSHRC’s communication. Moreover, Dr. Baniya has been an excellent steward of the CFSHRC these past four years during major upheavals and transitions. Thank you, Sweta, for your astute leadership, communication, and expertise! We all benefitted from your efforts and care.