MENTORS NEEDED: CFSHRC Online Mentoring Program

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In response to continued interest, the Coalition is again offering our online mentoring program this year. A version of the announcement below about the program went out in early September, and we received many responses, but we received several more requests for mentors than we can accommodate based on the number of people who volunteered to serve as mentors.  If you are able to serve as an online mentor, please contact Wendy Sharer (sharerw@ecu.edu), Immediate Past President, at your earliest convenience.  

We welcome all who are interested, but we have particular need for scholars who can help in the following research and professional development areas:

  • Article and/or book preparation, including dissertation-to-publication advice
  • Time management and work/life balance
  • Rhetorics of science, health, and medicine
  • Feminist pedagogy
  • Digital rhetorics/writing
  • Administration/moving into administrative roles

My sincere thanks in advance for your assistance!

-Wendy Sharer, Immediate Past President

___________________________________________________________

CFSHRC Online Mentoring Program, 2022-2023

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

Feel free to direct any questions to sharerw@ecu.edu.

All best,

Wendy Sharer,
Immediate Past President

Peitho Editorial Board Chair and Board Members

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The Peitho Editorial Team welcomes Dr. Tarez Samra Graban as the new Editorial Board Chair!  Tarez is an Associate Professor of English at Florida State University and her work centers around feminist rhetorical theory, histories of rhetoric and composition, digital humanities, archival studies, and global and comparative rhetorics. She was the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition President from 2018-2020. Her current work reconsiders the notion of feminist critique for textual scholars of transnational archives who must curate these spaces against neocolonial impulses. She has been tracing the mobile legacies of a select group of women activists, academicians, and elected leaders in southern Africa to learn more about how their rhetorical performances can and do challenge the democratization of information practices in their home countries and abroad. Most recently, she published with Hui Wu, the book Global Rhetorical Traditions which offers examples of global rhetorical instruction and practices through Asia, Africa, the Near East, the Middle East, Polynesia, and precolonial Europe translated into English—a truly ambitious and exemplary book! This came on the heels of Teaching through the Archives: Text, Collaboration, Activism, published with Wendy Hayden, which features chapters authored or co-authored by many Coalition members, that speak to how rhetoric and composition gives back to archival studies through its pedagogical innovation. Lastly, she continues to be active on the Linked Women Pedagogues project, a data discovery tool for tracing the intellectual contributions of under-represented women in rhetorical studies in the U.S. and abroad.

Tarez will lead the new slate of Peitho editorial board members listed below.  Welcome to Tarez and the rest of the board!

Mais Al-Khateeb

Ronisha Browdy

Christina Cedillo

Sherri Craig

Abby Dubisar

Lynée Lewis Gaillet

Tarez Samra Graban

Jane Greer

Jenna Hanchey

Holly Hassel

Jo Hsu

Charlotte Hogg

Stephanie Kerschbaum

Jennifer Nish

Kim Nguyen

Timothy Oleksiak

Ruth Osorio

Jessica Reyman

Jaquetta Shade-Johnson

Karrieann Soto Vega

Hui Wu

Tracing the Stream Virtual Symposium in Honor of Jacqueline Jones Royster: Register!

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Dear Colleagues,

Please see this announcement for the Tracing the Stream Virtual Symposium in Honor of Jacqueline Jones Royster. This is sure to be a fabulous event!

Online Mentoring Program, 2022-2023

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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 16, 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 sharerw@ecu.edu.

All best,

Wendy Sharer,
Immediate Past President

Welcome to our new Archivists & Historians!

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The Coalition is pleased to announce the appointments of Michael Healy and Michelle Smith to the role of Archivist and Historian! We are thrilled to gain their support and expertise as we expand, diversify, and publicize our digital and physical archival holdings while also ensuring that those holdings are searchable and accessible to a broad swath of scholars and researchers.

Headshot of Michael Healy in dark blue collard shirt with blue glasses and window in background

Michael Healy

Michael Healy completed his dissertation, Tracing Techne: Distributed Histories of Invention, Creativity, and Text-Technologies in Rhetoric and Composition Scholarship from the 1990s, at Florida State University in 2021 and, this fall, begins a position at Western Kentucky University. Michael’s background in online archiving and digital curation includes serving as a research fellow for FSU’s Linked Women’s Pedagogues Project. As a research fellow, Michael gathered and curated data and metadata highlighting women’s pedagogical and intellectual labor. Additionally, during his time at FSU, Michael served as a graduate co-administrator for the Museum of Everyday Writing, an online archive that he helped develop and maintain while also collaborating with undergraduate interns on the curation of artifacts and exhibits for the museum.

Headshot of Michelle Smith with blue blouse, grass and trees in the background

Michelle Smith

Michelle Smith joins us from Clemson University where she is an Assistant Professor of English. Michelle brings passion for archival research and experience as an archival researcher to the position, as her publications engage archives ranging from the Kenneth Burke archives at Penn State University to the National Archives in D.C. In addition, her 2021 book, Utopian Genderscapes: Rhetorics of Women’s Work in the Early Industrial Age (Southern Illinois UP), draws heavily on the archival records of three nineteenth-century utopian communities. Her exceptional archival work earned the book an honorable mention for the Coalition’s 2022 Winifred Bryan Horner Outstanding Book Award.

Welcome, Michael and Michelle!!

Effusive thanks are due to outgoing Archivist and Historian, Alexis Ramsey-Tobienne. Alexis served for six years as the Coalition’s inaugural Archivist and Historian and was instrumental in collecting, sorting, and launching an online, searchable archive of administrative records and scholarship from the Coalition, including items related to our annual “Wednesday Evening Event” at CCCC, the biennial Feminisms & Rhetorics conference, and CFSHRC’s journal, Peitho. Alexis also chaired the search committee that identified her successors. THANK YOU, Alexis, for your foundational work on our archives and your dedication to ensuring their future!

Thanks are also due to the other members of the Archivist and Historian Search Committee, Tarez Samra Graban, Rebecca Dingo, and Jen Almjeld. Your efforts on the Coalition’s behalf are greatly appreciated!

Register for Mentoring Sessions #3 & #4

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Dear Colleagues, 

It’s time to register for our third of four summer virtual mentoring tables! This time, we’re thrilled to present: 

 

Working and Parenting

Wednesday, JULY 20 @ 1:00 PM Eastern Time

This virtual mentoring session, facilitated by three moms at different stages of parenthood and career, offers an opportunity to ask questions and share strategies about parenting while in academia. In keeping with the interactive tradition of the mentoring tables, we request that attendees come with questions to raise for the table.

Featuring

  • Courtnee Bishop, (she/her) PhD Student, Old Dominion University
  • Ruth Osorio, (she/her) Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies, Old Dominion University
  • Lamaya Williams, (she/her) PhD Student, Old Dominion University

For security purposes, registration is required. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIlduqopz4qHNNIiMyTHFIwU_uAaeoZFoJO

Join us for our last session of the summer in August:

Mentoring Table Announcements: Publishing Your Book (7/13, 12pm EST)

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Dear Colleagues, 

It’s time to register for our second of four summer virtual mentoring tables! This time, we’re pleased to present: 

Writing and Publishing Your Book

Wednesday, JULY 13 @ 12:00 PM Eastern Time

Featuring

Cheryl Glenn, (she/her) Professor of English, 

Penn State University

Jennifer LeMesurier, (she/her) Assistant Professor of Writing and Rhetoric, 

Colgate University

This virtual mentoring session offers an opportunity to ask questions about moving a project from conceptualization to publication. In keeping with the interactive tradition of the mentoring tables, we request that attendees come with questions to raise for the table.

For security purposes, registration is required. Register here:

 https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUqd–vrT8iGtN1G3KDSKePnWO5mL6avoc6

 

If you can’t attend this session, try to join us for one of the two sessions later in July/August:

  • Parenting and Academia,Wed, July 20th, 1pm ET/12pm CT
    • Courtnee Bishop, (she/her) PhD Student, Old Dominion University
    • Ruth Osorio, (she/her) Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies, Old Dominion University
    • Lamaya Williams, (she/her) PhD Student, Old Dominion University
  • Preparing for the Academic Job Market, Tues., Aug. 2nd, 2pm ET/1pm CT
    • Jo Hsu (they/them), Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Writing, University of Texas at Austin
    • McKinley Green (he/him), Assistant Professor of English, George Mason University

Remember too that the Feminist/Queer Pedagogies mentoring table is tomorrow. Here’s the information:

Feminist and Queer Pedagogies, Wed., July 6, 2pm ET/1pm CT

    • Christina Cedillo, (she/they) Associate Professor of Writing and Rhetoric, University of Houston–Clear Lake
    • Abby Knoblauch, (she/her) Associate Professor of English, Kansas State University
    • Timothy Oleksiak, (he/him) Assistant Professor of English, UMass Boston

Register here:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMucO6rrTkvHNNyoaKjYHJbin_Awu5ysmWY

 

Onwards,

Jess Enoch, President, and

Becca Richards, Vice President 

CFSHRC

 

CFSHRC Statement on the Overturning of Roe vs. Wade

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The Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition (CFSHRC) dissents with the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn and end federal abortion rights as represented in Roe v. Wade. This decision clearly challenges the human right to have autonomy over our bodies and our reproduction. It also critically and disproportionately impacts already marginalized communities, as the Guttmacher Institute notes, which includes “Black and Brown communities, other people of color, people with low incomes, young people, LGBTQ communities, immigrants and people with disabilities.” We know too this decision was made in the midst of threats—made and anticipated—to a wide range of human rights in the United States. It aggravates our concerns for justice in this country and will result in injurious material and intangible consequences for many people. 

As the national context of anti-abortion laws continue to evolve and transform, we urge members—who need abortion care or who want to help—to engage local, expert organizations that are best equipped to support those who are directly impacted by this regressive decision. While, as a non-profit organization, we cannot endorse specific candidates or political officials, as feminist scholars and teachers, versed in the power dynamics of listening and speaking, we stand at the ready to support local activists, organizations, and health care professionals who are leading intersectional, anti-racist, trans* inclusive, community-based actions that are disability and trauma informed. 

Moreover, the Coalition recognizes that the Supreme Court’s decision joins a much longer history of reproductive injustice that has been named, theorized, and actively resisted by reproductive justice thought leaders, quite a few of whom are Coalition members. Much of this activism has been led by multiply marginalized people whose concerns include and exceed the right to an abortion. No doubt this moment is painful after many years of diligent and ongoing efforts to create a more just world. Please know the CFSHRC recognizes, supports, and appreciates your powerful and necessary interventions. 

This statement is not comprehensive or perfect; there is clearly more to say. While we knew this decision was likely coming, we recognize a range of emotions that we and others experience in response to this ruling. We hope that amid these responses, we find resolve to continue to act coalitionally and to use our knowledge and skills to speak up and out publicly and through our research and teaching. We list below a few resources that might offer insight, direction, and hope during this troubling time. As an organization of feminsit rhetoricians, we’ll continue to explore options to address this moment and map a path forward. We invite and welcome your ideas.

 

Additional Resources:

Adams, Heather Brook. “Goodbye, ‘Post-Pill Paradise’: Texturing Feminist Public Memories of Women’s Reproductive and Rhetorical Agency.” Quarterly Journal of Speech, 105 (4), 2019: 390-417. 

DiCaglio, Sara and Lori Beth De Hertogh, eds. Special Issue: “Rhetorical Pasts, Rhetorical Futures: Reflecting on the Legacy of Our Bodies, Ourselves and the Future of Feminist Health Literacies.” Peitho, 21(3), 2019. 

Murillo, Lina-Maria, and Natalie Fixmer-Oraiz. “Rulings Ensure Further Cruelty From Restricting Abortion Care.” DesMoines Register. 24 June 2022.

Roberts, Dorothy. “Reproductive Justice, Not Just Rights.” Dissent, 2015. 

“Supreme Court Overturns Roe, Upends 50 years of Abortion Rights: 5 essential Reads on What Happens Next.” The Conversation. 2022.

Yam, Shui-yin Sharon. “Beyond Choice: Why We Need Reproductive Justice.” Against the Current. 2022

Much appreciation goes to the CFSHRC Executive Board and to reproductive justice experts Shui-yin Sharon Yam and Heather Brook Adams for their guidance and labor in crafting this statement.

 

Virtual Mentoring Sessions-Summer Listings and Registration

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Greetings, Colleagues!

As you may know, the pandemic prevented the Coalition from hosting our traditional “mentoring tables” at CCCC again this year. We are pleased to bring you a series of “Virtual Mentoring Sessions” in their place this summer. Here is a listing of our sessions and additional details and registration for our first session.

  •  Feminist and Queer Pedagogies, Wed., July 6, 2pm ET/1pm CT
    • Christina Cedillo, (she/they) Associate Professor of Writing and Rhetoric, University of Houston–Clear Lake
    • Abby Knoblauch, (she/her) Associate Professor of English, Kansas State University
    • Timothy Oleksiak, (he/him) Assistant Professor of English, UMass Boston
  • Writing and Publishing Your Book, Wed, July 13, 12pm ET/11am CT
    • Cheryl Glenn, (she/her) Professor of English, Penn State University
    • Jennifer LeMesurier, (she/her) Assistant Professor of Writing and Rhetoric, Colgate University
  • Parenting and Academia, Wed., July 20th, TBA
    • Ruth Osorio, (she/her) Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies, Old Dominion University
  • Preparing for the Academic Job Market, Tues., Aug. 2nd, 2pm ET/1pm CT
    • Jo Hsu, (they/them), Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Writing, University of Texas at Austin
    • McKinley Green, (he/him), Assistant Professor of English, George Mason University

 

Please join us for the first session in the series:

Feminist and Queer Pedagogies 

Wednesday, JULY 6 @ 2:00 PM Eastern Time

Featuring: Dr. Christina Cedillo, University of Houston-Clear Lake; Dr. Abby Knoblauch, Kansas State University, and Dr. Timothy Oleksiak, UMass Boston

This virtual mentoring session offers an opportunity to ask questions and share suggestions for strengthening our commitment to and practice of feminist and queer pedagogies.

In keeping with the interactive tradition of the mentoring tables, we request that attendees come with questions to raise for the table.

For security purposes, registration is required. Register here:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMucO6rrTkvHNNyoaKjYHJbin_Awu5ysmWY

Hope to see you on July 6th and for the rest of the sessions this summer!

 

Jess Enoch, President, and

Becca Richards, Vice President 

CFSHRC

Call for Proposals: Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition/ Conference on College Composition and Communication Event 2023

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Conference Panel Title: Emerging Feminist Scholars: Listening and Learning from Graduate Student Researchers

The Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition invites proposals for the keynote panel event at their Wednesday evening meeting at the Conference on College Composition and Communication in 2023. This panel will showcase emerging scholars and their new work, specially featuring feminist researchers at the prospectus or dissertation stage who are conducting cutting-edge research in our discipline.

Successful proposals will take up intersectional feminist concerns, as this panel will highlight rhetorical scholarship that explores the multiple and interacting systems of power that both marginalize and privilege. More particularly, selected panelists will engage questions of gendered expression and experience while investigating those systems of power that complicate such gendered expressions and experiences. Borrowing from Brittany Cooper, ​we invite ​intersectional work that “challenges the ever-shifting machinations of systems that seek to re-instantiate and reinscribe dominance.”

A committee of four Coalition members will review submissions based on innovativeness of feminist rhetorical research and engagement with intersectional feminism. Four presenters will be selected, and they will give 10-12-minute keynote presentations followed by Q&A. Presenters will also be invited to workshop their presentations prior to CCCC 2023.

Submission Criteria:

  • Submit a 250-word presentation abstract that includes how this presentation builds from the dissertation project along with a c.v.
  • Send submissions to Jess Enoch at jenoch1@umd.edu;
    • Title your email: CFSHRC CCCC 2023 Panel Submission: [LAST NAME]
  • Submit proposals by July 15, 2022