CFP: Rhetorical Pasts, Rhetorical Futures: Reflecting on the Legacy of Our Bodies, Ourselves and the Future of Feminist Health Literacy

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We are pleased to publish this call for proposals for a Special Issue of Peitho: Journal of the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition

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Rhetorical Pasts, Rhetorical Futures: Reflecting on the Legacy of Our Bodies, Ourselves and the Future of Feminist Health Literacy

Special Issue Editors
Sara DiCaglio, Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University 
Lori Beth De Hertogh, Assistant Professor, James Madison University

On April 2, 2018, the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective announced that they would no longer publish updated print or digital versions of their foundational text, Our Bodies, Ourselves (OBOS) due to financial pressures and the changing nature of online health information. Since its original publication in 1970, OBOS (then called Women and Their Bodies) has provided “evidence-based information on girls’ and women’s reproductive health and sexuality” to millions worldwide. It was included in the Library of Congress’ 2012 exhibit “Books That Shaped America” and recognized by Time magazine as one of the best 100 nonfiction books published in English (OBOS, About Us). As Susan Wells aptly puts it: “Our Bodies, Ourselves was not just a routine women’s health manual with a feminist twist. Nothing like it was available when the book was first published in 1970” and it was eagerly consumed by “an audience of women hungry for this information” (2). Read more

Coalition Welcomes First Peitho Web Coordinator

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The Coalition is pleased to announce that Jen England, assistant professor of professional writing and rhetoric at Hamline University, now serves as Peitho journal’s first web coordinator. Given the journal’s growth and emerging need to become a platform that accommodates a range of web-based formats for publishing scholarly work, the time seemed right to create and fill this role. 

Read more

CWSHRC seeks Web Designer

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Image Caption: CWSHRC SEEKS WEB DESIGNER FOR JOURNAL’S REINVENTION. Peitho will relaunch Fall/Winter 2015 w/media-rich content (webtexts, video). Share your vision & get paid ($500-1K). New platform/format must be compatible w/current one plus improve media-rich content delivery, accessibility, searchability. Timeframe: 4 months (5/1/-9/1). Application deadline: 17 April. BE THE ARCHITECT OF *PEITHO* 2.0

The Coalition of Women Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition seeks an individual with web experience to help redesign the online platform for its scholarly journal, Peitho. The timeframe for desired work is 1 May to 1 September 2015.

Peitho is currently hosted at http://peitho.cwshrc.org and operates on a WordPress platform. Since its conversion to an online peer-reviewed journal, Peitho has elicited a growing number of web-based submissions and media-rich contributions that call for a more flexible and sophisticated format.

With that in mind, a new journal platform and format should enable:

  • improved accessibility, including but not limited to providing SEO and article indexing capabilities (optimized for Google Scholar/Google searches);
  • integration with current member services (i.e., PayPal, membership lists);
  • publication of increasingly sophisticated media-rich content, including webtexts, audio-visual publications, and so on;
  • appropriate backend access for editors and editorial staff;
  • easy updating by current and future journal staff;
  • sustainability over time.

The new journal platform and format should also:

  • retain the http://peitho.cwshrc.org URL;
  • remain technically compatible with the cwshrc.org platform, whether or not the journal continues to use WordPress*;
  • remain visually compatible with the cwshrc.org site, incorporating the Peitho logo and a complementary color scheme;
  • enfold existing content, ensuring it remains accessible and is accurately indexed. 

The budget range for this project is $500-$1000. The timeframe for completing this job is five months: May 1st to September 1st, 2015. The Peitho editorial team intends to publish the Fall/Winter 2015 issue using the new journal format in September 2015.

Please direct questions about the redesign to Jenny Bay, Jenn Fishman, and Lindal Buchanan.

Submit proposal (including estimate and rationale for proposed fee), portfolio, and resumé by 17 April 2015 to Lindal Buchanan.

*While the Coalition will consider proposals that include use of platforms other than WordPress, both compatibility and cost are matters of significant concern. Proposals for migrating to a new platform should offer detailed information as well as a strong rationale and a full accounting of initial as well as annual fees that might be involved.

The Critical Work of the *Peitho* Associate Editor

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A guest blog by Peitho editors Jenny Bay and Patricia Sullivan

The call for Peitho‘s assistant editor describes the job in this way:

The Coalition of Women Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition (CWSHRC) seeks an Associate Editor for Peitho, its biannual peer-reviewed online journal. The Associate Editor is responsible for book reviews in each issue; for following up with authors who receive revise and resubmits and, if desired, finding mentors to assist them with interpreting reviewer comments and refining drafts; and for coordinating efforts with the journal Editors. Additionally, the selected applicant can expect to participate in Editorial Team meetings, CWSHRC Advisory Board meetings, and the CWSHRC Wednesday night open meeting held annually at the Conference for College Composition and Communication. For full consideration, applications are due 12/10/14.

From our perspectives as editors, the associate editor contributes work that is critical to achieving the feminist goals of the journal in terms of mentoring less experienced researchers and honoring feminine ways of coming to know. Let us say more.

This post addresses two questions from our perspective: what does the above description mean to us, and who should consider applying for the position of associate editor of Peitho?

What is the job?
We are trying in Peitho to serve two mistresses: one that preserves the scholarly double-blind review that is preferred for academic promotions and the second that seeks to mentor scholars by using feminist support. The editor(s) oversee(s) the first role and the associate editor oversees the second.

Mentoring is a major plank for the journal, and it is one of the associate editor’s major responsibilities. The coalition believes in peer mentoring of researchers; thus, we institutionally support scholars by having the associate editor oversee mentoring for those scholars whose article submissions to Peitho call for revision. This does not mean that the associate editor does developmental editing for all submissions that receive “revise and resubmit.” Instead, authors will be advised that mentoring is available and is coordinated by the associate editor. Those who contact the associate editor will be paired with an editorial board member and that person will work together to plan how the revision can go. The “mentor” will ultimately help the author assess when the revision is ready for resubmission. The associate editor keeps this work on track as best she can.

Peitho is also a journal that believes in book reviews. So handling book reviews is the other major part of the associate editor’s job. The associate editor solicits book reviews that are appropriate for the journal and helps manage their submissions and copyediting.

Who is needed?
Our ideal associate editor will be someone with tenure and/or years of experience with the study of women in rhetoric and composition. A wise woman such as Lisa Mastrangelo, our out-going associate editor, is needed.

We also want to solicit someone who has a vision for the future of feminist scholarship and work in the field.

Not all scholars in the Coalition hold positions that include work with graduate students, and those scholars have much mentoring to share. This position would help the associate editor demonstrate the mentoring of less experienced scholars for promotion purposes. It would also provide an outlet to give advice and assistance to newer scholars.

For full consideration, applications are due 12/10/2014. The online submission form is available on the Peitho webiste. Please direct questions to Peitho editors Jenny Bay and Patricia Sullivan.

Count ’em: 5 New CWSHRC Opportunities!

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There is a lot going on with the Coalition these days, and as a result we have five new scholarly and volunteer opportunities to announce. Specifically, we are currently looking for 1) a new Assistant Editor to Peitho; 2) a Curator for the Digital New Work Showcase that will appear in Peitho 17.2; 3) volunteers for a new Task Force on Digital Media; 4) volunteers for a new Task Force on Mission Articulation; 5) and FemRhet 2015 liaisons.

Read all about these great opportunities to get (more) involved with the Coalition and volunteer!

1) Assistant Editor, Peitho

A great opportunity for a Coalition scholar who would like to join the Peitho Editorial Team and learn more about Peitho and scholarly editing, the Associate Editor is responsible for book reviews, author correspondence, and (if desired) contributor mentoring. You can read more here. For full consideration, applications are due 12/10/2014.

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2) Curator, Digital New Work Showcase

Attention digital scholars: The Coalition would like to collaborate with you on the digital version of this year’s 4Cs New Work Showcase. The event itself will feature new scholarship by 12 Coalition colleagues, and the digital version of the event will make everyone’s work accessible to Peitho 17.2 readers. Volunteers for this role should be experienced multimedia composers familiar with Word Press. Interested? Volunteer by 10/27. 

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3) Task Force on Digital Media

Are you a social media maven? Do you research digital scholarly and social communication? If you answered, “Yes!” to one or both of these questions, then you are half way to joining the Task Force on Digital Media, which will help the Coalition develop and use its online resources. Ready to take that next step? Click the link and volunteer by 10/27.

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4) Task Force on Mission Articulation

As many of you know, members of the Advisory Board have become increasingly concerned that the Coalition is failing to engage the full range of teachers and scholars who are doing feminist historical work (broadly defined) in rhetoric and composition. In particular, we worry that our group’s nomenclature, language in our governing documents, and/or our organizational practices contribute to a culture that undermines the CWSHRC mission and alienates scholars we wish to include: scholars of color, LGBTQ scholars, scholars with disabilities, male-identified feminists, and more. Members of this task force will lead an organizational self-study and make concrete recommendations to the Advisory Board. Be part of this important group: volunteer by 10/27.

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5) CWSHRC-FemRhet Liaison Committee

Are you *both* a FemRhet fan and a CWSHRC devotee? Join this committee and help coordinate conference-related communication and projects, including the FemRhet 2015 Book Exhibit. Everyone interested in hosting a future FemRhet conference is especially encouraged to apply (by 10/27).

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With thanks to Michie.ru for “Volunteer.”



A Unicorn, Butterflies, and Rainbows, Coalition Style

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If you follow the Coalition on Facebook or Twitter then you know May 5th turned out to be a banner day. In the throes of third quarter for some and the end of the semester and academic year for others, the meme to the right turned out to a rallying cry for our membership—along with more than 5000 of our friends, friends of our friends, friends of friends of our friends, and so on.

Oh, how tempting it is to try turning that runaway meme into an ad hoc membership drive. Oh so very, very tempting.

Instead, I offer everyone reading this post a unicorn, a variation on the theme of butterflies, and some rainbows.

To start, a unicorn along with the first rainbow:

This particular unicorn and the figure we now know as Everyprofessor, all revved up to grade all the things, are both the work of Allie Brosh. Although she did not create the meme, she is well known through her website, Hyperbole and a Half, her book by the same name, and all kinds of cool swag. Brosch writes humorously and movingly about any number of subjects, including her own childhood and depression. Increasingly, her work appears on rhetoric and composition syllabi alongside Lynda Barry‘s, Alison Bechdel‘s, and others’. When you have a chance, take a look. Meanwhile, we owe Brosh one heckuva hat tip.

As for butterflies, they’re aspirational. At least here along the shores of Lake Michigan it’s early for caterpillars let alone butterflies. As a substitute, how about a button? Back in March at #4C14 we gave everyone able to attend the Coalition’s 25th Anniversary Gala a keepsake pin. Today we pair it with a button. Specifically, and thanks to Alli Crandell, our most wonderful webmistress, we offer you a  Peitho recommendation button.

Click it and you’ll find yourself on a page with a short form where you can tell Peitho‘s editors about colleagues with as-yet-unpublished projects on feminist research, histories of women, and/or studies of gender and sexuality in rhetoric and composition. If you are attending conferences this summer, starting with RSA in San Antonio, try it out. Please, too, let us know if you have any problems or suggestions for how it can be improved.

Now rainbows, a topic that has at least some of you thinking about 4Cs, Cs the Day, and those ever-sought-after Sparkleponies. (If you missed the post-conference controversy, read all about it here, here, here, and here.) Whether you plan to celebrate the sixth year of the conference’s first (formal) augmented reality game at #4C15 or not, as you get ready to upload your proposals plan to use Joyce Carter’s innovative keyword system to help Coalition members identify—and attend!—your sessions.

So far, three keywords have emerged as Coalition members’ favorites: Coalition, CWSHRC, and FemRhet. If your session addresses feminist research, histories of women, and studies of gender and sexuality in rhetoric and composition, use one or more of these terms, and next spring we’ll be there.

As promised, then, a unicorn, butterflies (more and less), and rainbows. Check this space again in a week or two for news about the Coalition’s 2014-15 volunteer survey among other things.

Call for Peitho Editor

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Call for Peitho Editor

The Coalition of Women Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition (CWSHRC) is seeking an editor for Peitho, our biannual peer-reviewed online journal, beginning spring 2013.

In supporting the Coalition’s mission as “a learned society composed of women scholars who are committed to research in the history of rhetoric and composition,” Peitho seeks to publish research that advances the feminist study of our profession.

In cooperation with an associate editor (Lisa Mastrangelo will hold this position until 2015), Peitho’s editor has full purview over the editorial content and production process of the journal, including managing the editorial board, issuing calls for papers, refining the journal’s submission process, and publishing the journal. The editor has the support of the Coalition’s Publication Committee and Executive Board for all matters requiring approval.

Qualifications:

The ideal candidate will hold a position at an institution willing to contribute support/release time for this position, and she will have a solid publication record in the areas of feminist rhetoric and/or composition history and pedagogy, as well as a significant record of service work relevant to the field. The position also requires outstanding planning, communication, and editorial skills and strong technical/digital skills.

Responsibilities:

  • Shadow Barb L’Eplanttenier, Peitho’s current editor, through production of the spring 2013 issue and then assume full responsibility for the fall 2013 issue.
  • Serve as editor for four years, from 2013-2017.
  • Manage the submission, editorial, and online publication process for two issues of Peitho per year (Fall and Spring)—with the support of Lisa Mastrangelo, the associate editor.
  • Participate in the search for a new associate editor who will start in 2015 and become editor in 2017.
  • Hire a student intern, if desired.
  • Serve as ex officio (nonvoting) member of the CWSHRC advisory board.

Compensation:

The Coalition will pay for the editor to take a training workshop on InDesign (the publishing program), and the editor may also hire a student intern for 15-20 hours per issue at a total cost of $500 per year. The editor will also receive a stipend of $200 after the successful completion of each issue. Finally, the Coalition will pay the editor’s registration fee for the Feminisms and Rhetorics biennial conference.

Please note that  a letter of support from Coalition president Elizabeth Tasker, detailing how the position can be of benefit to the editor’s home institution, is available upon request.

Applicants should email a CV and cover letter, describing their qualifications and detailing how their institution will support their editorship, to Lindal Buchanan, ljbuchan [at] odu.edu, by Oct. 1, 2012.