Border Rethorics
San Antonio, Texas | Marriot River Center
The Rhetoric Society of America is organising the 16th Biennial RSA Conference, which is meant to investigate
the theme “Border Rhetorics".
The Conference will take place in San Antonio, that an ideal city for thinking about borders. Not only has the city been positioned along different national borders, but it also exists at the interesting intersection of diverse cultures and histories. “Border Rhetorics” not only invites consideration of these kinds of geographic, political and cultural borders but also invites consideration of a wider range of borders: the borders between identities, between roles, between disciplines, between concepts, etc. The 2014 conference theme seeks to spur a broad conversation about the borders that unite and divide us, the ways in which these borders are constructed and deconstructed, confirmed and contested.
The theme of “Border Rhetorics” opens a space for numerous inquiries and conversations about the things that constitute our borders – politically, culturally, academically, etc. – as well as the ways in which those borders are constructed, crossed, challenged, circumvented, diminished and redrawn. The theme also encourages us not only to think about our borders but also to think across them in the hopes of opening spaces for dialogue and disagreement that may in turn alter our sense of these borders.
Interested parties are invited to submit abstracts for individual papers, proposals for panels, and ideas for special format events (roundtables, debates, etc.). Panels representing only one institution are strongly discouraged and a slight preference will be shown for panels representing not only different institutions but also different disciplinary fields (e.g., Composition and Communication Studies). Submissions that take advantage of off-site venues are also encouraged.
Submission Policies:
All submissions must be submitted through the electronic submission platform available on the website.
All submissions must be submitted by the deadline of July 1, 2013.
Abstracts for individual paper submissions should be no more than 250 words and must include the name and affiliation of the author.
Panel proposals must include:
Rationale for the panel of no more than 150 words;
Name and affiliation of each presenter;
Brief abstract for each paper presentation of no more than 150 words.
Proposals for special format (roundtables, debates, performances, etc.) should include:
Rational of no more than 150 words;
Name and affiliation of each presenter.
Generally, no participant will be allowed to present more than two papers at the conference.
Proposers will be notified of acceptance/rejection in early Fall.
Any questions concerning submission guidelines/policies can be directed to Kendall Phillips – kphillip(at)syr.edu.