RSA annually offers $3000 to Special Event Awards. Candidates for this award must be Student Chapters with RSA and have an event planned for the spring semester. Awards were determined by criteria such as: the quality of the application (clear planning/preparation), the event’s interdisciplinary focus – inclusion of other departments, institutions, etc. – as well as an emphasis on graduate students. This year the RSA student representatives, Katherine Lind and Sarah Frank, along with executive director Gerard Hauser reviewed the applications and selected the following winners:
North Carolina State University will be hosting the 8th annual Carolina Rhetoric Conference (CRC) this March 17-18th. They will also host the Communication, Rhetoric, & Digital Media Symposium on March 19-20th. Follow them on Twitter at #CRC2016.
Arizona State University will be bringing Dr. Jody Shipka to campus in April to discuss her book, Toward a Composition Made Whole. Nearby RSA members should make plans to attend what looks to be an engaging talk with a delicious cuisine of local dishes.
Pennsylvania State University and the Arnold-Ebbitt Interdisciplinary Rhetoricians (AEIR) will be gathering for another exciting year of Camp Rhetoric. This year they have expanded to include graduate students and faculty from Carnegie Mellon and Howard University. Follow them on Twitter at #CampRhetoric2016.
Louisiana State University will be celebrating their second annual Burkean Parlor the weekend of Mardi Gras with Dr. Joshua Gunn as the keynote speaker. Visit the RSA@LSU website (geauxrsa.com) and the Facebook page for more information and video recordings of the presenters.
University of California – Irvine has invited Dr. Nancy Welch to come talk about activism and pedagogy in May. Dr. Welch’s visit serves as a capstone event for a year-long regional reading group open to faculty and graduate students.
University of Nevada – Reno has arranged a daylong symposium in February focusing on Naomi Klein’s new book, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate. The symposium will feature sixteen established scholars of rhetoric who will take part in four panels that respond to Klein’s text.
Indiana University’s chapter (the Ivie League) is planning an Indiana Composition Pedagogy Roundtable in March and will be teaming up with their Lambda Pi Eta chapter to host a viewing party for the Democratic Primary Debate February 11th.