Welcome to the website of the Rhetoric Society of America.  RSA is the umbrella organization for scholars and teachers in every discipline who are interested in rhetoric, the art of effective communication.

Rhetoric has a long history and is also strikingly contemporary.  The study of rhetoric dates to ancient times, and the rhetorical tradition remains the subject of robust inquiry today.  RSA defines rhetoric quite broadly and therefore also addresses a range of current issues related to the persuasive dimension of language and visual symbols.  Our members study topics including the health of the public sphere, the construction of human communities, the arts of argument and deliberation, discourses of specialized fields, and the communicative power of visual and electronic media, to mention only a few of our interests.  RSA members are committed to theory, practice, criticism, and pedagogy, and we enjoy the scholarly exchange among many academic disciplines. 

RSA’s 1700 members are scholars in composition studies, English, communication, philosophy, linguistics, history, political science, sociology, visual arts, and other fields.   We include people at every stage of their academic careers, from graduate students to professors emeriti.  A vibrant interdisciplinary and intergenerational dialogue is a distinctive characteristic of RSA. 

RSA sponsors a biennial national conference in even-numbered years.  The next conference will be held over Memorial Day weekend, 2012, in Philadelphia.  For more information about the conference, CLICK HERE.  In the odd-numbered years, RSA sponsors a summer institute consisting of week-long seminars and two-day workshops on specific topics in rhetoric.  The next institute will be held June 20-26, 2011 at the University of Colorado, Boulder.  For more information on the institute, CLICK HERE.

Rhetoric Society Quarterly, the official journal of RSA, is an additional membership benefit.  RSQ is the leading interdisciplinary journal covering all areas of rhetorical studies.  It is published five times per year – four quarterly issues and one issue on a designated topic or theme.  For more information on the jounal, CLICK HERE.   RSA also sponsors a blog, The Blogora, and undertakes other important projects for the advancement of rhetorical studies. 

If you are not a member of RSA and wish to support its activities, we invite you to consider joining the Society.  For a membership application, CLICK HERE.  If you are already a member, we hope that navigating the website will bring you in contact with RSA activities and projects, and we invite your continued active participation. 

David Zarefsky
RSA President