The Rhetoric Society of America recognizes the achievements of its members through nine awards: five given annually and four given biennially.
The Book Award and Dissertation Award are presented annually for the best work in rhetorical studies published or defended by an RSA member in a given year.
2022 Book Award
Catalina M. de Onís
University of Colorado Denver
Energy Islands: Metaphors of Power, Extractivism, and Justice in Puerto Rico
2022 Book Award Honorable Mentions
Karma R. Chávez
University of Texas-Austin
The Borders of Aids: Race, Quarantine, and Resistance
Elizabeth Kimball
Drexel University
Translingual Inheritance: Language Diversity in Early National Philadelphia Translingual Inheritance.
2022 Dissertation Award
Florianne (Bo) Jimenez
University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Echoing and Resistant Imagining: Filipino Student Writing Under American Colonization
2022 Dissertation Award Honorable Mention
Taylor Johnson
University of Wisconsin-LaCrosseThe Fight for Bears Ears: Toward A Decolonial Rhetoric of Public Participation in Environmental Decision-Making
The Charles Kneupper Award acknowledges the best article published in RSQ in a given year and is selected annually by a sub-committee of the RSQ Editorial Board.
2022 Charles Kneupper Award
Kefaya Diab
Loyola University Maryland
“The Rise of the Arab Spring through a Sense of Agency”
The annual Fellows’ Early Career Award recognizes the cumulative successes of an RSA member within eight years of completing their doctorate.
2022 Fellows’ Early Career Award
Lamiyah Bahrainwala
Southwestern University
The Outstanding Student Chapter Award recognizes the efforts of RSA graduate student members as they advance the work of RSA through student chapters.
2022 Outstanding Student Chapter Award
RSA Madison - University of Wisconsin-Madison
In addition to these five annual awards, in even years (at its biennial conference), the Society presents an additional four awards.
RSA recognizes significant and sustained contributions to the Society and to the field by conferring the George E. Yoos Distinguished Service Award - which automatically confers the status of RSA Fellow - and also naming new a new class of Fellows.
2022 George E. Yoos Distinguished Service Award
Kirt H. Wilson
Penn State University
2022 RSA Fellows
Leah Ceccarelli
University of Washington
Cheryl Geisler
Simon Fraser University
RSA celebrates exceptional mentoring of students and junior colleagues with the Cheryl Geisler Award for Outstanding Mentor.
2022 Cheryl Geisler Award for Outstanding Mentor
Andre Johnson
University of Memphis
At each biennial conference, RSA also confers the Gerard A. Hauser Award for outstanding student papers presented at the conference.
2022 Gerald A. Hauser Awards
Daniel DeVinney
University of Illinois
“Post-racial Colorwashing: Erasing Blackness from Obama Hope to Big Tech Aesthetics”
Sarah Hae-In Idzik
Northwestern University
"’Millions of Orphaned Girls’: Rhetorics of Paternalism in Transnational Asian Adoption”
Julie Kidder
Carnegie Mellon University
“Hermeneutics, Jurisprudence, & (Re)Interpretations of Antimiscegenation Laws”
O.M. Olaniyan
University of Utah
“Autopoietic Critical Rhetoric”
Danielle Stambler
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
“The Rhetoric of Employee Wellness: Toward a Model of Anti-Oppression”
And finally, RSA makes travel grant awards to graduate students of color who participate in the conference. These awards are made possible through the generosity of the Andrea Lunsford Diversity Fund. This endowed fund honors Andrea Lunsford’s longtime commitments to promoting diversity within RSA and the education and professional development of graduate students in rhetoric.
2022 Lunsford Travel Grant Awards
Stephanie Colin
Louisiana State University
Nicole Cunningham-Frisbey
University of New Hampshire
Shelia Dodson
Clemson University
Sarah Hae-in Idzik
Northwestern University
Montez Jennings
Chapman University
Eva Jin
Arizona State University
Edwin Lee
University of Alabama
Veena Namboordi
Michigan Technological University
Vanessa Nyarko
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
These awards are only possible because of the tremendous dedication and service of the Awards Steering Committee, chaired by Ersula Ore. Heartfelt thanks go to her, as well as the steering committee Vice Chair Tamika Carey, Stephanie Kerschbaum, Vincent Pham, Ashley Mack, and Christina Cedillo, and awards subcommittee members Matthew Houdek, Jane Donawerth, Svilen Trifonov, Brandon Erby, Aja Martinez, Pritha Prasad, Ashley Hall, Paul Johnson, Fred Jenga, James Beasley, Amanda Nell Edgar, Atilla Hallsby, Derek Handley, E Cram, Jo Hsu, and Lisa Blankenship.
We invite you to join us for the presentation of the 2022 awards on Saturday evening, May 28 at the 2022 Annual Conference in Baltimore. The event will also be recorded and available for viewing in June.
