RSA Awards Graduate Student Special Event Funding

RSA Awards Graduate Student Special Event Funding 

RSA is pleased to announce the recipients of 2010-2011 Graduate Student Special Event Funding.  The awarded proposals reflect RSA’s commitment to the scholarly and professional development of graduate students.  Particularly impressive are the award recipients’ efforts to incorporate digital media, to collaborate across academic departments, and to invite participation from different colleges and universities.  

Old Dominion University, $1000

The Rhetoric Society of Old Dominion University plans to host “The First Annual RSODU Rhetoric Symposium,” occurring over two days, July 9-10. Participants and presenters from other Rhetoric Society student chapters will be able to participate simultaneously and conveniently via Adobe Connect Pro and Skype, as the sessions will be hosted in a mediated Mac lab. Student participants will have the opportunity to present to a captive audience in a room fully equipped for discussion of a large spectrum of rhetorical topics, as well as present to their peers logged on across the region. 

Pennsylvania State University, $1000

Penn State’s Arnold-Ebbitt Interdisciplinary Rhetoricians (AEIR) hope to use RSA funds to expand the reach of their Camp Rhetoric.  By inviting graduate students from two other universities to participate in the “AEIR Intercollegiate Symposium,” they seek to allow graduate students to not only share current work with interested and invested peers, but also create opportunities for future collaborative projects.  Camp Rhetoric brings together faculty and graduate students from English (ENGL), Communication Arts and Sciences (CAS), and Applied Linguistics (APLNG) for professional development and cross-disciplinary conversations on the history of rhetoric, pedagogy, and civic engagement.  

University of Texas, El Paso, $400

In the spring, Frontera Retórica (the Rhetoric Society of America Student Chapter at UTEP) will host their fourth annual rhetoric symposium and open house.  The event will showcase the work of M.A. and Ph.D. students in Rhetoric and Writing Studies graduate programs at UTEP.  This event is open to and publicized to all students and faculty across campus.  Invitations are also extended to local and regional colleges, such as the El Paso Community College system and New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM. 

Frontera Retórica is committed to improving the visibility of rhetoric locally in the U.S.-Mexico border region and beyond.  To that end, organizers plan to record the symposium and make it widely available online to those who are not able to attend locally.