RSA Awards

The Rhetoric Society of America gives a Book Award each year to recognize an exemplary work in rhetorical studies--broadly construed--published by a Society member in the previous year. The Society welcomes nomination of books published in any branch of or approach to rhetorical studies. 

Selection Committee

In consultation with the RSA President and the Chair of the Committee on Committees and no later than December of the year prior to the award date, the Awards Steering Committee (ASC) Chair identifies six RSA members to serve on the book award selection committee.

• Unless all ASC members have a conflict of interest, the Chair of the book award selection committee will also be a member of the Awards Steering Committee.
• The other three members of the ASC should reflect the diversity of rhetorical studies with regard to rank, institution type, and identity categories.
  

To be eligible for the Book Award, a book must…

• Have at least one Society member as an author or co-author
• Have been published between August 1 and July 31 of the academic year under consideration as evidenced by the copyright date (e.g. August 1, 2020 and July 31, 2021). PLEASE NOTE WE HAVE CHANGED THE DATE PARAMETERS OF ELIGIBILITY FROM CALENDAR YEAR TO ACADEMIC YEAR. For the 2023 book award, this means we are only looking at books published between August 1, 2021 - July 31, 2022. If you have a book that came/comes out in the Fall of 2022 you will have to wait until the next cycle.

Generally, second editions are not eligible for this award. Translations and edited collections are eligible.

Submission Requirements

Each nomination must include:

• A completed nomination form (forms may be submitted by the author, press, or a colleague;); nomination letters must be keyed to the award criteria.
• Electronic front matter consisting of the table of contents, introduction, and 1 body chapter for the book;
• An unlocked PDF of the nominated book in its entirety.

Please note: the RSA Book Award does not require a separate letter of nomination.

Review Process

Nominations are reviewed by the RSA Book Award selection committee, a sub-committee of the Awards Steering Committee, which recommends winners to the Board for final approval.

When more than 15 books are nominated for the Book Award, the selection committee will conduct a first round review to identify semi-finalists for the award. During this initial round, the committee will review each nominated book's electronic front matter (e.g., the table of contents, introduction, and 1 body chapter). In this stage of review, the selection committee is divided into groups of 2 with each group reading ⅓ of the electronic front matter and ranking finalists. Groups will identify approximately 3 semi-finalists from their lists to forward to the full selection committee for review. Following production of the shortlist, the selection committee members will review the provided PDFs of the nominated books in their entirety.

The full selection committee reviews the semi-finalists (or the entire list if fewer than 15 books are nominated) to identify finalists and the award recipient. No more than 2 honorable mentions are permitted to be selected from the list of semi-finalists.

In reviewing nominees for the Book Award, the selection committee considers:

• The book’s contributions to rhetorical studies (e.g. expanding, synthesizing, correcting, and/or re-directing previous rhetorical scholarship)
• Effective, generative use of methodological and/or analytical tools
• Style, readability, and accessibility of the text
• The book’s contribution to the Society’s IDEA and/or social justice values through topic, content, citational choices, and/or framing.
• Potential to promote an understanding of rhetoric among scholars from other fields
• Potential to promote the general public's understanding of rhetoric

Deadline for nominations:  January 6, 2023 (for books published between August 1, 2021 and July 31, 2022).

Please CLICK HERE to submit a nomination.

Conflict of Interest for the Book Awards.

A member whose book is nominated for the RSA book award may not serve on the book award sub-committee. Members of the selection committee who feel that they are unable to be impartial in judging any nominee will recuse themselves from discussion of that nominee.

Ratified by the RSA Board of Directors May 2004. Amended October 29, 2021.

Recipients

The Cheryl Geisler Award for Outstanding Mentor is presented biennially at the RSA conference. This award honors individuals who during their careers have demonstrated exceptional commitment to mentoring through such activities as guiding, supporting, and promoting the education, training and career development of their students or junior colleagues.

Selection Committee

In consultation with the RSA President and the Chair of the Committee on Committees and no later than December of the year prior to the award date, the ASC Chair identifies three RSA members to serve on the Geisler award selection committee. 

• The Chair of the selection committee may be a member of the Awards Steering Committee or may be drawn from the RSA membership. 
• The other three members of the committee should reflect the diversity of rhetorical studies with regard to rank, institution type, and identity categories.

Eligibility

All RSA members are eligible to be nominated for the Geisler Award

Submission Requirements

Each nomination must include:

1. A nomination letter summarizing the nominee’s mentorship work and explaining why they merit the award (2-page maximum);
2. The nominee’s curriculum vita and
3. Two supporting letters from former students and/or colleagues in rhetorical

studies who are able to comment on the effectiveness of the nominee as a professional mentor, including the nominee’s contributions to the Society’s IDEA and/or social justice values.
Review Process

Nominations are reviewed by the Geisler Award selection committee, a sub-committee of the Awards Steering Committee, which recommends winners to the Board for final approval. 

In reviewing nominations to the Geisler Award, the selection committee considers:

• The nominee’s history of mentorship, including intentional development of mentoring skills, consistent support for undergraduate and graduate students and junior colleagues, and involvement in formal mentoring structures above and beyond those expected by the nominee’s professional positions. 
• How the nominee’s mentorship practices contribute to the Society’s IDEA and/or social justice values.
• The “ripple effect” of the nominee’s mentorship practice beyond specific individual relationships. 
• The extent of the nominee’s “invisible labor” of mentorship, carrying additional burdens because of or to intentionally mitigate the effects of structural.

Deadline for nominations: March 4 of the biennium’s even (conference) year.

Please CLICK HERE to submit a nomination form.

Conflict of Interest for the Geisler Award Selection Committee.

It is expected that members of the selection committee may have previous working relationships with nominees for Geisler Award. Before beginning deliberation, members of the committee will disclose their potential conflicts of interest and develop a plan for mitigating those conflicts. Any member who feels they cannot fairly evaluate a nominee will abstain from ranking that nominee.

Ratified by the RSA Board of Directors May 23, 2014, Amended July 2020

Recipients

The Fellows’ Early Career Award honors a current member of the Rhetoric Society of America who has established an innovative and robust research record within eight years of having earned the Ph.D. degree.

Selection Committee
In consultation with the RSA President and no later than December of the year prior to the award date, the Awards Steering Committee (ASC) Chair identifies four RSA members to serve on the Fellows’ Early Career Award selection committee as follows:

• A chair and full voting member who is not an RSA Fellow, selected from the membership of the Awards Steering Committee.
• Two RSA Fellows, selected to reflect as fully as possible the diversity of rhetorical studies, particularly with regard to identity categories.
• One ad-hoc member drawn from the general RSA membership, selected to ensure that the committee as a whole reflects as fully as possible the diversity of rhetorical studies in terms of rank, institution, field, and identity categories.

Eligibility
To be eligible for the Fellows’ Early Career Award, a person must...

• Be a member of the Rhetoric Society of America
• Have received their doctoral degree no longer than eight years prior to the date of the award

Submission Requirements
Each nomination must include:

• A completed nomination form (either the nominee or a nominator may submit the form); self-nominations are encouraged.
• A brief 300-500-word scholarly statement from the nominee about the trajectory of the applicant’s research.
• A letter of nomination that includes the following:
  • A brief (~25 word) introductory statement of the nominee's major accomplishments that justify the nomination.
  • A description of the nominee’s major research contribution and why it is considered leading edge. Relevant scholarly achievement is understood broadly as including not only books, articles and chapters, but also editorial work, public scholarship, and scholarship of teaching; such work may appear in either traditional printed form or in digital or other media. 
  • Ways in which this nominee's potential and current work have been recognized as especially promising.
  • Influence on rhetorical education through publications, teaching activities, outreach, mentoring, etc.
• The nominee’s current curriculum vitae.
• A copy of one chapter or article that best represents the quality and direction of the nominee’s scholarship.

Review Process
Nominations are reviewed by the Fellows’ Early Career Award selection committee, a sub-committee of the Awards Steering Committee, which recommends winners to the Board for final approval.

In reviewing nominees for the Fellows’ Early Career Award, the selection committee considers:

• The extent and scope of the nominee’s scholarly research.
• The nominee’s potential to contribute significantly to the field of rhetorical studies by extending, synthesizing, correcting, and/or redirecting previous scholarship.
• The innovative or boundary-expanding nature of the nominee’s scholarship.
• The nominee’s contribution to the Society’s IDEA and/or social justice values through the focus, content, citational choices, and/or framing of their scholarship.
  
  

Although conferred in 2023, this award will also be presented by a representative of the Fellows at the biennial RSA Conference in May, 2024.

Deadline for nominations: January 31, 2023

Please CLICK HERE to submit a nomination form.

Ratified by the RSA Board of Directors May 2004. Amended October 29, 2021.

Recipients

The Gerard A. Hauser Award is a national award that is presented to outstanding graduate student papers accepted for presentation at the biennial RSA conference. 

Selection Committee

In conversation with the IDEA Representative to the Awards Steering Committee and the Chair of the Committee on Committees, the Conference Director / President-Elect of RSA will appoint a four-person Hauser Award selection committee in February or early March of the Conference year.

• The Chair of the selection committee will be drawn from the conference planning team. 
• The other three members of the committee should reflect the diversity of rhetorical studies with regard to rank, institution type, and identity categories.

Eligibility

Currently enrolled graduate students whose proposals are accepted for the conference will be invited to submit a complete version of their conference presentation to be considered for the Hauser award.

Each graduate student may submit no more than one essay for consideration for this award at any given RSA conference.

Submission Requirements

Each nomination must include:

1. The full-length presentation, no more than 12 double-spaced pages (please do not submit full chapter or article drafts)
2. An abstract for the presentation

Review Process

Nominations are reviewed by the Hauser Award selection committee, which recommends winners to the Board for final approval. 

In reviewing nominations for the Hauser Award, the selection committee considers:

• Significance to rhetorical studies (historical, critical, theoretical, and/or pedagogical),
• Contribution to the discipline (e.g. expanding, synthesizing, correcting, and/or re-directing previous rhetorical scholarship),
• quality of research design and execution,
• ample engagement with germane primary and secondary sources,
• a clear, accessible, and engaging prose style.
• The paper’s contribution to the Society’s IDEA and/or social justice values through topic, content, citational choices, and/or framing.

Recipients of the Hauser Award are expected to present their award-winning papers at the Conference to which it was submitted.  Recipients receive a free registration for the conference, a cash prize, and an acknowledgement during a public presentation of the award.  

Conflict of Interest for the Hauser Award.

No member of the selection committee may supervise, collaborate with, or otherwise have a close working relationship with any nominees for the award. Members of the selection committee who feel that they are unable to be impartial in judging any nominee will recuse themselves from discussion of that nominee.

Ratified by the RSA Board of Directors May 2004. Amended November 2020

Recipients

The Outstanding Graduate Student Chapter Award, given annually, recognizes the previous year’s most creative, engaged student chapter. A prize of $500 accompanies the award. 

Deadline for nominations: April 4, 2023

This award is meant to recognize outstanding work by student chapters, increase the visibility of graduate students within RSA, increase the visibility and attractiveness of student chapters to RSA graduate student members, highlight "best practices" for student chapters to adopt and emulate, and encourage creativity and community in student chapter activities, as determined by:

• activities that bridge disciplines and connect graduate students across departments
• activities that may be duplicated at other institutions.
• creative activities that expand the influence of student chapters.
  

Materials to submit:

Student chapters that wish to be considered for the Outstanding Graduate Student Chapter Award must submit the following materials (for up to 2 years):

• A table of membership including faculty advisor(s) and graduate student members with their year and department affiliation(s)
• An annotated list of student chapter events. This list may include business meetings, guest speaker events, social events, panel planning meetings, participation in the RSA webinar or previous Student Chapter Award events, and so on. Annotations may include descriptions of events, attendance, budget information, and so on.
• Any materials that substantiate events as flyers, brochures, websites, recordings, and so on.
• A 500-word maximum rationale highlighting the student chapter’s achievements.

Submissions and questions should be emailed to the Graduate Student / Early Career members of the RSA Board at ChapterAwards@rhetoricsociety.org. Notification of the awards decision will be sent to the person whose email account submitted the chapter proposal.

Criteria for selection:  Competitive proposals will demonstrate that the graduate student chapter have met at least the following criteria:

• Has hosted or participated in interdisciplinary events that connect graduate students across departments
• Has designed and hosted events and activities that may be successfully duplicated at other institutions
• Has acted to expand the visibility and influence of RSA student chapters within the organization
• Has hosted or participated in events and activities that increase the visibility of RSA and reflect the interests of the organization

Ratified by the RSA Board of Directors. May 25, 2012.  Amended September 23, 2016.

Recipients