[ecrea] International Rhetoric Workshop - “Crossing Traditions: Reimagining the Political”

*“Crossing Traditions: Reimagining the Political”*
*International Rhetoric Workshop*
*Uppsala University, Sweden*
*17-19 August 2016*

The International Rhetoric Workshop (IRW) invites PhD students and
emerging scholars to participate in developing the study of political
rhetoric and its theoretical traditions. At beautiful Uppsala
University, Sweden, we will meet in the last days of summer to advance
rhetorical scholarship on “Crossing Traditions: Reimagining the
Political”. The theme seeks to engage with questions of how various
traditions of rhetorical theory meet and merge within global rhetorical
practices, and how these crossings can change and develop the concept of
the political. The IRW seeks to bring the diverse global community of
rhetoric scholars together in a collaborative setting.

Contemporary rhetorical studies include the study and criticism of
contemporary persuasive practices, theoretical discussions on the
conditions for communal meaning-making, and historical studies of
rhetorical practices and rhetorical thinking in different times and
places. The emphasis rhetorical studies places on cross-fertilization
between these different forms of inquiry opens opportunities to take on
the challenges posed by contemporary politics. The workshop theme seeks
to be true to this characteristic of rhetorical studies, and focuses on
the crossings of various rhetorical traditions and how global rhetorical
practices can change and develop our conception of the political and its
possibilities.

The concept of the political has been a keystone in rhetorical thought
since its instigation in ancient Greece. With world-wide communication
and instant circulation, recurring crises and ever-increasing risk,
environmental global challenges, and the racializing, sexualizing, and
gendering of bodies, the importance of rhetoric at its intersection with
the political continues to increase. It is simply not possible to
imagine the political without also taking into consideration rhetorical
practices that negotiate all of these issues. Examinations of the
political and its materialization in particular contexts and advances in
theoretical models that better fit today’s world are therefore much needed.

*Suggested themes or questions to be furthered at the workshop:*

·Geographically structured traditions of rhetorical practices: their
local, regional, and national contestations.

·How these traditions crosses boundaries: how they are compared, merged
or intersected with other specific practices globally.

·How various rhetorical scholarships on political practices and
political theories change and merge across academic traditions.

·Rhetorical conditions of possibility for the political to emerge.

·How rhetoric’s multifaceted, transnational intellectual history has
crossed borders: its ancient heritage, its Arabic-European
transformations, its mutation into post-colonial settings and histories
of thought.

·How rhetoric’s continuous engagement with political, philosophical, and
aesthetic thought is played out in global political settings.

·

*Format and participants*

The format consists of a three-day workshop at Uppsala with an opening
keynote address on each day; breakout sessions in which workshop
participants review and discuss drafts of ongoing research with faculty;
and faculty discussion panels on topics relevant to the theme.

IRW will include three keynote addresses from internationally recognized
scholars working in the intersection of rhetorical and political
thought: Debra Hawhee (Penn State University, USA), Kari Palonen
(University of Jyväskylä, Finland), and Philippe-Joseph Salazar
(University of Cape Town, South Africa).

The core activity of the workshop will be engaged discussion and
development of participants’ work-in-progress. Papers will be
pre-circulated to a small group of about 5-6 workshop participants and
one member of the invited faculty and everybody is expected to have
constructive suggestions and comments on each other’s work.

IRW will also have panel sessions, led by the invited faculty, on
methodological and theoretical topics relating to the theme. The invited
faculty consists of: Mats Rosengren (Uppsala University, Sweden), María
Alejandra Vitale (University of Buenos Aires, Argentina), Jiyeon Kang
(University of Iowa, USA), Jairos Kangira (University of Namibia), Dilip
Gaonkar (Northwestern University, USA), Anne Ulrich (University of
Tübingen, Germany), Alan Finlayson (University of East Anglia, UK) and
our three keynote speakers. They work in the fields of postcolonial
intellectual history, securitization, neo-liberal forms of
governmentality, the changing forms of protest movements, the challenge
of the political to continental thought, and national political rhetoric
at the intersection of geopolitical rhetorical practices.

In keeping with the small and informal setting, IRW will accept 50-60
participants based on quality of research, geographical spread, and
relevance to the workshop theme. Abstracts should be no longer than 300
words and submitted through the form below. Abstract submission is open
to PhD students and emerging scholars who have received their PhD no
earlier than January 2014.

*How to apply*

Deadline for abstract submission: 30 March 2016.

Please note that if an abstract is accepted for the conference, a full
draft paper of your work-in-progress should be submitted by 30 June
2016. Final papers should be 4000-6000 words in length, excluding notes
and references.

Letter of acceptance will be sent no later than 20 April 2016.

Registration fee (includes participation in the workshop with
pre-circulated paper, one informal dinner, as well as breakfast and
lunch for three days): 100 EUR

To submit your abstract, please follow this link to the submission form
<https://uppsalau.conference-services.net/authorlogin.asp?conferenceID=5042&language=en-uk>.



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