About the scholar

Martha S. Cheng is a Professor of Rhetoric and Writing in the English Department at Rollins College in Winter Park, FL. Her research investigates official discourses as constitutive of identity and community in the public sphere, most recently focusing on governmental apologies for historical wrongs. She has published in the journals Argumentation, Rhetoric Review, Rhetoric Society Quarterly, and the Journal of Argumentation in Context. Her chapter in the Routledge Handbook on Language and Persuasion (2023) identifies the genre differences between ceremonial and legislative government apologies that lead to distinct rhetorical ends. Her current project uses discourse analysis of archival materials to consider the agency of Asian American communities in the reconciliation processes surrounding government legislative apologies.  She teaches courses on political speech, crisis communication, language and culture, writing, and Asian American literature and culture.