Selected Conference Presentations

This presentation for the International Society for the History of Rhetoric Conference explores medieval concepts of amplification, specifically, the modi positionum.  The modi positionum, primarily used in the art of letter-writing, represent a unique application of Cicero's teaching that amplification can belong anywhere in a speech rather than only at the end. In the case of the modi positionum, amplification is apparently applied to the narration portion of a letter.  After introducing the modi positionum and providing definitions and examples, I explore possible implications of this understudied aspect of medieval rhetoric.

This presentation for the Rhetoric Society of America conference explores a type of amplification or digression in which rhetors, following Ciceronian stasis theory, shift between universal and particular arguments to contextualize their arguments relative to fields of ethical reference.  After reviewing relevant passages in De Oratore and Partitiones Oratoriae, I illustrate this amplificatory strategy using examples from classic speeches such as St. Gregory Nazianzus' First Invective Against Julian the Apostate, Aeschines' Against Ctesiphon, Demosthenes' On the Crown, and Abraham Lincoln's address at Peoria, IL.  Using this strategy can help students add distinction and clarity to their arguments.

In this interactive workshop for the University System of Georgia Teaching and Learning Conference, I and my colleagues present a series of activities that riff on the typical Write-Pair-Share structure by adding AI into that instructional sequence.  I introduced the theoretical basis of our presentation and contributed a version of my counterarguments activity adapted for use with AI.

Georgia College is the first university I have encountered that still teaches literature in the second semester composition course.  This 2024 presentation for the College English Association is part of my effort to better understand this phenomenon-- which is actually still very prevalent, even after the 1980s and 1990s composition and literature debates.  This presentation builds on research such as the National Census on Writing and my own analysis of course catalogue descriptions to take a closer look at how universities differentiate between the content of the first and second semester composition courses in their programs.  I find that the "second semester should be more difficult" rationale remains most common and suggest that this rationale needs to be critically assessed to be more in line with what we understand about writing development and post-process composition.

This 2022 presentation for the International Society for the History of Rhetoric uses digression as a case study of a discoursal figure, one of the concepts that I explore in my dissertation as an example of a pre-nineteenth century unit of discourse.  I begin by reviewing Roman precedents and later uptakes of this concept, including Agostino Valier’s Rhetorica ecclesiastica (1574) which shows an explicit awareness that digressions can be used both as parts of a speech and as figures of thought.

"Critical Methods of Teaching Arrangement" builds on the work of my dissertation, where I consider why theories of arrangement were eclipsed by studies of invention and style in composition studies, and engage the history of rhetoric to identify principles of arrangement that can be used to reinvigorate our theory and teaching.  This presentation is a pedagogical application of my research, prepared for writing teachers at the 2021 Conference on College Composition and Communication.  In this presentation, I describe three neoclassical principles and activities for teaching arrangement.

I was inspired to incorporate global non-Western rhetorics into my syllabus while studying in Hawai’i.  While studying there, I met and interacted with people from many different cultures.  These experiences inspired me to consider an introduction to rhetorical theory course as a perfect site for robust engagement with the rhetorics of many cultures.  In this presentation for the 2022 Rhetoric Society of America, I outline my first two efforts at making my introduction to rhetorical theory course more diverse, while also reflecting on how such a course might further explore questions of power in an effort to combat racism and neocolonialism.