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My research publications draw on rhetorical genre studies and comparative rhetoric to explore forms of encounter and ways in which rhetors, as "agents of integration" (Nowacek, 2011), navigate the composition of assemblages (Preston, 2015; Yancey and McElroy, 2017).
“Matteo Ricci, S.J.’s Tianzhu Shiyi: A Case for Including Dialectic in Comparative Rhetorics.” In Sophie Conte, Bartosz Awianowicz, John Brereton, Cinthia Gannett, Manfred Krauss, and Elizabethada Wright, eds. Jesuit Rhetorics Across Space and Time: Local and Global Perspectives. Brill, 2026, pp. 427-447.
In this chapter, I describe how Matteo Ricci, S.J. (1552–1610) directly discusses and engages with written and oral Chinese arts of discourse. Using Ricci’s disputation Tianzhu shiyi (The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven) and his journal Della entrata della Compagnia di Giesù e Christianità nella Cina (On the Entrance of the Society of Jesus and Christianity into China), I argue that Ricci’s understanding of rhetoric and dialectic is not only in line with Jesuit approaches more generally, but also that he implicitly and explicitly recognizes the Chinese arts of discourse. I begin by introducing Tianzhu shiyi as a mixed-genre text which draws on both rhetoric and dialectic. I then situate this text relative to Jesuit contributions to integrating rhetoric and dialectic, emphasizing the importance of the rhetorical principle of decorum, and Christianizing of the arts of discourse. As I do so, I also highlight ways in which Ricci recognized and interacted with the Chinese arts of discourse through the exchanges that became Tianzhu shiyi and consider how this case can enrich the study of Jesuit comparative rhetoric.
Jesuit Rhetorics Publication2025_The Influence of Structural Invention on Erasmuss De Rerum Copia Commentarius Secundus.pdf“The Influence of Structural Invention on Erasmus’s De copia rerum Commentarius secundus.” Rhetorica: A Journal of the History of Rhetoric, vol. 43, no. 4, 2025, pp. 384-417.
This article adds to readings of Book Two of Desiderius Erasmus's famous De duplici copia rerum ac verborum commentarii duo that emphasize the relationship of the rationes locupletandi to the rhetorical canons of style and topical invention by re-reading this text with an eye toward structural invention. In doing so, this paper explores Erasmus's use of the two Latin handbooks, the anonymous Rhetorica ad Herennium and Quintilian's Institutio oratoria, as well as observations by Erasmus's contemporaries, to consider the extent to which the composition of Book Two may have also been influenced by structural invention.
“I ka ʻŌlelo nō ke Ola (In Words there is Life): An Introduction to Hawaiian Rhetoric.” Expanding the History of Rhetoric Pedagogy Initiative. American Society for the History of Rhetoric, November 2025.
This resource presents a comparative rhetorics approach to studying and teaching Native Hawaiian rhetoric. Native Hawaiian rhetoric is a wonderful opportunity for thinking and teaching about how culture, genre, and style interact to build relationships, nurture identity, and fight for self-government. I provide curricular themes, key terminology, primary and secondary sources, and possible pedagogical activities and assignments to support instructors looking to expand their approaches to teaching rhetorical theory and history.
Hawaiian-Rhetorics-Leon.pdf06_Leon_BR (1).pdfReview of Global Rhetorical Traditions, edited by Tarez Samra Graban and Hui Wu. Journal for the History of Rhetoric, vol. 27, no. 3, 2024, pp. 412-416.
This book review shows my continued engagement with comparative rhetorics. In this review, I approach this new anthology to highlight key translations and movement forward in making the history of non-Western rhetorics more accessible to students. While ideally students will wrestle with full texts, anthologies serve an important function in ensuring both increased awareness of texts and fresh translations that bring non-Western rhetorical terminologies into focus.
“Counter Arguments.” Writing Commons: The Encyclopedia for Writers, Researchers, and Knowledge Makers, January 2023.
This Writing Commons article draws on my own experience teaching and studying counterarguments as another pedagogical application of my dissertation research. I treat counterarguments both as sentence-level and passage-level strategy of response. I present a novel way of arguing against different parts of a Toulmin argument as well as address ethical implications of addressing counterarguments fairly and using them to nuance and add distinction to our own arguments. My article also references excellent resources for writers to learn more about counterarguments.
leon-aaa-contribution.pdf“Beyond Transition Words.” Writing Spaces, Assignments and Activities Archive, August 2022.
In my studies of essay structure for my dissertation, I have found that while transition words can be useful, they are only one of the many ways that writers add coherence to their writing. This activity connects theory to practice by inviting students to develop their own understandings of coherence by looking beyond transition words. Following Brian Jackson (Teaching Mindful Writers, 2020), I believe that it is important for students to first notice, then name, then practice techniques they identify in model texts. For this reason, I make it a point to design this assignment so that the focus is on noticing and analysis rather than direct instruction (which can come later).
Review of Style and the Future of Composition Studies, edited by Paul Butler, Brian Ray, and Star Medzerian Vanguri. Composition Studies, vol. 49, no.3, 2021, pp. 200-203.
Much of my work on arrangement is indebted to work done to recuperate the study of style in composition. From a writing program administration perspective, I'm also interested in developments in writing threshold concepts scholarship. In this review, I aim to bring scholars in both fields into more sustained conversation with one another. I also suggest ways to thematically reorganize the collection to also highlight chapters that discuss social and linguistic justice.
Review of Style and the Future of Composition Studies.pdfAccommodation, Decorum, and Disputatio.pdf"Accommodation, Decorum, and Disputatio: Matteo Ricci's The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven as a Renaissance Humanist Disputation." Masters Thesis.
My masters thesis is an example of my work in comparative rhetoric. In this project, I situate Matteo Ricci, SJ's The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven relative to the greater history of disputation and the rhetoricization of disputation. I also begin to address the question of Ricci's engagement with Chinese rhetoric. My current work on Ricci's encounter with Chinese rhetoric aims to further explore how Ricci engages with Chinese traditions of argumentation more broadly (see publication above).
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