My research agenda is primarily invested in critical rhetoric, critical race theory, feminist rhetoric, and social movements. Specifically I'm interested in how intersectionality might enable scholars and activists to understand rhetorical events/interactions with more nuance.
My most recent research has considered critical rhetoric and intersectionality in the campaign against Proposition 8 in California. My work interrogates the critical and intersectional implications of the use of civil rights rhetoric in the fight for marriage eqaulity.
I am committed to providing students a challenging and engaging classroom experience. I have been the recipient of three teaching awards. I love to be in the classroom working with students--helping them make conncetions between rhetorical theory and their everyday experiences.
At the 2015 RSA Summer Institute, several authors of the proposed White Paper convened at the Whi... more At the 2015 RSA Summer Institute, several authors of the proposed White Paper convened at the Whither “Social Movement” in Rhetorical Studies? Workshop (organized and co-lead by Christina R. Foust, University of Denver and Charles E. Morris, III, Syracuse University). The two and a half days proved inspiring and productive, as participants considered the loss of the term “social movement(s)” from the scholarly conversation in rhetoric, particularly following McGee’s polemic against the traditions of resource mobilization, functionalism, and the basic reduction of social movement to a “thing” awaiting classification by rhetorical critics (McGee, 1980; DeLuca, 1999; Enck-Wanzer, 2006). Participants considered the relocation of “social movement” into activist work (Cloud, 2009; Aseynas, McCann, Feyh, & Cloud, 2012) and rhetorical field methods (McHendry, Middleton, Endres, Senda-Cook, & O’Byrne, 2014), as well as tactics of resistance related to affect (Bruce, 2015), neoliberal capitalism (Pezzullo, 2011), and digital ubiquity (Ganesh & Stohl, 2013).
Though we can read “social movement” into the record of rhetorical studies, participants raised a number of questions: What is at stake in the loss of “social movement” in rhetorical studies? For rhetorical critics who see the value of “social movement” (in interdisciplinary connections and public relevance, for instance), what must be done to rehabilitate the term? More particularly, what is the relationship between social movement as a phenomenon, noun, or “thing” and others’ treatments of social movement as a verb, process, or indicative of meaning change? How might reclaiming “social movement” for rhetorical studies invigorate work across different disciplinary domains, and the public? This white paper is the product of conversations provoked by these questions.
At the 2015 RSA Summer Institute, several authors of this White Paper convened at the Whither “So... more At the 2015 RSA Summer Institute, several authors of this White Paper convened at the Whither “Social Movement” in Rhetorical Studies? Workshop (organized and co-lead by Christina R. Foust, University of Denver and Charles E. Morris, III, Syracuse University). This white paper, collectively authored by The RSA 15, asks relevant questions to the study of social movements: What is at stake in the loss of “social movement” in rhetorical studies? For rhetorical critics who see the value of “social movement” (in interdisciplinary connections and public relevance, for instance), what must be done to rehabilitate the term? More particularly, what is the relationship between social movement as a phenomenon, noun, or “thing” and others’ treatments of social movement as a verb, process, or indicative of meaning change? How might reclaiming “social movement” for rhetorical studies invigorate work across different disciplinary domains, and the public?
The RSA 15: Suzanne Berg, Newman University Betsy Brunner, University of Utah Josue David Cisneros, University of Illinois Doug Cloud, Colorado State University Michael Eisenstadt, University of Kansas Kelly Jakes, Wayne State University Michelle Kearl, IUPU-FW Dominic Manthey, Pennsylvania State University Jade Olson, University of Maryland Milene Ortega, Georgia State University Erin J. Rand, Syracuse University Alyssa Samek, California State University Fullerton Jessica Shumake, University of Arizona Ian Summers, University of Utah Justine Wells, University of South Carolina
To cite this paper in APA: RSA 15 (2016). Whither Social Movement in Rhetorical Studies? A White Paper. Presented at the Rhetoric Society of America conference, Atlanta, GA, May 26-29, 2016. For inquiries, please contact Christina Foust (cfoust@du.edu)
This essay charts a critical intersectional rhetoric as a means for understanding the articulatio... more This essay charts a critical intersectional rhetoric as a means for understanding the articulation of a Civil Rights Movement (CRM) analogy in marriage equality campaigns. Analyzing the campaign against Proposition 8, California’s version of the Defense of Marriage Act, I argue that the use of such analogizing elides difference, prevents meaningful and complex conversations about power and oppression, and makes visible the material intersectional tensions between and among communities of color and gay and lesbian communities and how these discourses further marginalize those that identify as queer people of color. Through criticism of campaign commercials, movement strategy, and the protest rhetoric after the proposition passed, I argue that CRM analogy discourse historicizes racism, privileges white gay identities, and exacerbates divisions that prevent coalition building.
The election of 2008 saw the passage of several overwhelming and explicit condemnations of gay ri... more The election of 2008 saw the passage of several overwhelming and explicit condemnations of gay rights across the nation. Most damaging to the gay marriage movement was the successful passage of Proposition 8 in California, the first time that the right to gay marriage was repealed. I argue that the continued modeling of civil rights framework defers an analysis of argumentative strategies of historically gendered social movements such as the suffrage movement and is a disservice to the strategic potential of the marriage equality movement. The critical comparison made here between suffrage and marriage equality opens the potential for our foremothers to teach us to effectively counter gender stereotypes in the pursuit of national legislative equality.
In Kathleen German and Bruce Drushel (Eds.) Queer Identities/Political Realities. Cambridge, MA: ... more In Kathleen German and Bruce Drushel (Eds.) Queer Identities/Political Realities. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2009.
This qualitative focus group study investigates the terms under which GLBTQ people report the use of historically negative slang as contemporary moments of identification and empowerment. Like many minoritized populations LGBTQ people have developed explicit and implicit rules of reclaiming terms such as "fag", "faggot", "dyke", etc. Working from the following research questions: RQ 1: What, if any, are the rules dictating non-offensive use of GLBT slang? RQ 2: What is the perceived function of the use of in-group GLBT slang? I chart the cultural rules observed by many for the empowering appropriation of pejorative language.
Kaleidoscope: A Graduate Journal of Qualitative …, 2009
The elections of 2008 saw the passage of several overwhelming and explicit condemnations of gay r... more The elections of 2008 saw the passage of several overwhelming and explicit condemnations of gay rights across the nation. Most damaging to the gay marriage movement was the successful passage of proposition 8 in California, the first time that the ...
At the 2015 RSA Summer Institute, several authors of the proposed White Paper convened at the Whi... more At the 2015 RSA Summer Institute, several authors of the proposed White Paper convened at the Whither “Social Movement” in Rhetorical Studies? Workshop (organized and co-lead by Christina R. Foust, University of Denver and Charles E. Morris, III, Syracuse University). The two and a half days proved inspiring and productive, as participants considered the loss of the term “social movement(s)” from the scholarly conversation in rhetoric, particularly following McGee’s polemic against the traditions of resource mobilization, functionalism, and the basic reduction of social movement to a “thing” awaiting classification by rhetorical critics (McGee, 1980; DeLuca, 1999; Enck-Wanzer, 2006). Participants considered the relocation of “social movement” into activist work (Cloud, 2009; Aseynas, McCann, Feyh, & Cloud, 2012) and rhetorical field methods (McHendry, Middleton, Endres, Senda-Cook, & O’Byrne, 2014), as well as tactics of resistance related to affect (Bruce, 2015), neoliberal capitalism (Pezzullo, 2011), and digital ubiquity (Ganesh & Stohl, 2013).
Though we can read “social movement” into the record of rhetorical studies, participants raised a number of questions: What is at stake in the loss of “social movement” in rhetorical studies? For rhetorical critics who see the value of “social movement” (in interdisciplinary connections and public relevance, for instance), what must be done to rehabilitate the term? More particularly, what is the relationship between social movement as a phenomenon, noun, or “thing” and others’ treatments of social movement as a verb, process, or indicative of meaning change? How might reclaiming “social movement” for rhetorical studies invigorate work across different disciplinary domains, and the public? This white paper is the product of conversations provoked by these questions.
At the 2015 RSA Summer Institute, several authors of this White Paper convened at the Whither “So... more At the 2015 RSA Summer Institute, several authors of this White Paper convened at the Whither “Social Movement” in Rhetorical Studies? Workshop (organized and co-lead by Christina R. Foust, University of Denver and Charles E. Morris, III, Syracuse University). This white paper, collectively authored by The RSA 15, asks relevant questions to the study of social movements: What is at stake in the loss of “social movement” in rhetorical studies? For rhetorical critics who see the value of “social movement” (in interdisciplinary connections and public relevance, for instance), what must be done to rehabilitate the term? More particularly, what is the relationship between social movement as a phenomenon, noun, or “thing” and others’ treatments of social movement as a verb, process, or indicative of meaning change? How might reclaiming “social movement” for rhetorical studies invigorate work across different disciplinary domains, and the public?
The RSA 15: Suzanne Berg, Newman University Betsy Brunner, University of Utah Josue David Cisneros, University of Illinois Doug Cloud, Colorado State University Michael Eisenstadt, University of Kansas Kelly Jakes, Wayne State University Michelle Kearl, IUPU-FW Dominic Manthey, Pennsylvania State University Jade Olson, University of Maryland Milene Ortega, Georgia State University Erin J. Rand, Syracuse University Alyssa Samek, California State University Fullerton Jessica Shumake, University of Arizona Ian Summers, University of Utah Justine Wells, University of South Carolina
To cite this paper in APA: RSA 15 (2016). Whither Social Movement in Rhetorical Studies? A White Paper. Presented at the Rhetoric Society of America conference, Atlanta, GA, May 26-29, 2016. For inquiries, please contact Christina Foust (cfoust@du.edu)
This essay charts a critical intersectional rhetoric as a means for understanding the articulatio... more This essay charts a critical intersectional rhetoric as a means for understanding the articulation of a Civil Rights Movement (CRM) analogy in marriage equality campaigns. Analyzing the campaign against Proposition 8, California’s version of the Defense of Marriage Act, I argue that the use of such analogizing elides difference, prevents meaningful and complex conversations about power and oppression, and makes visible the material intersectional tensions between and among communities of color and gay and lesbian communities and how these discourses further marginalize those that identify as queer people of color. Through criticism of campaign commercials, movement strategy, and the protest rhetoric after the proposition passed, I argue that CRM analogy discourse historicizes racism, privileges white gay identities, and exacerbates divisions that prevent coalition building.
The election of 2008 saw the passage of several overwhelming and explicit condemnations of gay ri... more The election of 2008 saw the passage of several overwhelming and explicit condemnations of gay rights across the nation. Most damaging to the gay marriage movement was the successful passage of Proposition 8 in California, the first time that the right to gay marriage was repealed. I argue that the continued modeling of civil rights framework defers an analysis of argumentative strategies of historically gendered social movements such as the suffrage movement and is a disservice to the strategic potential of the marriage equality movement. The critical comparison made here between suffrage and marriage equality opens the potential for our foremothers to teach us to effectively counter gender stereotypes in the pursuit of national legislative equality.
In Kathleen German and Bruce Drushel (Eds.) Queer Identities/Political Realities. Cambridge, MA: ... more In Kathleen German and Bruce Drushel (Eds.) Queer Identities/Political Realities. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2009.
This qualitative focus group study investigates the terms under which GLBTQ people report the use of historically negative slang as contemporary moments of identification and empowerment. Like many minoritized populations LGBTQ people have developed explicit and implicit rules of reclaiming terms such as "fag", "faggot", "dyke", etc. Working from the following research questions: RQ 1: What, if any, are the rules dictating non-offensive use of GLBT slang? RQ 2: What is the perceived function of the use of in-group GLBT slang? I chart the cultural rules observed by many for the empowering appropriation of pejorative language.
Kaleidoscope: A Graduate Journal of Qualitative …, 2009
The elections of 2008 saw the passage of several overwhelming and explicit condemnations of gay r... more The elections of 2008 saw the passage of several overwhelming and explicit condemnations of gay rights across the nation. Most damaging to the gay marriage movement was the successful passage of proposition 8 in California, the first time that the ...
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Papers by Michelle L. Kelsey
Though we can read “social movement” into the record of rhetorical studies, participants raised a number of questions: What is at stake in the loss of “social movement” in rhetorical studies? For rhetorical critics who see the value of “social movement” (in interdisciplinary connections and public relevance, for instance), what must be done to rehabilitate the term? More particularly, what is the relationship between social movement as a phenomenon, noun, or “thing” and others’ treatments of social movement as a verb, process, or indicative of meaning change? How might reclaiming “social movement” for rhetorical studies invigorate work across different disciplinary domains, and the public? This white paper is the product of conversations provoked by these questions.
The RSA 15:
Suzanne Berg, Newman University
Betsy Brunner, University of Utah
Josue David Cisneros, University of Illinois
Doug Cloud, Colorado State University
Michael Eisenstadt, University of Kansas
Kelly Jakes, Wayne State University
Michelle Kearl, IUPU-FW
Dominic Manthey, Pennsylvania State University
Jade Olson, University of Maryland
Milene Ortega, Georgia State University
Erin J. Rand, Syracuse University
Alyssa Samek, California State University Fullerton
Jessica Shumake, University of Arizona
Ian Summers, University of Utah
Justine Wells, University of South Carolina
To cite this paper in APA: RSA 15 (2016). Whither Social Movement in Rhetorical Studies? A White Paper. Presented at the Rhetoric Society of America conference, Atlanta, GA, May 26-29, 2016. For inquiries, please contact Christina Foust (cfoust@du.edu)
This qualitative focus group study investigates the terms under which GLBTQ people report the use of historically negative slang as contemporary moments of identification and empowerment. Like many minoritized populations LGBTQ people have developed explicit and implicit rules of reclaiming terms such as "fag", "faggot", "dyke", etc. Working from the following research questions: RQ 1: What, if any, are the rules dictating non-offensive use of GLBT slang? RQ 2: What is the perceived function of the use of in-group GLBT slang? I chart the cultural rules observed by many for the empowering appropriation of pejorative language.
Though we can read “social movement” into the record of rhetorical studies, participants raised a number of questions: What is at stake in the loss of “social movement” in rhetorical studies? For rhetorical critics who see the value of “social movement” (in interdisciplinary connections and public relevance, for instance), what must be done to rehabilitate the term? More particularly, what is the relationship between social movement as a phenomenon, noun, or “thing” and others’ treatments of social movement as a verb, process, or indicative of meaning change? How might reclaiming “social movement” for rhetorical studies invigorate work across different disciplinary domains, and the public? This white paper is the product of conversations provoked by these questions.
The RSA 15:
Suzanne Berg, Newman University
Betsy Brunner, University of Utah
Josue David Cisneros, University of Illinois
Doug Cloud, Colorado State University
Michael Eisenstadt, University of Kansas
Kelly Jakes, Wayne State University
Michelle Kearl, IUPU-FW
Dominic Manthey, Pennsylvania State University
Jade Olson, University of Maryland
Milene Ortega, Georgia State University
Erin J. Rand, Syracuse University
Alyssa Samek, California State University Fullerton
Jessica Shumake, University of Arizona
Ian Summers, University of Utah
Justine Wells, University of South Carolina
To cite this paper in APA: RSA 15 (2016). Whither Social Movement in Rhetorical Studies? A White Paper. Presented at the Rhetoric Society of America conference, Atlanta, GA, May 26-29, 2016. For inquiries, please contact Christina Foust (cfoust@du.edu)
This qualitative focus group study investigates the terms under which GLBTQ people report the use of historically negative slang as contemporary moments of identification and empowerment. Like many minoritized populations LGBTQ people have developed explicit and implicit rules of reclaiming terms such as "fag", "faggot", "dyke", etc. Working from the following research questions: RQ 1: What, if any, are the rules dictating non-offensive use of GLBT slang? RQ 2: What is the perceived function of the use of in-group GLBT slang? I chart the cultural rules observed by many for the empowering appropriation of pejorative language.