Dec 182014
 

There’s a certain set of conceits around academic freedom that limit its functionality and its practice, and those conceits often have to do with critiques of state power, critiques of colonization, critiques of structural violence. –Steven Salaita

I think using academic freedom as a way to open these more political conversations and more potentially more transformative conversations about Palestine and about labor, and allowing people to see the connections between these issues is really important. –Vincent Lloyd

Organizing around solidarity communities and connecting with allies and creating networks of solidarity in that way is so crucial. We cannot resist in isolation. –Carol Fadda-Conrey

The image shows a mash-up of the three scholar-activists featured in this episode: Steven Salaita, Vincent Lloyd, and Carol Fadda-Conrey. The text reads, "academic freedom."

Steven Salaita, Vincent Lloyd, and Carol Fadda-Conrey

How do the precarious conditions of academic labor affect the conversations that are possible in the academy? How does academic freedom protect—or fail to protect—academics from doing politicized work? How do questions of Palestine in particular affect our understandings of academic labor and academic freedom—and vice versa? In episode 26, Steven Salaita, who lost a tenured job offer after writing a series of tweets condemning Israel’s “Operation Protective Edge,” talks about the rhetorical commonplaces of civility in the academy, and the stakes of circulating critiques of state power on various media platforms. Assistant professor of religion Vincent Lloyd, and associate professor of English Carol Fadda-Conrey—who helped to organize a talk by Salaita on SU’s campus this fall—reflect on their academic trajectories and political work, offer suggestions for how young scholars can build networks of support, and remind us to realize the critical potential of our discipline.

To access a PDF of the full transcript, please click here: Transcript for Episode 26

The music sampled in this podcast is akaUNO’s “Hidden Leaves,” and “Another Word” by The Left Curve.

 

Jul 162013
 

In Networking Arguments, Rebecca Dingo enacts a feminist transnational rhetorical analysis of global policies and conferences that are about women’s role in a global economy. Focusing on three rhetorical commonplaces—gender mainstreaming, fitness, and empowerment—Dingo extends traditional rhetorical analysis to account for how arguments shift rhetorically as they are networked. Our conversation begins by us discussing the differences between the three feminist transnational terms Dingo uses to explain exactly how rhetorics shift: transcoding, ideological trafficking, and interarticulation. As we talk about gender mainstreaming—the development of policies that are intended to promote gender equality and women’s best interests—and women’s empowerment, we discuss how transcoding, ideological trafficking, and interarticulation offer different nuanced ways that these well-intending rhetorics shift and are distorted.

An image of Dingo's book cover: Networking Arguments. A night image of people standing on the sidewalk at Times Square.

Networking Arguments: Rhetoric, Transnational Feminism, and Public Policy Writing

Episode 10 features CCR student Kate Navickas interviewing Rebecca Dingo. A follow-up to the transnational feminism panel held in March (which you can listen to here), Dingo discusses both the theoretical and practical concepts highlighted in her book, Networking Arguments.

To read a PDF of the full transcript, please download it here: Transcript for Episode 10

The music sampled in this podcast is Yacht’s “We Have All We Ever Wanted,” “Emo Step Show” by Custodian of Records, and “Golden” by High Places.

Apr 122013
 

From a feminist perspective, what does it mean to live a rhetorical life in a globalized world? Why is a feminist perspective productive for 2013? What are important sites and lived spaces in which we need to be rhetorical? How do you bring a feminist perspective that highlights a transnational world into your teaching, your administrative duties, your service work, your field commitments, personal life, and your activism? How do you locate transnational issues and sites that are important? And finally, how do you enact a feminist transnational method?

On March 22nd, the CCR Graduate Circle hosted our first live-recorded podcast event:  “Feminist Perspectives on Living a Rhetorical Life in a Transnational World.” To facilitate this conversation, we invited a range of diverse speakers with different areas and levels of expertise on transnational feminism and rhetorical studies. Participants in the panel included Rebecca Dingo, Dana Olwan, Anna HensleyTim Dougherty, and Eileen Schell.

Image of "transnational" woman's face.

“Feminist Perspectives on Living a Rhetorical Life in a Transnational World.” Image created by Seth Long.

To read a PDF of the full transcript, please download it here: Transcript for Episode 7.

The music sampled in this podcast is “Stay the Same” by Bonobo.