Southwestern was well represented at the Western States Communication Association annual conference in San Diego from February 27–March 2. Two students from Professor of Communication Studies Bob Bednar’s fall capstone class presented research at the Undergraduate Scholars Research Conference. Chloe London Jordan ’26 presented her capstone paper “Return to Whiteness: How ‘Return to the Land’ Platforms White Supremacy” and John Reese ’26 presented “Deconstructing Far-Right Rhetoric on X: A Case Study of the X Account End Wokeness.” Professor of Communication Studies Valerie Renegar was there to clap and cheer before presenting her work with Dr. Kirsti Cole from North Carolina State University titled “The Weight of Stigma” about GLP-1 discourse.

Herman Brown Chair and Professor of Communication Studies Valerie Renegar returned to Postira, Croatia last week for the 7th Days of Ivo Škarić rhetoric conference. She presented a paper titled “The Weight of Stigma,” co-authored with Kirsti Cole of North Carolina State University. This international conference featured rhetorical scholars from 10 countries across three continents.

Professor of Communication Studies Valerie Renegar published “Third-Wave Feminist Rhetoric in the 21st Century: Rethinking Limitations, Possibilities, and New Directions” with her frequent co-author Stacey Sowards. The chapter appears in The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Feminist Rhetoric, edited by Jaqueline Rhodes and Suban Nur Cooley. The chapter is a retrospective of the 20 years since the duo began writing on this topic. They argue that the fierce independence of Third Wave feminism taught women to speak out and believe in their own power, but with little understanding of how to organize or create lasting legal or political change. Sigh. More information on the volume can be found here.

Professor of Communication Studies Valerie Renegar presented a paper at the 9th meeting of the Nordic Rhetoric Association in Copenhagen, Denmark. The University of Copenhagen has distinguished itself as one of the finest rhetoric programs in Europe and is making a worldwide impact in rhetorical studies. The conference theme was “Technology in Transition,” and Dr. Renegar, along with her co-authors Dr. Stacey Sowards from UT Austin and Dr. Kristi Cole from NC State, presented a new piece on digital collaboration in research and teaching, and explored ways that these collaborations can function as mentoring opportunities. They focused on building and engaging in digital collaboration and the importance of horizontal mentoring and developing vulnerable relationships outside of an individual institution.

Professor of Communication Studies Valerie Renegar furthered her research agenda on the rhetoric surrounding stepmothers by presenting on Kamala Harris as an antidote to traditional stepmother stereotypes in Barcelona, Spain at the International Conference on Gender Research in late April.