Association for the Rhetoric of Science, Technology, and Medicine pre-conference

NCA 2018 Preconference CFP

ARSTM Preconference on “Evidence”

NCA Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City, UT
Preconference date: November 7, 2018
Submission deadline: April 20, 2018

Download ARSTM 2018 NCA Preconference CFP

Evidence is a key term in discourse about science and, importantly, in scientific debate. Among scientists we find rhetorically sophisticated accounts of how evidence is brought together to present a case for their research. But scientists aren’t the only researchers who need to justify their choice, use, and the explanatory power of their evidence—in RSTM, too, we grapple with these same issues. With the release of the second edition of Landmark Essays in the Rhetoric of Science: Case Studies, edited by Randy Allen Harris, the importance of case studies for rhetoric of science is renewed, but will findings from case studies export to allied fields? S. Scott Graham and Kirk St. Amant raise allied questions in their upcoming special issue of Technical Communication Quarterly, asking how our research perspectives in rhetoric, our justifiable concerns about scientism or “retreat to positivism,” and methodological choices, may challenge the uptake of our work by other science studies researchers or scientists.

We invite individual papers and panel discussions that advance our understanding of evidence in rhetorical analysis. We are interested in productive cases exploring—better still, illustrating—the range of rhetorical practices, their epistemological underpinnings, and their explanatory power in RSTM research.

Questions around this topic include: What counts as evidence in rhetorical approaches? In what ways and why does our evidence export to allied fields? Or, in what ways does our evidence have limited success in creating legitimacy for our findings? How do data sorting practices, algorithms, and other technological affordances shape our evidence? What computational approaches in rhetoric are shaping new forms of evidence or, even, new ways of collecting evidence that we have traditionally used in rhetorical criticism?

Submissions may be in the form of individual abstracts or panel proposals, and should detail in 300 words or fewer how papers will further our understanding of what counts as evidence in rhetorical analysis. Panel proposals should include four presenters, a 100-word rationale for the panel that carefully details how each paper contributes to an overall argument, and the panel must include speakers from multiple institutions.

Submissions should be sent as an attachment without any identifying information to ashley.mehlenbacher@uwaterloo.ca by April 20, 2018. Please use “ARSTM Preconference Submission” as your email subject, and provide your preferred contact information and the contact information for any co-authors in the email body. Any questions about this CFP and the ARSTM preconference at NCA may be addressed to ashley.mehlenbacher@uwaterloo.ca.

The Association for the Rhetoric of Science, Technology, and Medicine pre-conference will be held at the 104th Annual Convention of National Communication Association on November 7th, 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A.