Welcome to ASHR

The American Society for the History of Rhetoric (ASHR) offers rhetoricians multiple points of entry and enthusiasm. It is fitting that the word “society” should lead this welcome, since rhetoricians understand better than most the importance of gathering with others for a common purpose; moreover, being a rhetorician today (as in plenty of other days) can be a dispiriting business, and sociality helps. The common purpose this particular society sustains is the study of rhetoric as a historically situated cultural practice. Accordingly, ASHR’s programming—from panels organized for its annual NCA unit, to papers given at its biennial symposia, to articles published in its journal—promotes discussion about strains and domains of rhetoric in all historical periods, cultural contexts, and theoretical guises.

Upcoming Events

ASHR’s First Friday Forum Series

ASHR at NCA 2026

Please join us for our ASHR events at NCA’s 112th Annual Convention: Move/ments in Communication, in New Orleans, LA. They include:

  • Social Gathering: Friday, November 20 from 6-8pm at Café Du Monde, 800 Decatur St.
  • ASHR Panels:
    • Fri 11/20, 2:30pm: Listening to American Social Movements: Shifting Sounds of Protest in the 20th and 21st Centuries (Mardi Gras Salon B, Marriott Floor 3)
    • Fri 11/20, 4:00pm: Place, Displacement, and Material Invention in Rhetoric and Rhetorical History (Mardi Gras Salon B, Marriott Floor 3) 
    • Sat 11/21, 9:30am: Opportune Moments as Move/ments in Communication Scholarship (Galerie 5, Marriot Floor 2)

We will not hold our business meeting at NCA this year. Instead we will meet online on Dec 4th at 1pm EST.