Reception Roundtable Discussants
On Friday, February 6th, the conference will kick off with a catered reception featuring a roundtable of rhetoric scholars. The reception will start start with drinks and hors d'oeuvres at 5:30 PM, social hour at 6:00 PM, and speakers at 7:00 PM. Please see our featured speakers below!
Lauren E. Cagle
University of Kentucky
Lauren E. Cagle is an Associate Professor of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies and directs the Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment at the University of Kentucky. Cagle collaborates with scientific and environmental organizations to put engaged rhetoric to work in the world.
Theon Hill
Wheaton College
Theon E. Hill (Ph.D., Purdue) serves as Associate Professor of Communication at Wheaton College (IL) where his research and teaching interests lie at the intersections of rhetoric, race, and politics. His scholarship has appeared in a variety of journals and edited collections.
Michele Kennerly
Penn State
Michele Kennerly is Associate Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences and of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies at The Pennsylvania State University. She is the author of Automated Athens: Classical Greek Ideals in the Early Age of Automation (University of Chicago, 2026) and editor-in-chief of the history of rhetoric journal Rhetorica.
Kevin Musgrave
Southeast Missouri State University
Dr. Musgrave is currently Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Associate Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Southeast Missouri State University. His research focuses on questions of rhetorical history, theory, and ethics, particularly as they manifest in discourses of conservatism, economics, and the far-right.
Freya Thimsen
Indiana University Bloomington
Freya Thimsen is the Director of the Rhetoric, Writing and Communication Program at Indiana University Bloomington, where her work takes up contemporary political rhetoric with a focus on democracy and social movement rhetoric. Her first book, The Democratic Ethos, was awarded the James A. Winans-Herbert A. Wichelns Memorial Award from NCA.