Major Events

Although many may rightly argue that the real magic of a conference happens in the unplanned moments -- in conversations in hallways, over shared meals and impromptu lobby meet-ups -- we wanted to highlight a few of the major happenings from the conference.

FemRhet 2019 sought to bring Feminist Rhetoricians from a variety of disciplines, including academics, performers, and musicians. Each of these rhetors brought their own positionality from their discipline to their presentations.

Kris Blair’s Thursday morning talk – FM: Feminist Modulations and the Soundwaves of Activist Voices – kicked off the first full day of conference activities and offered a historic view of feminist activism in rhetoric studies and beyond. She focused on the importance of networks of support for “disturbances” that push against the patriarchy as Blair reframed sound waves not as audio patterns but as “patterns of disturbance caused by the movement of energy”. Blair encouraged audience members to be and create space for this sort of energy to push back against systems of power that seek to keep certain groups and voices marginalized. Her examples of ways this work might be done on dissertation committees, to support a gender neutral fashion show or to lobby for a Lego set that celebrates mathematician computer engineer Ada Lovelace serve as strategies to inspire others to take up such work.

Lisa Melonçon presented, to a full room of feminist scholars, a theory of quiet feminism. While feminism is—especially in today’s political and social atmosphere—associated with loudness, Melonçon believes that quietness offers us a different kind of feminism. She urges us not to associate quiet with silence. Instead, we might define quiet as “little noise,” “calm,” and “discreet” and we may see quiet as something that “moves,” “enacts,” and “subverts.” She sees quiet feminism exemplified through mentoring, editorial work and research. Melonçon offers the theory of quiet feminism as a necessary approach, as not all feminists can be vocal or radical. After her presentation, Melonçon opened up the floor for questions and comments. There was some discussion concerning the association between quietness and complacency, as well as the ways in which people in positions of privilege and power could claim quiet feminism to avoid speaking out on controversial issues. Melonçon explained that this was still a working theory and urged listeners to work to find the fitting words and definitions to create a quiet feminism that works for people who cannot be loud and want/need a different kind of feminism. ”We don’t have to agree, but our differences need to be honored and respected,” she said.

Four musicians perfrom. Two are playing guitars and one of those is singing. A third is playing keyboards and the last musician is looking at sheet music on a stand.

AcaSheMia is a feminist rock band made up of four North Dakota State University faculty members. During the conference, the band both presented an interactive installation at Hotel Madison and also performed live at Restless Moons Brewing in downtown Harrisonburg. At their “Band Praxis: AcaSheMia as Feminist Rhetorical Activism” installation, the band discussed their beginnings after frontwoman Holly Hassel started a sort of songwriting camp for young girls. This type of work is crucial as it gives young girls confidence that they start to lose as early as age 7 when

A woman stands on a stage holding microphone. She is smiling. An audience member is in the foreground.

they see how society defines gender, explained the presenters. More specifically, it gives young girls the chance to pick up an instrument and do something with it. At these ages, kids need more than just faith, but they need the materials and opportunities to work on their confidence and develop talent.

At Restless Moons, the band played songs about female empowerment,struggles in academia, and crushing the patriarchy. They opened with their popular song “Welcome to the Archive” followed by another crowd favorite “I Wrote a Thesis on That.” Creating a collaborative atmosphere, AcaSheMia encouraged the crowd of FemRhet Conference attendees and a few Harrisonburg locals to clap along and shake egg-shakers. The performance brought the spirit of the conference to the greater Harrisonburg community.

On Friday, conference attendees gathered for the CFSHRC Awards Banquet followed by a talk and performance by Mona Haydar. Haydar wowed the FemRhet crowd with her unique combination of warmth, swagger and boldness. The phenomenal rapper and activist began the talk by sharing her own personal story of growing up in a Syrian-American family in the US and how she was always forced to be comfortable embodying intersecting identities. She spoke on the importance of owning one’s identities and of feminism being inclusive to people of varying cultural and religious backgrounds.

Haydar did not shy away from talking about her spirituality. She shared the story of how she felt deeply and inexplicably called to pursue graduate work in Christian Ethics with acclaimed scholar of Black Liberation Theology Rev. James Cone. She described studying under Cone as an experience that inspired her deep passion about anti-colonialism and fighting the white supremacy that still lingers in the United States. When asked about that time, she recalled Cone’s emphasis on “finding one’s own theology.”

True to the entertainer in her, Haydar created a fun and playful atmosphere, even stopping her presentation at one point to teach the crowd the dance to her song “Hijabi.” After te talk, she chatted with various audience members, including WRTC 420 students that attended after her talk. When asked her advice on how to choose one’s career path, she answered, “You don’t have to choose between your passions.” Overall, Haydar was extremely well-received by the FemRhet crowd and was able to create an environment in her presentation that felt inclusive.

Major Events

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