REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT HAS CLOSED!

The 2024 Biennial Public Address Conference, Rhetoric on the Edge, was held on September 22-25, 2024, in Austin, Texas, and hosted by the Department of Communication Studies in partnership with the UT’s Department of Rhetoric and Writing, the College of Liberal Arts, the Moody College of Communication, Trinity University's Department of Human Communication and Theatre, and the National Communication Association. 

For more than thirty years, the Public Address Conference (PAC) has been one of the most prestigious small conferences in the field of communication-rhetoric, sparking some of the most significant conversations among rhetoric scholars who study public address. We define public address broadly and chose the theme Rhetoric on the Edge because, as recent discussions in the field demonstrate (e.g., #CommunicationSoWhite; #RhetoricSoWhite), for too long the study of public address and rhetoric more broadly have centered on mainstream speakers, ideas, and movements. We seek rhetorics from the edge as a way to expand the scope of how we conceive of and understand both public address and rhetoric. Topics of exploration for this conference included marginalized/minoritized voices and rhetorics in the U.S. and beyond. Even as our field’s scope has tried to become more inclusive and expansive, we still see great need in not only drawing attention to, but actually centering edge rhetorics in ways that address the problems of how edge scholarship, for example in racial rhetorical criticism, might be both abundant and marginalized (Flores, 2016; CC/CS forum, 2018). 

The Keynote Address for the 2024 PAC was delivered by Lisa Flores, Weiss Chair and Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences and Gender and Women’s Studies at Pennsylvania State University. Professor Flores has authored dozens of articles and the multi-award-winning book, Disposable and Deportable: Public Rhetoric and the Making of the “Illegal” Immigrant (Penn State Press, 2020). In addition, PAC’s opening night entailed a “State of the Field” panel. As is customary, the main conference occurred over two days and included eight plenary speakers (Omedi Ochieng, Ashley Hall, Lamiyah Bahrainwala, Cate Palczewski, Pamela VanHaitsma, Jennifer LeMesurier, Angela Aguayo, and Tiara Na’puti) with two respondents each and culminated with Professor Flores’s lecture.  

Since we recognize the difficulty of obtaining institutional funding for conferences in which you are not presenting, this year we offered three special sessions. First, we invited graduate students and early career scholars to apply to participate in a special mentoring lunch on the first day of the conference. This session featured several leading scholars and mentors in the field, and is an opportunity to network and learn strategies for success in graduate school and the first few years of the academic career. On the second day, we hosted a session on publishing that also featured leading authors from the field, including book series editors. Finally, we hosted a preconference panel on the state of higher education and rhetoric in Texas, on Sunday before the opening panel.

Because PAC is not connected to an organization and must be funded entirely by the host university and registration fees, all participants were required to register for the conference and pay for their own hotel and travel. Our registration fee for tenured, tenure-track, and emeriti faculty is $250, and graduate students and contingent faculty were charged a reduced rate of $200. Registration included all meals on the two main days of the conference. Participants paid for their own dinner on the opening evening, but there was a reception with free hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar. Additionally, we secured a rate at the UT-Austin AT&T Conference Center of $199/night, with an expectation of a three-night stay (must be booked before August 23, 2024).

To receive the above rates, all registrations must be completed by September 10, 2024. No on-site registration will be available.  

If you have any questions, please reach out to the site co-host, Professor Stacey Sowards. 

We look forward to seeing you in beautiful Austin, Texas in September 2024! 

Sincerely, 

Your hosts: Stacey Sowards, Annie Hill, and Karma R. Chávez