ENG 6939 - FALL 2026 - BROWDY

This course is inspired by the theme of the 2027 Feminism and Rhetorics conference titled “Resistance/Resilience: Sustaining Feminist Activist.” The Feminism and Rhetorics Conference is a biennial gathering of scholars invested in feminist history, theory, and pedagogy, many of which are members and/or supporters of T[1] he Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition. In preparation for this upcoming gathering, this course will survey diverse herstories of resistance within feminist, rhetorical, and feminist rhetoric scholarship. Potential topics and perspectives include diasporic traditions of Black feminism, transnational feminism, spatial rhetorics, and representations of feminism within pop culture, hip-hop, social media, and everyday life. In addition to engaging historical contexts that situate feminist-led activism, this course creates space to interrogate contemporary issues, topics, and representations of activism that may be interpreted via a feminist rhetoric lens.

An underlying intention of this course is to challenge traditional notions of feminism, activism, and rhetoric. Although representations of feminist activism within the public sphere will be well represented within this course, equal space and consideration will also be given to daily acts of resistance and resilience employed within the private sphere (e.g., self-love/care, community engagement, rhetorics of home).