Sewanee Rhetoric and American Studies students and faculty recently presented papers at the annual meeting of the Southern States University Association (SSCA) in Birmingham, Alabama.
Eliza Dieck (C’26 in Rhetoric) presented from her undergraduate thesis “The Instigation of ‘Holy Rage’ Against Apartheid Ideology: A Rhetorical Study of Dr. Allan Boesak” and Lily Mobley (C’26 in American Studies) presented from her undergraduate thesis “The Anti-Highlander Campaigns: A Rhetorical, Legal, and Historical Analysis.” Both papers were competitively selected for presentation as part of the Theodore Clevenger Undergraduate Honors Conference. Panel respondent Caleb Cates from the University of South Carolina praised each student researcher for crafting a strong paper and offered constructive feedback for continuing to develop these projects. Dr. Sean O’Rourke directed both theses, Dr. Melody Lehn served as a second reader for Mobley’s thesis, and Dr. Terry Papillon served as a second reader for Dieck’s thesis.
Dr. Melody Lehn joined colleagues from Baylor University, Furman University, North Carolina State University, and Texas State University on the panel “Klandamentalism: Where Race, Religion, and Hate Intersect.” Lehn presented a response to Dr. Camille Kaminski Lewis’s recent book, Klandamentalism: Bob Jones at the Intersection of Revivalism, Politics, and White Supremacy (Clemson University Press, 2025). Lehn was also elected to serve as Vice Chair-Elect of the Gender Studies Division.
Dr. Sean O’Rourke presented on the panel “The New States’ Rights: Regionalism, Federalism, and Political Identity in the 21st Century” as part of the Southern Colloquium on Rhetoric. He joined panelists from Furman University, Texas State University, the University of Arkansas, and the University of Memphis in responding to a 1980 campaign speech delivered by Ronald Reagan at the Neshoba County Fair in Mississippi.
Dr. Terry Papillon participated on the panel “Democracy, Demagoguery, Tyranny: Why the Rhetorical Tradition Matters Today,” chaired by Dr. Sean O’Rourke, also as part of the Southern Colloquium on Rhetoric (SCoR). Panelists from Georgia Southern University, North Carolina State University, the University of Alabama, and the University of Memphis responded to the Presidential Address delivered by Dr. Robin Reames (Indiana University), the incoming president of the International Society for the History of Rhetoric, at the 25th Biennial Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark last summer. Dr. Reames’s address was published in Rhetorica, and is available here.
