Undergraduate research is a central feature of our program. Members of the rhetoric faculty are committed to making Sewanee a nationally recognized liberal arts college for undergraduate research in rhetoric. They regularly publish in the area of undergraduate research in rhetoric, direct papers to conference presentation, shepherd student work through the publication process, and collaborate with undergraduate student researchers in archival, text-based recovery and digital projects. At Sewanee, our students have:
- Researched public controversies and delivered original, award-winning speeches in Sewanee’s university-wide annual Festival of Speaking & Listening.
- Presented original scholarship at the Theodore Clevenger Undergraduate Honors Conference, one of the oldest and most prestigious undergraduate research forums in the field of rhetoric.
- Won regional awards for scholarship such as the Franklin Shirley Award and been named “Clevenger Scholars,” among the top 10% of student researchers.
- Published original scholarship in undergraduate journals such as Young Scholars in Writing.
- Collaborated with rhetoric faculty and visiting scholars on grant-funded projects in speaking and listening, including “Go Tell It On the Mountain: A Project for Research, Student Internships, and Campus Programming” supported by the McCrickard College Faculty Development Fund.
Rhetoric Theses
To successfully graduate, Rhetoric majors write, present, and defend a 7500-word senior thesis. The thesis is designed by the student in consultation with an advising member of the Rhetoric faculty, making use of an appropriate rhetorical methodology. Students will produce a prospectus of the thesis in RHET 301: Junior Seminar (Easter semester of the Junior year), and will complete their thesis in RHET 401: Senior Seminar in Rhetoric (Advent semester of the Senior year).
Below are a list of Rhetoric thesis projects beginning in 2025-26, the first year of the new Rhetoric Major.
2025-26
- Mary Webster Burke: "Pseudo-debate: How Moderators and Debaters Blur the Line between Education and Entertainment"
- Eliza Dieck: "Holy Rage” Against Apartheid Ideology: A Rhetorical Analysis of Dr. Allan Boesak"
- Erin Graffeo: "Recipes Versus Receipts: Rhetorical Composition and Renegotiation of Regional Culture Through the Junior League of Charleston’s Cookbooks"
- Aidan Jones: "We Cannot Stay Silent: A Rhetorical Examination of Sewanee's Gaza Protest"
- Bryce Timms: "Throwing Stones: A Rhetorical Analysis of Stonetoss Comics"
