ABSTRACT
In celebration of the society's anniversary, then, Fifty Years of Rhetoric Society Quarterly (RSQ): Selected Readings, 1968-2018 presents seventeen choice cuts from the archived record. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book. The book argues that membership moving from self-consciousness as an interest group and quasi-social society toward an increasingly scholarly one; during this period RSQ was predominately—although not exclusively—identified with rhetoricians affiliated with English departments. It discusses the emergence of a dedicated, scholarly pursuit of rhetorical studies that actively intones a cross-disciplinary commitment, bringing scholars together from across the English, Speech, and Communication disciplines. The book provides a robust engagement with theory, as well as a renewed commitment to interdisciplinarity invigorated by the largest agenda-setting meeting of US rhetoricians to date, the Alliance of Rhetorical Societies meeting at Northwestern University in the fall of 2003.
