The Canadian Association for the Study of Rhetoric invites scholars, practitioners, graduate students, and others in rhetoric, communication, or other language-based fields to submit proposals for its Annual Conference, to be held in conjunction with the Canadian Humanities and Social Sciences Congress in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Submissions in all areas of the theory, practice, and history of rhetoric will be welcomed; we are particularly interested in submissions that respond to our thematic clusters, described below. English and French submissions are equally sought.

For scheduling reasons, presentations must not exceed twenty minutes. Presenters and participants must be members of CSSR/SCER.

THEMATIC CLUSTERS

1. Rhetoric in the Canadian Tradition: Definitions, Practices, Scholarship.
   (CSSR/SCER Theme)
   This year's CSSR/SCER theme is intended to explore how the discipline of rhetoric is conceived of, practised, and taught in Canada. Canadian universities have been slow to develop departments dedicated to the study of communication or rhetoric; for this reason, research and teaching in rhetoric has been scattered across departments and disciplines, from journalism to the social sciences, from education to drama, from political science to literary studies, from commerce to engineering. Despite its ad-hoc presence in our universities and colleges, however, a rich variety of activity in the field has developed. While this diversity enriches our discipline, it also presents challenges: scholars may have difficulty connecting with each other; prospective students may not be able to discover opportunities for advanced study in the discipline; we may all remain unaware of the range of rhetorical study in Canada. Proposals addressing any aspect of this question are warmly invited.
2. Conflict and Cooperation. (Congress Theme)
   Under this broad theme, participants are invited to present papers examining discourses of conflict and cooperation interpreted across a variety of applications in rhetoric and communication studies: rhetorical analyses of conflict and cooperation at local, national, and global levels; interpersonal and intercultural cooperation and conflict; conflict and cooperation in professional and organizational contexts. Papers addressing this theme may be offered as part of the main CSSR/SCER conference, or as part of the joint sessions with the Canadian Association of Teachers of Technical Writing.
3. Rhetoric and Professional-Technical Communication (CSSR/SCER-CATTW/ACPRTS Joint Session)
   The CSSR/SCER joins with the Canadian Association of Teachers of Technical Writing in inviting proposals in areas of interest to our combined membership—rhetoric in political, socio-economic, scientific, and technological contexts and, more generally, in all workplace domains. We are particularly (though not exclusively) interested in papers that respond to the congress theme of Conflict and Cooperation. We invite, for example, rhetorical analyses of all kinds of workplace or academic communication practices related to conflict and cooperation; historical discussions of these practices in diverse contexts; theoretical contributions to the study of these forms of communication; pedagogical considerations; explorations of research questions and approaches; and so on. Proposals should foreground the research methods and research context on which the paper is based, and should include the relevant references to the literature. Proposed papers should relate to current conversations in the field and should encourage the exchange of ideas and experiences among participants.
4. Graduate Experiences: Challenges, Rewards, and Advice (Special Panel on Grad Study in Rhetoric)
   If submissions warrant, we would like to present a session dedicated to opportunities for and experiences in graduate study in rhetoric and communication in Canada, from the perspective of students and/or supervising faculty. Presentations may be individual or joint by students and their faculty supervisors. Our goal is to present, if we can, a broad sketch of the kinds of opportunities available for graduate study in rhetoric within Canada, for the benefit of faculty and students alike. The configuration of the final panel(s) will depend on the number and kind of submissions.
5. General Papers in the Theory, Criticism, and History of Rhetoric We are also, as usual, interested in hearing from researchers and scholars working or studying in other areas relevant to the theory and practice of rhetoric, including: