Episode 18: Material Rhetoric & Craftivism with Dr. Rebecca Watkins

Transcript Episode 18 Part of our job as rhetoricians is to continuously investigate and challenge the boundaries of language and communication, and what forms writing can take to engage in radical new forms of knowledge-making. Which is why we’ve brought on Dr. Rebecca Watkins, who’s taught Composition I and II and is preparing to teach ENC 4434 Visual and Material Rhetorics. With her, we discuss her pedagogical interests in new materialism and craftivism, how it’s inspired her writing (including the award-nominated “Blonde Venus”), and the creative empowerment it unlocks in the classroom and beyond. We should always take opportunities to broaden our understanding of writing, so join us as we discuss the meaningful ways it can exist beyond the page! Time Stamps · Introduction - 00:07 · Personal and Social Significance of Material Rhetoric - 1:16 · Subverting Genre and Form - 9:49 · Composing Materially in a Digital World - 17:39 · What is New Materialism? - 23:37 o Metacognition - 27:49 · Empowerment Through Knowledge-Making - 31:04 · Dr. Watkins’s Writing Journey - 37:49 · Being Vulnerable as Writers - 43:34 · Closing Thoughts - 50:52   Rhetorical Concepts · 05:06 - Craftivism · 6:31 - Jody Shipka · 14:02 - Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences · 18:30 - Susan Sontag, On Photography · 21:38 - Techne · 29:29 - Shipka (revisted) · 35:58 - Donald Murray and Peter Elbow