Samera Esmeir, Associate Professor and Head Graduate Advisor & Admissions Chair, has been awarded the 2026-2028 Distinguished Faculty Fellowship in Rhetoric for her outstanding record of research, teaching, and service.
The award was established in 2024 by the generosity of Rhetoric alums, above all Bettina Duval and Dana Slatkin, and by the tireless efforts of the L&S development team and Dean Guyer. The award provides two years of funding to pursue research projects.
The Rhetoric department graduation will take place on Tuesday, May 19 at 2-5pm in Pauley Ballroom. More information will be forthcoming.
The UC Berkeley Spring Commencement will be on May 16, 2026 at 10:30am in the California Memorial Stadium. More information can be found on the official university commencement site: commencement.berkeley.edu
Ramona Naddaff and the Art of Writing program received a "Reimagining Higher Education" grant to expand the Art of Writing Fellows program across campus. Writing Fellows serve as embedded tutors in undergraduate courses.
Rhetoric undergraduate students involved with the UC Berkeley Art of Writing program had the oportunity to interview pioneering computer scientist Jaron Lanier, who visited campus last April to engage in conversation with students about the effects of artificial intelligence on writing and other creative practices.
An interiview with Dr. Ramona Naddaff was recently featured on the Division of Arts and Humanites website. In addition to being an Associate Professor in the Department of Rhetoric, Dr.
The Many Names of Anonymity: Portraitists of the Canton Trade (University of Chicago Press) by Winnie Wong will be available in January 2026.
A new book by Fumi Okiji, Billie’s Bent Elbow: Exorbitance, Intimacy, and a Nonsensuous Standard was published in January 2025 and was featured in a Townsend Center for the Humanities's Berkeley Book Chat recorded on February 12, 2025 with Fumi Okiji in conversation with Stephen Best (English).
From the publisher:
Rachel Kushner, Commencement Speaker for the 2025 Rhetoric and Film & Media Commencement Ceremony, reflected on her commencement address and her time as an undergraduate student at UC Berkeley in a June 30, 2025 New York Times opinon piece.
Nadesan "Nad" Permaul has been awarded a Berkeley Citation for 2025.
Here is the link for the Rhetoric and Film + Media commencement livestream.
Please note, this is only available today, Tuesday, May 20 at 7pm.
A warm and enthusiastic welcome to the exceptional individuals joining our newest cohort of Rhetoric Ph.D. students this fall! We’re excited to have you bring your unique voices, talents, and ambitions to our vibrant community at Cal. Your presence promises to deepen and energize our shared intellectual environment. Here's to a rewarding and inspiring journey ahead - full of discovery, creativity, and academic achievement!
Rachel Kushner is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels The Mars Room, The Flamethrowers, and Telex from Cuba, the short story collection The Strange Case of Rachel K, and a book of essays, The Hard Crowd. Her new novel, Creation Lake, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and longlisted for the National Book Award, the Pen/Faulkner Award, and the Carol Shields Award.
The Rhetoric Department is pleased to announce that Keoni Correa has received the 2025 UC Dissertation-Year Fellowship for After Destruction. Keoni’s dissertation, chaired by Professor Daniel Boyarian, argues that if we are to understand the cultural and political challenges faced by present-day Indigenous peoples, we must grapple with the ways these communities continue to be shaped by the historic acts of genocide and destruction perpetrated against them.
The Rhetoric department commencement ceremony
How long is the ceremony?
The ceremony starts promptly at 7pm and lasts approximately 2 hours.
What time should I arrive at Zellerbach Auditorium?
The Division of Arts and Humanites recently featured an interview with re-entry undergraduate student and Rhetoric minor Orestes Sophocleous on the their website: Between theory and practice: A Re-Entry Student's Experience with Film and Media.
Rhetoric PhD student Robin Manley's article The Disunity in Genealogy: Foucault’s Anti-Nietzschean Reading of History has been published in Theory, Culture & Society. From the abstract:
Reading Nietzsche against Foucault, this article investigates the conceptual foundations of the contemporary genealogical method, suggesting that Nietzsche may present an alternative – rather than precursor – to the Foucauldian paradigm.
Congratulations, Robin!
