Author, scholar, and University of Notre Dame professor John Duffy will deliver the keynote address for Fresno State’s ninth annual Students of English Studies Association symposium on Dec. 10 through 12. The theme for this year’s symposium is “Multiplicity and Complication: Identity as a Conversation.”

Duffy’s keynote, which is sponsored by the Department of English First-Year Writing Program, is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 11, at the Fresno State Library (Room 3212). Admission is free and open to the community. Parking costs $5 in recommended Lot P1.

A professor of English and the director of the Inspired Leadership Initiative at Notre Dame, Duffy has published extensively within the field of rhetoric and writing studies. His book, “Provocations of Virtue: Rhetoric, Ethics and the Teaching of Writing,” was published in 2019 by the University of Colorado Press. In the book, Duffy examines “the ethical dimensions of teaching writing in a post-truth world,” which scholars say makes for a compelling story that portrays a meaningful “power of rhetorical virtues” within the classroom. “Provocations of Virtue” received an honorable mention for the Mina P. Shaughnessy Prize in 2022.

Duffy is also the co-editor of three volumes: “After Plato: Ethics, Rhetoric and Writing Studies” (University of Colorado Press, 2020); “Literacy, Economy and Power: Writing and Research Ten Years After Literacy in American Lives” (Southern Illinois UP, 2013); and “Towards a Rhetoric of Everyday Life: New Directions in Research on Writing, Text and Discourse” (University of Wisconsin Press, 2003).

As the director of the Inspired Leadership Initiative, Duffy works with Notre Dame faculty and staff to host a program that aids those who are looking to change from their traditional careers to “become an even greater force for good.” Duffy is also a part of the Write to Vote Project, a non-partisan organization that aims to advance and defend voting rights through writing. Along with his role as a professor at Notre Dame, Duffy is a faculty fellow at the Klau Center for Civil and Human Rights and also at the Notre Dame Initiative on Race and Resilience.

In addition to Duffy’s keynote address, this year’s symposium features a full three days of panel sessions, all held inside the Fresno State Library (Room 3212):

• Day 1 — 3 to 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 10;
• Day 2 — 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 11;
• Day 3 — 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 12. 

The three-day symposium will feature 10 panel sessions showcasing nearly 30 undergraduate and graduate student scholars across the fields of literature, rhetoric and creative writing. Presenters are from Fresno State and other universities across California. The panels will include:

• Chicanx Words and Perspectives.
• Dueling Identities: Murdering the Internal Other. 
• Counter-Clockwise: Spiraling Through the Mind, Memory and Art. 
• The Undying Women: Feminism and Immortality.
• Formation of Self: Exploring the Classroom and Temporalities.
• The Family Portrait: Reflections on Recanvassing.
• Liminalidad: Poetry, Pocho and a Chicana on the Take. 
• Unveiling Hidden Truths.
• Archiving Adolescence: Multimodal Narratives of Self-Formation. 
• “Drag”-ing the Body: Fantomina, Beale Street and the Big Hurt.

Opening night will include a reading from Fresno State faculty author Samina Najmi; opening remarks from John Beynon, chair of the Department of English; and Students of English Studies Association co-presidents Joshua Sagouspe and Freddie Rosas, who will perform a short analysis mediation on a quote. Additionally, the student group will launch the 2023 and 2024 editions of “The English Graduate Interdisciplinary Studies Journal,” led by the group’s vice president and the journal’s inaugural editor-in-chief, Hope Vang.

Thursday’s schedule will include opening remarks from Honora Chapman, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities.

Fresno State’s Students of English Studies Association is a student organization in its ninth year. Its mission is to offer humanities students a chance to explore graduate-level opportunities in the topic of English Studies. The organizers envision the symposium as a space for the community to enter into the realm of academic conferences by providing students with opportunities to professionally present and discuss their scholarly research.

(Story by Kendra Barton, English graduate student. English Department communication specialist Jefferson Beavers contributed to this report.)