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Introduction
David Beard
A recent Forum in the Quarterly Journal of Speech (92, no. 1) featured commentary
by Michael Leff, Steven Mailloux, and James Arnt Aune on the intersections of
rhetorical studies in composition, communication, and cognate fields. The essays that
follow*collected and edited by David Beard, University of Minnesota-Duluth, and
William Keith, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee*complement both the Aune
MaillouxLeff dialogue and similar exchanges in the Rhetoric Society Quarterly
(33, no. 1) and Critical Studies in Media Communication (23, no. 3). What
distinguishes the work here, however, is the authors’ collective focus on (inter)disci-
plinary history. These essays explore that history as a variable in defining rhetoric’s
context(s), and challenge scholars to continue this reflection as we approach the
National Communication Association’s hundredth anniversary.
Correspondence to: David E. Beard, Composition Department, 420 Humanities Building, University of
Minnesota-Duluth, Duluth, MN 55812-3041, USA. Email: dbeard@d.umn.edu.