About
Phil Bratta is an independent scholar whose work focuses on rhetorical theory, culture, digital-visual rhetorics, and embodiment in everyday, socially-engaged practices. He has published or has forthcoming work in several edited collections and journals, including The Journal of Multimodal Rhetorics, Rhetoric Review, College Composition and Communication, Computers and Composition, Enculturation, Feminist Teacher, Visual Culture and Gender, and The Journal of American Culture. Education
Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Writing | May 2018
Michigan State University | East Lansing, MI
M.A. in English (Composition and Rhetoric) | May 2013
University of Florida | Gainesville, FL
B.A. in Cultural Studies | December 2008
Columbia College Chicago | Chicago, IL Publications
Refereed Articles and Book Chapters
Jackson, Rachel, and Phil Bratta. “Decolonial Directions: Rivers, Relationships, and Realities of Community Engagement on Indigenous Lands.” Curation: A Multimodal Practice for Socially- Engaged Action, special issue of
The Journal of Multimodal Rhetorics, vol. 4, no. 1, 2020, n.p. [10569 words, 7 videos, interactive website],
http://journalofmultimodalrhetorics.com/4-1-jackson-bratta
Cedillo, Christina, and Phil Bratta. “Relating Our Experiences: The Practice of Positionality Stories in Student-Centered Pedagogy.”
College Composition and Communication, vol. 71, no. 2, 2019, pp. 215-240.
Gries, Laurie, and Phil Bratta. “The Racial Politics of Circulation: Trumpicons and White Supremacist Doxai.”
Rhetoric Review, vol. 38, no. 4, 2019, pp. 417-431. *Honorable Mention, 2019 Theresa J. Enos Anniversary Award
Bratta, Phil, and Scott Sundvall. “Introduction: Digital Technologies, Bodies, and Embodiments.” Digital Technologies, Bodies, and Embodiments, special issue of
Computers and Composition: An International Journal, vol. 53, 2019, pp. 1-8.
Bratta, Phil. “They Believe Their Belief: Rhetorically Engaging Culture through Affect, Ideology, and Doxa.”
Affect, Emotion, and Rhetorical Persuasion in Mass Communication, edited by Lei Zhang and Carlton Clark, Routledge, 2019, pp. 93-105.
Smith, Trixie, Katie Manthey, John Gagnon, Ezekiel Choffel, Wonderful Faison, Scott Secrist, and Phil Bratta. “Reflections on/of Embodiment: Bringing our Whole Selves to Class.”
Feminist Teacher: A Journal of the Practices, Theories, and Scholarship of Feminist Teaching, vol. 28, no. 1, 2019, pp. 45-63.
Hawkins, Ames, and Phil Bratta. “Believing in Change: The Aesthetic Value of Repetition and Accumulation to Socially-Engaged Practice.”
With the Network/In the Network: Cultural and Artistic Creation, Investigation and Communication in the Internet Era, edited by Lidia Bocanegra Barbecho and Ana García López, University of Granada and Downhill Publishing, 2017, pp. 311-333.
Bratta, Phil, and Malea Powell. “Introduction to the Special Issue: Entering the Cultural Rhetorics Conversations.” Cultural Rhetorics, special issue of
enculturation: a journal of rhetoric, writing, and culture, no. 21, 2016, n.p. [3633 words],
http://www.enculturation.net/entering-the-cultural-rhetorics-conversations
Bratta, Phil. “The Public Pants: A Visual Rhetoric of Gendered and Classed Imperialism.”
Visual Culture and Gender, no. 10, 2015, pp. 19-28.
Bratta, Phil. “Rhetoric and Event: The Embodiment of Lived Events.”
enculturation: a journal of rhetoric, writing, and culture, no. 19, 2015, n.p. [6538 words],
http://enculturation.net/rhetoric-and-event
Bratta, Phil. “Flag Display Post 9/11: A Discourse on American Nationalism.”
The Journal of American Culture, vol. 32, no. 3, 2009, pp. 231-242. *Honorable Mention, William M. Jones Best Graduate Student Paper
Upcoming Talks and Conferences
Refereed Conferences
Bratta, Phil, and Rachel Jackson. “Engaging with Indigenous Communities: A Decolonial Account of Processes, Successes, and Failures.” Rhetoric Society of America 19th Biennial Conference, May 2020, Portland, OR. ***Conference subsequently canceled due to COVID– 19 pandemic
Bratta, Phil. “Tracking Nope: Digital Rhetorics of Resistance.” Rhetoric Society of America 19th Biennial Conference, May 2020, Portland, OR. ***Conference subsequently canceled due to COVID–19 pandemic
Bratta, Phil. “Making Space through Performing Land-based Rhetorics.” Cultural Studies Association International Conference, May 2019, New Orleans, LA.
Bratta, Phil. “Kairotic Publics: The Places and Spaces of Performing Activism.” 2019 Conference on College Composition and Communication, March 2019, Pittsburgh, PA.
Bratta, Phil. “What Stories Might/Should/Can We Tell and Hear? Positionalities in the Classroom.” 2018 Cultural Rhetorics Conference, November 2018, East Lansing, MI.
Bratta, Phil. “What’s Next?: Ideologically Feeling the Narrativized Doxa.” Twelfth Biennial Thomas R. Watson Conference, October 2018, Louisville, KY.
Bratta, Phil. “Inventing Story: Rhetorical De/livery and Per/form.” Rhetoric Society of America 18th Biennial Conference, May 2018, Minneapolis, MN.
Bratta, Phil. “Working with/in constellations: Orienting to Feminist Scholarly Publishing Practices.” Eleventh Biennial Feminisms and Rhetorics Conference, October 2017, Dayton, OH.
Bratta, Phil. “Wandering into Wondering and Wonder with(in) a Digital Archive.” 2017 Computers and Writing, June 2017, Findlay, OH.
Bratta, Phil. “Affective Research and Rhetorical Practices with Archives.” 2017 Conference on College Composition and Communication, March 2017, Portland, OR.
Bratta, Phil, Malea Powell, and Cindy Tekobbe. “Cultural Rhetorics Consortium Meeting.” 2017 Conference on College Composition and Communication, March 2017, Portland, OR.
Bratta, Phil. “Cultural Affects of Labor.” 2016 Cultural Rhetorics Conference, October 2016, East Lansing, MI.
Bratta, Phil. “Embodied Kairos: Moving Beyond the Temporal.” Rhetoric Society of America 17th Biennial Conference, May 2016, Atlanta, GA.
Smith, Trixie, Diana Baldwin, and Phil Bratta. “Building an Outreach Program: Three Key Considerations for Creating, Developing, and Sustaining Community Partnerships.” Conference on Community Writing, October 2015, Boulder, CO.
Bratta, Phil. “Activist Affordances of Digital Storytelling in the Academy,” Sixth International Digital Storytelling Conference, September 2015, Northampton, MA.
Bratta, Phil. “Reciprocal Relationships with Communities: Ethics in #MidwestHungeris.” East Central Writing Centers Association Conference, April 2015, Notre Dame, IN.
Bratta, Phil. “Making Spaces through Activist Ritual and Embodied Writing.” 2015 Conference on College Composition and Communication, March 2015, Tampa, FL.
Bratta, Phil. “Working Hands: Labors of Non-text, Text, and Event.” Cultural Rhetorics Conference: Entering the Conversation!, October 2014, East Lansing, MI.
Bratta, Phil. “Embodying the Digital Other in the Rhetorical Ecology of Rafael Lozano- Hemmer’s Body Movies.” Rhetoric Society of America 16th Biennial Conference, May 2014, San Antonio, TX.
Bratta, Phil. “Empowering Students: Transformation of Experience through Critical Autoethnography and Digital Writing.” 2014 Conference on College Composition and Communication, March 2014, Indianapolis, IN.
Bratta, Phil. “Rethinking Rhetoric and Event: Lived Events in Rhetorical Ecology.” Cultural Studies Association International Conference, May 2013, Chicago, IL.
Bratta, Phil. “Voice of Right: Popular Rhetoric for Undermining Liberties.” Popular Culture Association and American Culture Association National Conference, April 2011, San Antonio, TX.
Bratta, Phil and Ames Hawkins. “Imagining New Wealth as a Postcolonial Notion Through Activist Art and The Cradle Project.” Wealth + New Wealth Virtual Symposium, Columbia College Chicago, April 2009, Chicago, IL.
Bratta, Phil. “Flag Display Post 9/11: A Discourse on American Nationalism.” Popular Culture Association and American Culture Association National Conference, April 2009, New Orleans, LA.
Invited and Guest Lectures/Talks
“Cultural Rhetorics as Methodology: Issues, Problems, Wrestlings.” Dr. Maria Novotny’s Cultural Rhetorics Graduate Seminar, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, April 2020.
“Political Rhetoric in the Contemporary United States.” Dr. Christoph Ribbat’s American Speeches Undergraduate Course, University of Paderborn (Germany), December 2019.
“Methods for Analyzing Visuals.” Dr. Maria Novotny’s Visual Rhetoric & Document Design Undergraduate Course, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, October 2018.
“Possibilities in Digital Publishing.” Dr. Ben Lauren’s M.A. Research Colloquium, Michigan State University, October 2017.
“Finding Balance between Teaching and Graduate Studies.” Dr. Julie Lindquist’s Ph.D. Research Colloquium, Michigan State University, September 2017.
“Data as Art, in Activism, for Making.” Drs. Ames Hawkins and Robin Whatley’s Death and Desire Undergraduate Course, Columbia College Chicago, November 2016.
“Politics of You in Research.” Dr. Andrea Riley-Mukavetz’s Research Methods Graduate Course, Bowling Green State University, November 2016.
“Developing a Research Self and Managing Expectations in Graduate School.” Dr. Malea Powell’s Research Colloquium Graduate Course, Michigan State University, September 2016.
Workshops Led
“Write-in at The Graduate School.” Sponsored by The MSU Graduate School and The Writing Center @ MSU, Michigan State University, November 2016, March 2015, February 2015, January 2015, November 2014.
“Navigating the Ph.D.: Writing Processes and Strategies for Academic Writing.” Sponsored by The MSU Graduate School and The Writing Center @ MSU, Michigan State University, September 2015, April 2015, February 2015, November 2014, October 2014.
“Navigating the Master: Writing Processes and Strategies for Academic Writing.” Sponsored by The MSU Graduate School and The Writing Center @ MSU, Michigan State University, January 2015, September 2014.
“Flash Fiction.” Creativity Exploratory: Beyond Insights: Collaborating with Community, College of Arts and Letters, Michigan State University, September 2014, April 2014, February 2014.
“Communicating with Visuals.” The Writing Center @ MSU, Michigan State University, October 2013.
“Research Writing in Nursing and the Sciences” (with Matt Gomes), The Writing Center @ MSU, Michigan State University, September 2013.
“Engineers and Social Activism: Making Bones for One Million Bones project.” Professional Communication for Engineers course, University of Florida, March 2012. Memberships
Cultural Rhetorics Consortium
Cultural Studies Association
Conference on College Composition and Communication
HASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory)
Labor and Working-Class History Association
Modern Language Association
Rhetoric Society of America
