Erin J. Rand

Biography

Erin J. Rand’s research is concerned with rhetorics of gender and sexuality in public discourse and focuses particularly on queer and feminist modes of agency, dissent and social protest.

Rooted in contemporary rhetorical theory and criticism, Rand’s scholarship engages with queer and feminist theories to understand the rhetorics of social change and to rethink (or queer) the rhetorical tradition. She has published essays in journals such as Quarterly Journal of Speech, Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking, Rhetoric and Public Affairs, Text and Performance Quarterly, Women’s Studies in Communication, and Western Journal of Communication.

Her work has addressed topics including 1990s queer activism and AIDS activism, Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dissenting opinions, queer youth suicide, child pornography legislation, sex education for Black girls and femmes, resistant fashion for queer, trans, racialized, fat and disabled bodies, and contemporary tactics of queer political organizing. Most recently, Rand’s scholarship traces the rhetorical figurations of childhood that emerge from public controversies regarding young people, sexuality, gender and race. Her newest book, “Minor Troubles: Racial Figurations of Youth Sexuality and Childhood’s Queerness,” was published in 2025 by Ohio State University Press. A full list of Rand’s published work is available online.

Rand serves on the Board of Directors of the Rhetoric Society of America, as well as on editorial boards for numerous scholarly journals in the fields of rhetorical and communication studies and queer studies.

Education

• Ph.D., University of Iowa

Areas of Expertise

Queer theory and feminism, rhetorical theory and criticism, social movements, activism

Selected Publications

• “Minor Troubles: Racial Figurations of Youth Sexuality and Childhood’s Queerness.” Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2025.
• “‘The Rosa Parks of the Trans Bathroom Debate’: Gavin Grimm, Civil Rights, and the Racialization of Trans Identity,” Quarterly Journal of Speech, 2023 (online)/2024 (print).
• “‘Soft Armor’ for Ugly Bodies: The Radical Visibility of QueerCrip Fashion.” Routledge Handbook of Queer Rhetorics, Eds. Jacqueline Rhodes and Jonathan Alexander. New York: Routledge, 2022.
• “‘Black Women Deserve Great Sex’: The Queer Generosity of KIMBRITIVE,” QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking 8.3 (2021): 169-176.
• “PROTECTing the Figure of Innocence: Child Pornography Legislation and the Queerness of Childhood,” Quarterly Journal of Speech, 105.3 (2019): 251-272.
• “The Right to Be Handsome: The Queer Sartorial Objects of ‘Masculine of Center’ Fashion,” QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking 4.3 (2017): 12-40.
• “Bad Feelings in Public: Rhetoric, Affect, and Emotion,” Rhetoric and Public Affairs 18.1 (2015): 161-175.
• “Fear the Frill: Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the Uncertain Futurity of Feminist Judicial Dissent,” Quarterly Journal of Speech 101.1 (2015): 72-84.
• “Reclaiming Queer: Activist and Academic Rhetorics of Resistance.” Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2014.
• “‘What One Voice Can Do’: Civic Pedagogy and Choric Collectivity at Camp Courage.” Text and Performance Quarterly 34.1 (2014): 28-51.
• “Queer Critical Rhetoric Bites Back.” Western Journal of Communication 77.5 (2013): 533-537.
• “An Appetite for Activism: The Lesbian Avengers and the Queer Politics of Visibility.” Women’s Studies in Communication 36.2 (2013): 121-141.
• “Gay Pride and Its Queer Discontents: ACT UP and the Political Deployment of Affect.” Quarterly Journal of Speech 98.1 (2012): 75-80.
• “An Inflammatory Fag and a Queer Form: Larry Kramer, Polemics, and Rhetorical Agency.” Quarterly Journal of Speech 94.3 (2008): 297-319.

Awards and Honors

• 2017 Excellence in Graduate Education Faculty Recognition Award, Syracuse University
• 2016 Karl R. Wallace Memorial Award, National Communication Association
• 2015 Community-Building Award, LGBT Resource Center, Syracuse University
• 2015 Book of the Year Award, Division of Critical and Cultural Studies, National Communication Association
• 2014 Outstanding Article of the Year, “An Appetite for Activism: The Lesbian Avengers and the Queer Politics of Visibility,” Critical Cultural Studies Division, National Communication Association
• 2014 Faculty Recognition Award, College of Visual and Performing Arts, Syracuse University
• 2013 New Investigator Award, Rhetorical and Communication Theory Division, National Communication Association