Diane Davis

Diane Davis is a Professor in the Department of Rhetoric & Writing at the University of Texas at Austin, within the College of Liberal Arts. She also holds the Kenneth Burke Chair of Rhetoric & Critical Media Philosophy at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland.

Her educational background includes a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Arlington. Her research and teaching focus on rhetorical theory, continental philosophy, critical theory, and digital culture, with specific interests in animal rhetorics and pathos.

Davis's scholarly work explores the intersections of rhetoric and philosophy, particularly examining questions of identification, foreigner relations, and extrahuman rhetorical relations. Her research demonstrates a consistent engagement with continental philosophical traditions while pushing the boundaries of rhetorical theory into new domains including animal studies, digital culture, and posthumanism.

Among her notable publications are "Breaking Up [at] Totality: A Rhetoric of Laughter" (2000), "Inessential Solidarity: Rhetoric and Foreigner Relations" (2010), and "Women's Ways of Making It in Rhetoric and Composition" (2008, co-authored). She has also edited significant works including "The ÜberReader: Selected Works of Avital Ronell" (2008) and co-edited "Fifty Years of Rhetoric Society Quarterly: Selected Readings, 1968-2018" (2018).

Davis has received recognition for her scholarship through numerous invitations to present at national conferences and deliver keynote addresses. Her recent work has expanded into interdisciplinary areas including medical humanities, as evidenced by her 2023-2024 publications on pathobiological signatures in pediatric stem cell transplantation.

She teaches courses including Animal Rhetorics, Pathos, and Rhetorical Theory/Ethics, demonstrating her commitment to advancing rhetorical studies through both research and pedagogy. Her academic contributions span traditional rhetorical scholarship while engaging with contemporary issues in medicine, environmental studies, and political theory.