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UnTextbook Updates (and a Request for Feedback)

Atilla Hallsby

• 3 min read
UnTextbook Updates (and a Request for Feedback)
Photo by Pop & Zebra / Unsplash

Hi everyone,

I'm writing to let you know that some changes will be coming to the UnTextbook in Summer 2025 – and to ask you for a favor.

As you likely know, the main chapters of the UnTextbook were published as an online textbook with the University of Minnesota Libraries in 2022 (https://open.lib.umn.edu/rhetoricaltheory/). Publishing this as an online textbook gave this resource an ISBN and allowed it to circulate more widely in online libraries like the OER Commons. As of September 2024, Reading Rhetorical Theory: Speech, Representation, and Power (RRT) has been adopted by more than 60 universities and colleges. The upcoming changes have to do with modifications to Reading Rhetorical Theory and to the front-page design of this website.

Reading Rhetorical Theory, the online textbook version of the UnTextbook of Rhetorical Theory. To view the book, go to https://open.lib.umn.edu/rhetoricaltheory
You can find more detailed information about RRT's uptake here

Here is my request: If you have been using the UnTextbook or Reading Rhetorical Theory, I would love to have your feedback! I'm collecting testimonials from folks who have found these resources useful. I've set up this survey for folks, or you can send me a message at rhetoricaltheoryuntextbook-at-gmail-dot-com. Either would be greatly appreciated!

So, what's changing?

Updates for Spring-Summer 2025

The UnTextbook (this site) is staying open, and you will still be able to access the course content posted here. By June-August 2025, however, some links may change, requiring updates to course syllabi before the Fall.

UPDATE #1

My plan is to replace the chapters on the main page with icons for the textbook and other course offerings:

  1. Reading Rhetorical Theory: Speech, Representation, and Power (this would direct you to the OER site).
  2. The (Undergraduate) UnTextbook Rhetorical Theory (you would be able to access the chapters currently posted on the main page).
  3. The (Graduate) UnTextbook of Rhetorical Theory.
  4. The Rhetoric of Secrecy and Surveillance.

UPDATE #2

I am adding four new chapters from invited authors to Reading Rhetorical Theory in Spring 2025. This has required reorganizing the chapter order of that book. The new chapters include:

  • "The Public Sphere" by Angela McGowan Kirsch
  • "Counterpublics" by Carlos Flores and Sarah Jones
  • "Latinx Rhetoric(s)" by Diana Martinez and Robert Mejia
  • "Rhetoric and the First Amendment" by Emily Berg Paup

Some things to note:

(1) the new chapters will not appear on the UnTextbook site.

(2) Although the order of the chapters is slightly changed as compared to what appears on this site, the content is identical (save for some new images).

(3) As always, there is no chapter 13.

(4) The links to "The Public Sphere" and "Counterpublics" will be ready in January 2025; the links to "Latinx Rhetoric(s)" and "Rhetoric and the First Amendment" will go live later.

(5) Finally, if you are considering switching from the UnTextbook to Reading Rhetorical Theory, know that the latter is more recently updated and has been copy-edited, meaning the content you'll find there is likely more grammatically correct and up-to-date.

You can find updated links for the textbook below if you are looking to adjust your syllabus for an upcoming semester. The guest-authored chapters will go 'live' in early Spring semester 2025, but the links should stay consistent.

Updated ToC for Reading Rhetorical Theory

Part 1: Speech

Part 2: Representation

Part 3: Power

Assignments and Study Guides

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