Rhetoricians for Peace, a nationwide progressive organization for teachers and students of rhetoric, was founded in the Spring of 2002, and currently has over 140 members. With the next US Presidential election less than one year away, they are aware that writers and teachers are in positions to exert real influence in the election's outcomes and to work for peace and justice more broadly. They invite you to join them in their efforts to raise the level of political discussion through exposing manipulations of language and supporting serious rhetorical engagement with questions of the future of the US and world. The organization's mission statement is:

Rhetoricians for Peace is a grassroots network of global citizens who advocate the open exchange of accurate information and responsible analysis in order to promote social justice and the peaceful resolutions of conflict. To achieve this end, Rhetoricians for Peace will examine public communications and their contexts in the following ways:

- analyzing public discourses and the rhetorical situations in which those discourses occur;

- countering manipulative rhetoric, lies, dishonest representations of facts, and appeals to the power of force over reason and empathy for others; and

- networking with organizations dedicated to open inquiry, particularly organizations that promote peace, environmental responsibility, and social justice.

RFP's current projects include:

- rhetorical analysis of public statements, including policy and media sources, and the circulation of analyses to the public and to political activists, through the organization's website and other media;

- the promotion of dialogue dedicated to open inquiry of public discourses in communities and educational venues, including schools and academic publications;

- liaison with other groups, in academia and elsewhere, who advocate goals similar those of the organization, with the ultimate goal of creating a virtual think tank addressing issues of politics and language;

- publicly recognizing through an annual award rhetors who have contributed to sane and courageous discussion of American foreign policy

- the creation of a network of individuals willing to speak on these matters in public forums.

To join the group, go to https://mail.lsit.ucsb.edu/mailman/listinfo.cgi/rfp