Roberta Chevrette

Bio: Roberta Chevrette is an academic researcher from Middle Tennessee State University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Social movement & Rhetorical question. The author has an hindex of 3, co-authored 6 publications receiving 43 citations. Previous affiliations of Roberta Chevrette include Arizona State University.

Unearthing the Native Past: Citizen Archaeology and Modern (Non)Belonging at the Pueblo Grande Museum

Abstract: Portrayals of the US Southwest's Native American inhabitants as “primitive” relics have been shaped by the intertwining practices of archaeological collection and museum display. Focusing on the Pueblo Grande Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, this essay analyzes the interpellation of museum visitors as citizen archaeologists, a process that re/produces racialized discourses through rhetorics of science and time. It is argued that as visitors excavate remnants of the past they engage an archaeological vision that reinforces dominant constructions of “modern” citizenship. This vision maintains colonial histories by disallowing Native peoples both authorship of the past and belonging in the present.

Brothers, Fathers, Terrorists: Masculine Assemblages in Glenn Beck's Rhetoric of US-Israel Unity Post-9/11

Abstract: Through rhetorical analysis of Glenn Beck’s keynote at the Christians United for Israel (CUFI) Summit in Washington, D.C., and his subsequent “Restoring Courage” rally in Israel, this article examines the construction of a gendered and militarized “state of emergency” in which Israel and the United States stand together as brothers against their enemies in the modern era. In this discursive and political formation, Israel is constructed as a site of perpetual persecution, while anxieties about US global dominance are (mis)placed within its borders. This constructed emergency generalizes the nuances of Palestinian and Israeli experiences, while homogenizing Palestinians into a gendered and racialized terrorist Other. Offering a theorization of masculine assemblages, the authors analyze how, in the post-9/11 security state, the unifica tion of US–Israeli interests is articulated through multiple interlocking discourses of masculinity. Through careful deconstruction of the masculine assemblages that bind together this epistemological and geo-political formation, this analysis contributes to postcolonial and transnational feminist theorizing by exploring how men embody and construct the nation-state, how discourses of race, religion, and nation assemble together through the concept of masculinity, and how these assemblages provoke states of emergency and impetuses for action.

“The FEMEN body can do everything”: Generating the agentic bodies of social movement through internal and external rhetorics

Abstract: Recent theorizing recognizes the body’s importance in resistant performances characterizing the streets and screens of contemporary activism. In this essay, we examine how the transnational...

Bros Before Donald Trump: Resisting and Replicating Hegemonic Ideologies in the #BROTUS Memes After the 2016 Election

Abstract: Carrying out a rhetorical analysis of the #BROTUS memes that circulated on Twitter after the 2016 presidential election, this chapter examines how these memes challenge and replicate extant ideologies, blurring the lines between information and entertainment as well as private and public spheres. Findings show that, in spite of their humorous and banal content, memes can allow for the expression of resistance and the channeling of affect. At the same time, the authors point out that while the memes challenge the ideologies embodied by the Trump campaign, they also replicate some of the same values and beliefs. The #BROTUS memes show how Twitter serves as a vernacular sphere of political engagement while their popularity in part still relies on the same dominant ideologies they aim to resist.

Whiteness of a Different Color: European Immigrants and the Alchemy of Race

Abstract: MC 281 is the second in the required sophomore sequence for Social Relations and Policy. In this course, we will explore the interactions and experiences between and among various groups in American history. We will consider how Americans both defended and contested prevailing definitions of fitness for citizenship and inclusion in the political process and American life, and how groups sought to gain access to social and political equality. This course focuses on the history of relationships within and between different groups in the United States, and explores the complexities of those relations. Rarely centered solely on race or ethnicity, such interactions were also affected by gender, sexuality, religion, nation, and class. We will also explore the shifting definitions of race and ethnicity. Students will analyze not only the experiences of the different groups, but also the connections between them to assess the larger dynamics and their implications for public policy.