Dear Readers,

Welcome to the 2026 issue of Convergence/Rhetoric, where our undergraduate scholars continue to redefine what rhetorical inquiry can look like across media, disciplines, and lived experience. This year’s contributors take readers on a trip through visual, digital, and embodied rhetorics, with each piece being anchored in humanistic concerns and values. From translating neurodivergent experience into graphic form, to documenting the slow and sometimes frustrating experiences of physical therapy and recovery, to emphasizing how human ethics must precede machine ethics, there is a lot of heart in this year’s issue, and that feels especially vital in an increasingly chaotic world.

We begin with Khushi Patel’s “ADHD(e)-Classified,” a brief but powerful web comic that immerses readers in the sensory overload and cognitive experience of ADHD. After reading their comic, you will never look at pop-up windows the same. Next up is Sabrina Califano’s “Graphic Pathography: Adventures in Sesamoid Recovery.” I love the way Califano’s digital comic captures the compounding stresses of recovery that will be familiar to any reader who has experienced it: the time, the cost, the mixed messages, and the conviction that something is wrong. Her work reminds us that medical narratives can move beyond clinical description and into rhetorical acts of self-representation.

While the first two pieces work in the visual language of comics, Connor Seaton’s “A.I. & Me: A Theory-to-Practice Approach to A.I. Ethics” brings us into the realm of traditional text to explore the very new frontier of A.I. ethics. He argues that in order to incorporate A.I. ethically and thoughtfully, we need to confront the social and rhetorical conditions that shape our use of the technology. His work reflects a pattern in our undergraduate writing publications that I’m proud to observe: Writing & Rhetoric students bringing humanistic and ethical concerns to the forefront of A.I. use.

Together, these pieces highlight how writing and rhetoric extend beyond text and into images, interfaces, and embodied experiences. I love the ethos that these articles achieve. As I read over them, I am struck by a clear anchor in building a more compassionate worldview. It’s a great reminder at the end of the semester.

Sunrise, Sunset

Converge, Rhetorics

Swiftly Flow The Days!

Sincerely,
Joel Bergholtz
Lead Editor
Convergence Rhetoric