Adequate: Rewriting the Logics of Success in Rhetoric and Composition

Adequate: Rewriting the Logics of Success in Rhetoric and Composition proposes a fresh approach to teaching rhetoric and composition--a field awash with unrealistic labor expectations and untenable and often unattainable requirements for both the educator and the educated--that takes ＂success＂ and ＂failure＂ out of the equation and advocates for the concept of adequacy over that of perfection.

Fourteen essays from established scholars, ranging from deeply personal, to darkly humorous, to impassioned and blunt, offer theoretical and pragmatic resources for responding to unjust labor extraction and the discipline’s demands that teachers do it all. Drawing on an array of intellectual traditions including labor studies, feminist rhetoric, disability studies, Jewish rhetoric, and theories of writing program administrations, authors assert the reasonable position of being enough and thriving outside of work in the face of growing demands for professional excellence and even perfection.

Adequate reimagines what the concept of adequacy holds for the future of academic work. An invaluable resource for scholars, graduate students, and advanced undergraduate students in the rhetoric and composition field, this volume covers the realities of teaching rhetoric and composition in the modern college environment, as well as potential paths forward for educators in need of a better work-life balance.

Timothy Oleksiak is associate professor of English at the University of Massachusetts Boston and recipient of the 2025 CCCC Stonewall Service Award.

Joshua Barsczewski is assistant professor of English literatures and writing and Writing Program director at Muhlenberg College.