Of Even Vaster Promise: Material Preservation and the Rhetoric of the Future

Allyson Gross Dana-Allen Dissertation Fellow (2024-2025) PhD Candidate, Communication Arts, UW–Madison Of Even Vaster Promise: Material Preservation and the Rhetoric of the Future This dissertation explores the rhetorical phenomenon of material preservation for the future. Through a rhetorical analysis of three case studies—mid-20th century time capsules, cryonics, and nuclear waste—this project explores how, in moments of crisis, individuals and institutions have historically sought to preserve material artifacts for a distant future, and in so doing, seek to persuade or speak to posterity. From the construction of audiences across time to the curation of a prospective memory of the past, this project considers what we might learn about what is valued from the study of what and why we preserve material artifacts. Allyson Gross is a doctoral candidate in the Rhetoric, Politics, and Culture program of the Communication Arts department at UW–Madison. Her research focuses on material rhetoric and public memory, time/temporality, and audience. She holds an MA in Media and Communication from Goldsmiths, University of London, an MA in Communication Arts from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and a BA in History and Government & Legal Studies from Bowdoin College. Her research has been supported by the Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies and the Kepley Dissertation Research Grant. *Events currently open only to 2024-25 fellows due to space concerns; please contact IRH at info@irh.wisc.edu to be added to a cancellation list for in-person events.*