Ethan Rayburn

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT ETHAN RAYBURN

I am a recent graduate of Bates College with a double major in Rhetoric and French. I am interested in the influence of language on action, and am excited about any work that enables me to use the speaking and writing skills that I have developed and expanded upon through my studies.For my senior thesis in Rhetoric at Bates College, I conducted a discursive and rhetorical analysis of U.S. foreign policy toward China and Taiwan, focusing on Richard C. Bush’s A One-China Policy Primer. Drawing on Symbolic Convergence Theory and Michel Foucault’s Archaeology of Knowledge, I examined how ambiguity, strategic narratives, and ideological framing shape U.S. diplomatic language and policymaking. By tracing the evolution of the “One-China” framework across primary policy documents and scholarly literature, I argued that the policy’s rhetorical structure, rooted in carefully constructed ambiguity, has helped maintain regional stability while concealing deeper ideological tensions. This project reflects my broader interests in international affairs, diplomacy, and the intersection of language and policy.My senior capstone in French and Francophone Studies was a historical, cultural, and political analysis of French colonial viticulture in Algeria, tracing how the wine industry functioned simultaneously as an economic engine, a tool of cultural domination, and a mechanism of social hierarchy. In it I examined how colonial wine production shaped Algeria’s landscape, labor systems, and export economy, and how concepts like terroir, appellation, and \"national\" wine identity reinforced metropolitan privilege while marginalizing Algerian producers. I argued that viticulture created structural dependencies that persisted after independence, influencing Algeria’s postcolonial shift from wine to hydrocarbons, by analyzing economic data, colonial law, and the symbolic politics surrounding wine. This project allowed me to engage with my broader interests in history and political economy.