1989-1990

 

The Faculty

 

Description: http://www.whitman.edu/offices_departments/rhetoric/history/1989_files/90-1996.jpg

Bob Withycombe, Director of Forensics

 

Whitman News

1989-1990

A.     Library closing time is changed from 2am to midnight sparking controversy among students.

B.     Maxey had a new sounds system installed.

C.    Whitman students were hotly divided over the recently escalated War on Drugs.

D.    The Whitman College Cabin was renovated with $2,600.

E.     Reacting against the proposed Anti-Flag Burning Bill the Pioneer produced paper flags for students to burn.

F.     Smoking club is created for smokers who feel persecuted due to their addiction.

G.    Women’s ski team took 8th at nationals.

H.    Recycling program is started at Whitman.

 

Speech Courses

Special topics courses were added to allow Bob more flexibility in what he teaches.

 

Speech Department Description: Courses treat public speaking as a liberal art, proposing that such speaking is not a skill learned by rule but an exercise of judgment that can be no better than the speaker's understanding of the nature of the communicative acts.

 

SPEECH 110. Fundamentals of Speech, 3 hours.

SPEECH 221, 222. Principles and Practice of Forensics, 1 hours (individual events), 2 hours (debate).

SPEECH 270. Argumentation and Persuasion, 3 hours.

SPEECH 370. Seminar: Western Rhetorical Thinking, 3 hours.

SPEECH 379, 380. Special Topics Courses. (Not offered)

SPEECH 401, 402. Independent Study.

 

110,110 Fundamentals of Speech 3,3

Speech is man’s primary means of communication. This course will provide training in the fun­damentals of good speech: orderly thinking, adequate vocal variety, distinct articulation and ef­fective oral use of language. Emphasis will be on the preparation, delivery and criticism of various types of speeches as well as on the more informal uses of speech in daily life. Three lecture-discussion presentation periods per week. Fall and Spring: Withycombe.

 

221,222 Principles and Practice of Intercollegiate Forensics 1-2, 1-2

   Theory, preparation and practice of debate and individual speaking events. Intercollegiate

forensics. Students who are debating should register for two credits. Those who are only in in­dividual events will normally receive one credit. May be repeated for a total of eight credits; sub­ject to activity credit limitation. One meeting per week, individualized practice, and weekend tournament participation. Fall and Spring: Withycombe.

 

270 Argumentation and Persuasion x, 3

Theory, preparation and practice in the art of public persuasion will be the central focus of this course. Time will be devoted to the study of logic and reasoning, the psychology of persuasion, the ethics of persuasion, the structure of arguments, and persuasion in social movements. Students will be expected to observe, evaluate, and construct logical persuasive arguments in both formal and informal settings. Three lecture-discussion presentation periods per week. Offered in alternate years with Speech 370; offered 1989-90. Spring: Withycombe.

 

370 Seminar: Western Rhetorical Thinking 3; not offered 1989-90

   Rhetoric, simply defined, is the art and science of persuasion. This course will focus on the prin­cipal rhetorical developments which occurred during the great periods of Western thought: the classical world of Greece and Rome; the British period of the seventeenth to the nineteenth cen­tury, roughly corresponding to the Age of Reason; and the contemporary era of twentieth-century theorists in Western Europe and America. (Theorists covered will include Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Campbell, Whately, IA. Richards, McLuhan, Weaver, Burke and Perelman.) Students who enroll in this course will develop a broader appreciation for the theoretical literature upon which most contemporary practice is based. Three lecture-discussion periods per week. Offered in alter­nate years with Speech 270, offered 1990-91.

 

401, 402 Independent Study 1-3, 1-3

Directed readings leading to the preparation of speeches and/or a critical paper or papers on topics suggested by the student and approved by the instructor. The student is expected to submit a written proposal to the instructor prior to registration for the study. The number of students ac­cepted for the work will depend on the nature of their study. Prerequisite: consent of the instructor. Fall and Spring: Withycombe.

 

 

World News

A.     January 24 - Serial killer Theodore Bundy is executed in Florida's electric chair.

B.     February 15 - Soviet war in Afghanistan: The Soviet Union officially announces that all of its troops have left Afghanistan.

C.    May 20 - Tiananmen Square protests of 1989

D.    December 14 - Chile holds its first free election in 16 years.

E.     January 3 - Manuel Noriega, the former leader of Panama, surrenders to American forces.

F.     February 26 - The USSR agrees to withdraw all 73,500 troops from Czechoslovakia by July, 1991.

G.    April 20 - STS-31: The Hubble Space Telescope is launched aboard Space Shuttle Discovery.

H.    August 2 - Gulf War: Iraq invades Kuwait, eventually leading to the Gulf War.

I.       October 3 - East Germany and West Germany reunify into a single Germany.