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Rhetoric What we Study Courses Minor and Majors Faculty Contests Forensics |
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Patrick Carter completed his
major in our department. He analyzed Fox News reporting for its ideological foundations.
The
intersections between Rhetoric and other disciplines are great foundations
for interesting and rewarding studies.
Jessica Clarke wrote an
incisive analysis of Plato’s works infusing feminist (Butler) and philosophy
(Derrida) to identify how women and medicine were treated. |
Connections:
Rhetoric Studies and other Programs In our department, we
encourage you to study the kinds of rhetoric that most interest you. Into
politics? Queer advocacy? Reason and philosophy? Post-structuralist
theory like Baudrillad, Foucalt,
and Derrida? Supreme Court decisions? We invite you to consider how you can
study these and many other contemporary forms of discourse in our department. POLITICS-INTERNATIONAL STUDIES Study the arguments people
make in political communities. How does Barack Obama remain popular? What issues
need to be addressed concerning our policy toward Serbia? Communication
questions such as these can be addressed in the study of rhetoric. Example: Adam
Symonds examined value hierarchies in United States foreign policy rhetoric
toward democracy in the Middle East to show our policy is not consistent with
its stated goals. Matt Schissler examined politically incorrect humor in
shows such as South Park, The Sarah
Silverman Program, and The Dave
Chappelle Show showing the ways in which they could advance productive
rather than hurtful political objectives. SOCIOLOGY-GENDER-RACE-CLASS-GBLTQ STUDIES A community is a grouping of
people who, through the use of communication, share experiences and ideas.
Examining problems people face such as racism, classism, sexism is enriched
by focusing on communication. For example, "poverty" isn't just a
lack of money. It is also a word people use to refer to the condition of
other people just as "welfare" and "empowered" are. How
we talk influences our communities and rhetoric focuses on this. Example: Loan
Lam did a feminist criticism of the film The
Little Mermaid to examine the kind of influence it would have on
children. Paige Joki examined child beauty pageant
contests for the ways in which they reified gender, racial, and class based
stereotypes. CLASSICS Rhetoric has a long history
of strong connections to the Greeks and Romans. Gorgias,
Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Cicero, Quintillian,
among others were great thinkers in the art of rhetoric. Example:
Jessica Clarke studied Plato's works for their representation of women in the
classical period. She actually extended that in a later essay to connect with
post-modernist Jacques Derrida. PHILOSOPHY The contemplation of what is
right and wrong, what is our existence, how do we know what we know, are all
thoughts we express in words. Rhetoric encourages students to think about the
words they use as a fundamental part of the construction of a philosophy.
Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Foucault, Derrida, Neitzche,
each have written on rhetoric and our department explores their ideas on
communication. Example: David
Kearney, a rhetoric minor, wrote a philosophy thesis
in which he examined Plato's Gorgias to reveal the kind of rhetoric Plato supported.
Bryan Sonderman examined the instability of meaning
in the internet age and the way it adjusted our discursive knowledge. HISTORY Great leaders in history are
often great speakers. The speeches of Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln,
Margaret Thatcher, and others have had a major impact. Studying the videos of
their speeches focuses attention on how public address has been a critical
part of history. Example: Chris
Gregory wrote an essay concerning the attempt to impeach William O. Douglas
(former Whitman College student and debater) in the 1970s, analyzing the
ethos of the arguments made against Douglas. Alex Miller examined Bush
administration anti-terrorist policies in conjunction with the show 24 to identify a larger system of
beliefs that denies rights to those accused of terrorism. THEATER Great dramatic works make
persuasive calls to their audiences. A play enacts traditions in a community
and influences that community. Studying rhetoric can add to your theater
studies by giving you an additional tool for examining what makes a play a
rhetorical work of art. Example: Max
Wall wrote an analysis of Shakespeare's Hamlet using Kenneth Burke's
"definition of man" to show what kind of person Shakespeare
encourages audience members to be. ENGLISH Examine literature for how it
persuades and influences its readers. The Great Gatsby, for example, isn't
just a work illustrative of its time. It also speaks to us today in its
advocacy to take responsibility rather than just sit by when people hurt others.
Rhetoric studies can examine literature from this perspective. Example: Jeremy
Engdahl-Johnson wrote an analysis of book jacket
covers to show how they convinced readers to purchase books. Ross Richendrfer
analyzed Foucault’s concept of the confession in The Catcher and the Rye to examine the persuasiveness of Holden Caufield, the protagonist and narrator of the novel, to
readers. |
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345 Boyer Ave. |
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