Performance Studies Commons^™

Better Pleasing The Court: How The American Collegiate Moot Court Association Can Improve Its Competition, Alan R. Gray Jr.

National Forensic Journal

The American Collegiate Moot Court Association strives to educate undergraduates about the American legal system through participation in moot court, a simulated oral argument before an appellate court. Its competition structure, however, suffers from defects that undermine the educational value of the event. This article argues that the ACMCA ought to adopt certain reforms in its operational structure, including geographically locking its regional competitions, abandoning its practice of power-matching preliminary rounds, and rewriting its judging ballot. These goals would not only enhance the quality of the legal education received by its participants, but improve students’ forensic learning experience as well.

The Success Gap, Katie Donovan

National Forensic Journal

When Lisa Uhrig, Cathie Craig and Ruth Brisbain won Impromptu, ADS and Persuasive at the 1971 National Forensics Association National Tournament, the forensics community breathed a collective sigh of relief. These women had won three of the six events the NFA offered at the time. Apparently, the lack of women in the activity had been solved. Over the next several decades teams were encouraged to diversify and include more women. However, while these efforts brought women into the activity, they failed to create a culture of equal success between men and women in forensics. Instead, we have considered the issue …

Small World: A Forensic Dialectic, Jamie Bingham, Kylia Goodner

National Forensic Journal

No abstract provided.

21 Building Bridges: Connecting Performance Studies And Forensic Oral Interpretation, Alyssa Reid

National Forensic Journal

Forensic educators have faced long standing criticism, within our discipline and beyond, in regards to the true educational benefits of forensic competition with particular scrutiny towards oral interpretation events. Although forensic interpretation events may seem like fun raucous performances, they are in many ways are grounded in sound pedagogy of oral interpretation scholarship. However in recent years, forensic oral interpretation has evolved to move beyond mere rendering of a text. In many ways forensic interpretation has shifted towards a paradigm of performance studies. Therefore, I shall reexplore past criticisms of forensic interp in order to argue for new ways to …

Connecting Past And Present: A Rhetorical Analysis Of How Forensics Programs Use Storytelling To Promote Team Legacy, Stephanie Orme

National Forensic Journal

Given forensics programs' status as organizations at academic institutions, these teams experience changes in membership far more often than typical organizations. Each year, a team will graduate a class of seniors who, through their four years as a competitor, have helped shape the program's culture and legacy in numerous ways. Yet this void left by the graduating members is then filled by the incoming freshman or transfer student competitors who will now play a part in reshaping the team's culture. This constant change in organizational culture makes it vital that forensic programs go to extra lengths to ensure that their …

Special Section – Critical Thought In The Age Of Forensics, Bruce Wickelgren

National Forensic Journal

No abstract provided.

Questions Surrounding Questions: A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Use Of Research Questions In Academic Writing, Stephanie Orme

National Forensic Journal

The fact that researchers have begun to question the potentially unethical use of questions in research, and that the research question has become an increasing presence in all scholarly rhetorical criticism– including 99% of the speeches you will see this year– the use of the research question in a venue that has traditionally avoided it merits investigation. So in order to explore the objectivity and academic effectiveness of research questions in our field, I performed a content analysis of top rhetoric journals using Hyland’s method for analyzing questions found in the article “What do they mean? Questions in Academic 54 …

The Official Language Of Academic Debate, Marcus Paroske

National Forensic Journal

Academic debate continues to face the long term issue of how to reconcile competing philosophies of argument pedagogy and competitive practice, especially between adherents technical and civic debate theories. Using the theories of Pierre Bourdieu, this essay offers an analysis of this division, focusing on the role of dominant language formation and the role fluency plays in constituting power dynamic in the activity. The conception of a translation approach to judging is offered as a remedy for the exclusionary effects of technical language use in debate.

Biological Sex As A Predictor Of Competitive Success In Intercollegiate Forensics, Kiranjeet Dhillon, April Larson

National Forensic Journal

This study examines biological sex as a predictor of the level of success in intercollegiate policy debate, impromptu speaking, and extemporaneous speaking. Secondary data analysis of tabulation sheets from NDT, AFA-NIET, and NFA, revealed three findings. First, there are more male than female competitors in policy debate and males significantly experienced more out-round success than females. Second, there are more males than females in impromptu speaking; however, there was no significance between biological sex and success in out-rounds. Third, there are more male than female competitors in extemporaneous speaking and males significantly experienced more out-round success than females.

They Know What They're Doing But They Don't Know Why: A Theoretical Exploration Of Intertextuality In Interpretation Events, Megan Orcholski, Dan Cronn-Mills

National Forensic Journal

Our agenda is to offer a conceptual/theoretical understanding of the post-structural approach to literature interpretation/performance. We make a practice of the theory in the construction of the paper—we allow the text to speak for itself. We provide a juxtaposition numerous authors. We focus on the text rather than the author. We offer the following reading instructions: Please read the text as a whole and skimming the referential notations. The citations are provided for readers who wish to further the topic. We realize we depart from the traditional academic writing form. The common occurrence of the style in competition underscores the …

Reframing Competitive Critical Analyses: An Argument For Education-Application Based Methods For Speech Writing In Ca And Rhetorical Criticism, Katherine L. Hatfield-Edstrom

National Forensic Journal

This project offers a contemporary exemplar that students and coaches in competitive speech, specifically in the events of rhetorical criticism or communication analysis can use to help reframe traditional notions or methods of how to write a speech for competition. I contend that the event in competition has become too “cookie-cutter” and devoid of innovation or “thinking outside the box,” which can limit the educational experience for our students. Thus, this project begins as a full critical analysis employing the theoretical framework of public memory and follows with a discussion of how a student in competitive speech could approach the …

After Dinner Speaking: Problems, Causes, And Still No Solutions, Brandi Lawless

National Forensic Journal

Since its adoption as a competitive event, After Dinner Speaking has been critiqued and criticized by several scholars. Despite the quantity of literature produced on this topic, changes to the event have been minimal. This author chooses to look at four areas of controversy including: defining the event, differentiating After Dinner Speaking from Speech to Entertain, differentiating After Dinner Speaking from other platform events, and developing a judging standard for this event. With the use of humor, this paper not only examines these problems, but also the need for discussion surrounding the pedagogical goals of After Dinner Speaking as a …

“Legal Or Illegal? Documented Or Undocumented?” The Struggle Over Brookhaven’S Neighborhood Preservation Act, Jackson B. Miller

Faculty Publications

This critical essay applies the concept of “presence” as a theoretical lens for explaining the rhetorical efficacy of protest events surrounding a contemporary debate about immigrants’ rights in a suburban New York township. Specifically, the protests surrounding the town board meetings regarding Brookhaven’s “Neighborhood Preservation Act,” a piece of legislation geared toward making rental laws more stringent, are examined. A group comprised largely of white, upper middle-class citizens voiced their support for the proposed legislation, while a group of day laborers and those sympathetic with their cause characterized the proposed legislation as a form of racial discrimination disguised as a …

“Indians,” “Braves,” And “Redskins”: A Performative Struggle For Control Of An Image, Jackson B. Miller

Faculty Publications

Native American groups across the country have been protesting the use of their symbols and heritage in sports arenas for over a decade. Yet, particularly in the realm of professional sports, these protests have not generated significant changes in attitudes and practices. This critical essay examines several Native American protest events to reveal the factors contributing to the failure of the reform movement and to suggest some strategies for rhetorically reformulating the campaign.

Ua68/17/2 Scrapbook 1956-1957, Western Players

Student Organizations

Scrapbook of clippings, playbills and photos of theatrical productions from 1956-1957 season. The scrapbook also includes items regarding the WKU Debate Team, AAUW speech contest and Russell Miller correspondence.

• On Stage - Open House, 1956
• The Show-Off, 1956
• Christmas in 2 Keys, 1956
• Pillars of Society, 1957
• Fumed Oak, 1957
• The Valiant, 1957

Ua68/17/2 Scrapbook 1955-1956, Western Players

Student Organizations

Scrapbook of clippings, playbills and photos of theatrical productions from 1955-1956 season. The scrapbook also includes items regarding the WKU Debate Team and clippings regarding Russell Miller.

• The Male Animal, 1955
• Long Voyage Home, 1955
• The Emperor's New Clothes, 1956
• Of Thee I Sing, 1956
• Medea, 1956

Ua68/17/2 Scrapbook 1952-1953, Western Players

Student Organizations

Scrapbook of clippings, playbills and photos of theatrical productions from 1952-1953 season. The scrapbook also includes items regarding the Bowling Green Community Theatre group and the WKU Debate Team.

• The Heiress, 1952
• The Troubles of Young Love, 1953
• Down in the Valley, 1953
• The Telephone, 1953
• Right You Are, 1953

Ua68/17/2 Scrapbook 1951-1952, Western Players

Student Organizations

Scrapbook of clippings, playbills and photos of theatrical productions from 1951-1952 season. Includes clippings and memorabilia from other club activities and miscellaneous sports and debate team clippings.

• The Merchant of Venice - 1952
• Two Blind Mice - 1951
• Opening Night - December 11 - 1951
• The Night of January 16 - 1952
• Sing Out, Sweet Land - 1952

Ua68/17/2 Scrapbook 1950-1951, Western Players

Student Organizations

Scrapbook of clippings, playbills and photos of theatrical productions from 1950-1951 season. The scrapbook also includes items regarding the WKU Debate Team and field trips taken by the Western Players.

• Racial Integration - Carlisle High School
• Livermore Freshman is Winner of Robinson Oratorical Contest - Wayne Everly
• Six Students Will Try for Speech Award in Robinson Contest
• Phi Delta Kappa
• Kappa Delta Pi
• Russell H. Miller Appears in Escape
• Talley, Rhea. A Tree Grows at Columbia for Kentucky Students
• Studies Speech at Columbia University
• Southside, USA, 1950
• T 'n' T, Vol. 3, No. 1, December 1950
• LaBoheme, 1950
• Goodbye, My …

A Historical Study Of The Theatre Of The Mother Lode During The Gold Rush Period, Berton Everett Trulsson

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Many events of the gold rush have been adequately narrated in numerous books and articles. The succeeding pages in this thesis will recall, historically by topic, important incidents of one phase of that period never before treated as a separate study that phase is the theatre of the Mother Lode region.

The argonauts of the Mother Lode wanted to be entertained and could pay for it. Many preferred the saloon and gamboling hall, but the theatre did not languish because of this, and in fact, developed in some instances directly out of the saloons and fandango halls.

It was the …

A History Of The Productions Of The Little Theatre, 1933-1935, Demarcus Brown

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The growth of interest in drama and the realization of the educational value of dramatics has developed a new place for the college theatre. Pacific Little Theatre was organized eleven years ago to fulfill a definite need and has since grown slowly and steadily into a most active producing unit, serving both school and community. Indeed Pacific Little Theatre can be taken as an excellent specific example of the contribution which can be made to campus and community life by the college aside from its main function as fundamental ground for students in the theatre arts.