Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Preachers, Politicians And People Of Character: A Rationale For The Centrality Of A Public-Speaking Course In The Core Curriculum, Blake J. Neff

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Administrators in colleges and universities across America continue to debate the relative advantages of education designed to develop vocational skills and education committed to the liberal arts. This essay demonstrates that public speaking as the basic communication course bridges the divide. That course provides a necessary vocational skill for a host of professions, and in addition strongly supports liberal arts by bringing instructional units in self-discipline, critical thinking, listening, and academic preparedness to the core curriculum.