Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons^™

Contesting Sphere Boundaries Online: Private/Technical/Public Discourses In Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Discussion Groups, Kittie E. Grace

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The internet is fast becoming a means for people to obtain information, creating a unique forum for the intersection of the public, technical, and private spheres. To ground my research theoretically, I used Jürgen Habermas’s sphere theory. Habermas (1987) explains that the technical sphere colonizes the private sphere, which decreases democratic potential. In particular, the internet is a place for altering technical colonization of the private and public spheres.

My research focuses on women’s health because it is a particularly useful case study for examining sphere tensions. Historically, the biomedical health establishment has been a powerful agent of colonization, resulting …

Navigating Dangerous Deliberative Waters: Shallow Argument Pools, Group Polarization And Public Debate Pedagogy In Southeast Europe, Gordon R. Mitchell, Damien S. Pfister, Georgeta Bradatan, Dejan Colev, Tsvetelina Manolova, Gligor Mitkovski, Ivanichka Nestorova, Milena Ristic, Gentiana Sheshi

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

An Albanian social movement called Mjaft ! serves as a synecdoche for wider trends unfolding in Southeast Europe, where student, driven public deliberation is enlivening the political landscape not only in Albania, but also in Bulgaria, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Romania. What do these initiatives suggest about the political dynamics of linkages formed between academic debating groups and civil society organizations? Can public debate democratically energize South, east European citizenries? What general insight does this case study reveal about argumentation as applied critical practice? This paper explores these questions by drawing from collaborative research conducted by the authors under …

Accessing The Spoken Word, Jerry Goldman, Steve Renals, Steven Bird, Franciska De Jong, Marcello Federico, Carl Fleischhauer, Mark Kornbluh, Lori Lamel, Douglas W. Oard, Claire Stewart, Richard Wright

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

Spoken-word audio collections cover many domains, including radio and television broadcasts, oral narratives, governmental proceedings, lectures, and telephone conversations. The collection, access, and preservation of such data is stimulated by political, economic, cultural, and educational needs. This paper outlines the major issues in the field, reviews the current state of technology, examines the rapidly changing policy issues relating to privacy and copyright, and presents issues relating to the collection and preservation of spoken audio content.

The Comparative Effectiveness Of Systematic Desensitization And An Integrative Approach In Treating Public Speaking Anxiety: A Literature Review And A Preliminary Investigation, Ana M. Rossi, William J. Seiler

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

An analysis of the literature related to public speaking anxiety (PSA) and various treatments of it are discussed. PSA is a state or situational type of anxiety which can have tremendous effects on those who suffer from it. Two of the major treatments—systematic desensitization (SD) and the integrative approach (IA)—are reviewed and then experimentally tested to determine which is the more effective in treating PSA. The results are somewhat inclusive, but there is strong evidence to suggest that both SD and IA reduce trait and state anxiety. It was found, however, that IA is more effective in decreasing the symptoms …

A Rhetorical Analysis Of Political And Legal Speeches Of Robert B. Crosby, Gilbert Frank Nykodym Ii

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

I first saw Robert Crosby as a lawyer defending Duane Pope in November 1965. I was intensely interested in the Pope trial for a number of reasons. I was interested because, first, as a law student I found the legal points of interest, second, one of my law professors, Wallace Rudolph, was serving as an assistant defense counsel in the trial and, third, having a bachelors degree in speech I wanted to see what part speaking played in this trial.

As I began graduate work in speech I took a course entitled Rhetorical Criticism under Dr. Donald O. Olson. I …

George W. Norris's Persuasion In The Campaign For The Unicameral Legislature, Phillip K. Tompkins

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The people of forty-seven states in this country are governed by bicameral or two-house legislatures. The people of the forty-eighth, Nebraskans, are governed by a unicameral or one-house legislature.

On November 6, 1934, the people of Nebraska provided by amendment to their state constitution, a one-house legislature to be composed of between thirty and fifty members to be elected on a non-partisan ballot. The number of solons was later set at forty-three, and 1957 marked the twentieth anniversary of the first unicameral session in Nebraska.

Senator George W. Norris is generally regarded by all as the father of the unicameral …