Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons^™

Coercion, Conversion, Control: Techniques Utilized To Recruit And Indoctrinate New Members Into Cult Organizations, Hailey Savanna Robertson

University Honors Theses

Religious belief of some form has long been a regular part of many people's lives, but when a person’s devotion to doctrine becomes so all-encompassing that they structure their entire life around it, they may be in a cult. While the dogma may vary across groups, a cult is characterized as having extremely devoted disciples who often follow a charismatic leader and espouse extreme beliefs or practices not widely accepted by society. Members of cults commit themselves wholly to their leaders. Proving their commitment by turning over financial assets, obeying commands without question, and even severing all social ties outside …

Progressive Paradox In Political Rhetoric: The Hart-Celler Immigration Act Of 1965, Amanda Rolston Henderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the interplay between U.S. norms for inclusion, the embedded role of religion within these norms, and how political rhetoric challenges or sustains them. Using a historical lens, I outline key moments in U.S. history, unravel central ideologies entrenched in U.S. narratives, and illuminate the ideographic function of the key concepts land, family, and work. These terms serve as conduits for conveying complex systems of meaning, which are entrenched in societal assumptions and concretized through political discourse and action.

These dynamics are demonstrated in a case study of the discourse surrounding the Hart-Celler Immigration Act …

Rhetorical Resonances: An Affective Logic Of Emergence In Space And Time, Craig R. Weathers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project explores the affective circulation of controversy in contemporary public discourse through a rhetorical ecological approach. It addresses the problem of how flattened conceptions of power and social movements cast in binary opposition prevent effective deliberation around public controversies. The research method involves analyzing three case studies through a new framework for rhetorical studies, called a logic of emergence, to consider the resonance and trajectories of actants (individuals, groups, and institutions) in conflict. The first case study examines the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville and the discursive equating of antifa and the Alt-Right. The second case analyzes the …

Inciting Peace From The Inside Out, Stephen G. Adubato, Ebere Bosco Amakwe, Katherine Hinic, Sarita Maldjian, Forrest Pritchett, Jon Radwan, Nicholas Sooy, Chad Thralls

Conferences

Violence and war can be incited, and so can peace. This volume shares select addresses and responses from Seton Hall University’s 2/7/23 conference “Inciting Peace From The Inside Out.” A multi-disciplinary range of scholars each addresses how reconciliation processes grow from spiritual dynamics. Multiple religious traditions teach contemplative praxes that prioritize and nurture personal reflection oriented toward peace. Social conflicts divide, so engaging them with a partisan orientation only serves to escalate harmful rifts. In contrast, bringing personal awareness and sensitivity, spiritual balance, and holistic integral perspective to conflict can transcend divisions and work toward unity. This volume is supported …

Unraveling Communication Failure: Room For Revision, Jill Fredenburg

Feminist Pedagogy

"Unraveling Communication Failure: Room for Revision" delves into the intricacies of communication breakdowns, both at macro and micro levels, within the context of a general education public speaking course. Rooted in feminist pedagogy, the assignment encourages students to critically reflect on their least successful speech performance of the semester, analyzing societal and hegemonic influences impacting their communication dynamics. Through reflective analysis, students explore power dynamics shaping academic standards and their own positions within these norms. The assignment fosters an inclusive learning environment, empowering students to challenge hegemonic knowledge production and engage in self-directed learning. This paper outlines the rationale behind …

How Political Parties Can Appeal To Voters, Brenden David Jacoby

Communication Studies

Young voters are not voting. According to the United States Census Bureau, young voters, aged 18-29, have not turned out to vote in Presidential Elections at a rate higher than 50% since 1968. Millions of ballots – with the potential to swing elections, policies, and political momentum – are left blank. It is in the interest of both parties to identify why young voters are not going to the polls. In order to understand what makes political messaging persuasive to younger voters, this study presented participants with actual campaign speeches made by Democrats and Republican candidates for office. The author …

Shadows Of Virtue: ‘The Abolition Of Man’ In Modern Context, Luke Thomas Soule

Communication Studies

C.S. Lewis's The Abolition of Man stands as a remarkable examination of the mid-19th century shift towards moral subjectivism. With a detailed study of this text, this essay will utilize ideological and Postmodern criticism to reveal how Lewis builds his defense of objective morality, or what he calls the "Tao," against the educational spread of relativism. The heart of the analysis is the examination of Lewis's use of ideographs. Terms such as "the Tao," "Men without Chests," and "the Abolition of Man'' not only criticize the philosophical trends of the time but also tap into a deep cultural current of …

The Memory Of A Victory: The Spanish-American War Through Cocktail Names, “War Drinks” And The Art Of Mixing, Ilaria Berti

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

The relevance of examining late nineteenth-century Cuba depends from its being a colony under two powers, one European and one extra-European: the formal Spanish empire that had the political power and the informal supremacy of the US economic influence. However, within the framework of of enlarging its authority in the American region, the US perceived Cuba as a strategic island that was under the Spanish dominion. For the US expansionistic aims, Cuba has, in fact, been defined as a laboratory for the US empire (Pérez 2008) Through the analysis of newspapers’ articles, images published in the satirical magazine The Puck, …

My Mind Is A Forest: An Autistic Wandering Through The Language Of Silence And The Poems Of Mary Oliver, Torri Blue

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

The autistic experience has been widely medicalized, pathologized, mischaracterized, and misunderstood. Through this series of essays, I attempt to paint an alternative picture of (an) autistic life—one not defined by deficits, but (at the risk of sounding cliché) differences—by re-storying autism through an Autistic Poetic.

Autistic Poetics, or the poetry of autistic existence, offers to our imagination a new way of relating to the world—alternative pictures of what it means to be human and all the possibilities therein. Autists, as human beings who often express being more at home with the earth-others and more-than-human world, can offer our writings as …

Understanding The Misunderstandings: Using Deliberative Democracy And Communication Ethics To Overcome Societal Polarization In Post-Truth America, Jessica Neu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work contributes to communication scholarship by advancing the discussion of deliberative democracy to include communication ethics and popular culture artifacts to use as case studies in an exploration of how to engage in a type of dialogic civility that acknowledges identity politics without allowing it to be a barrier to progress in a post-truth society. As such, this work provides a sense of how to engage in conversation that recognizes and hears the Other in a way that makes all stakeholders uncomfortable. From this discomfort comes growth, as individuals do not necessarily need to completely alter their ideologies, morals, …

“If We Don't Get The Help That We Need, What Does That Say About The Future For Americans?”: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Public Responses To Ohio Environmental Disasters, Kaitlin M. Gold

Masters Theses, 2020-current

This thesis examines three case studies surrounding various Ohio environmental disasters and controversies. In particular, I explore how the public has resisted and asserted themselves through advocacy measures to ensure that their homes and communities are safe. The case studies examine how the state of Ohio has evaded responsibility and not taken action, and thus how the public has attempted to resist those efforts through various means. While Olson and Goodnight’s (1994) conception of oppositional arguments acts as a methodological backbone to the thesis, each case study employs other specific tools of rhetorical analysis to better understand each chapter and …

An Open Conversation: Deliberating Perceptions Of Power Through New Media, Abigail Barnes

Dissertations

This research aims to investigate aims to critically assess how mediated participants utilize new media spheres deliberate upon perceptions of power through rhetorical criticism and critical discourse analysis. Since the conception of social media, users have utilized the platforms to network, negotiate, and dissent from controversies through mediated public deliberation. The present study aims to nuance how Habermas’ original conception of deliberative rhetoric has transformed through new media deliberation. To exemplify this change in deliberative rhetoric, the present study will also critically evaluate online social movements through the case study of the AOC Tik Tok Challenge, responses to online controversies …

Ai And Advocacy: Maximizing Potential, Minimizing Risk, Matthew Salzano, Nicholas Fung, Ada Lin, Sofia Marchetta, Faith Colombo, Kaylah Davis, John Flynn, Carlos Fuentes, Fion Li, Malar Paavi Muthukumaran, Angelica Paramoshin, Chrisanne Pearce, Vianney Ramos, Charles St. Hilaire, Xi Zheng, Wei Zhuang

School of Communication and Journalism Faculty Publications

New Generative AI tools are revolutionizing writing and communication. This report focuses on AI and advocacy, the act of influencing public policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions. This report identifies three major opportunities and accompanying risks, plus one strong recommendation for advocates considering using AI. We argue that AI can be useful for advocates, but they must be careful to center human judgment and avoid risks that could distract from their important work or even contribute to societal harms.

Multimodal Communication Support For Word Recognition And Literacy In Children With Language Delays, Mackenzie Elizabeth Beal

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

As the definition of being literate transforms from being able to read and write to being able to decipher a variety of mediums (e.g., music, text emojis, and more!), it is necessary that curriculum is adapted to reflect these changes. This paper discusses 11 preschoolers aged 4 to 6 years with language delays and their ability to recognize one-syllable words. Two different interventions assessed word recognition. One intervention paired gestures with five words. The second intervention had participants create self-interpreted drawings for each of the remaining five words. To determine whether or not gestures and drawing were effective literacy strategies, …

A Rhetorical-Sociological Understanding Of Emotion, Amy Boone

All Dissertations

This project presents a rhetorical-sociological understanding of emotion while foregrounding the place and role of language. Born from Sara Ahmed’s work in The Cultural Politics of Emotion, it presents a simplified equation (contact + orientation = emotion) as both a prescriptive and descriptive formula for making sense of human emotional experience. Starting with an exploration of the difficult-to-understand affect system, this dissertation identifies both rhetoric and affect as energies which cannot be understood apart from their traces, the things they move, produce, and become. As a way to get at these often-invisible forces, two trace studies are conducted which explore …

Ua12/2/2 Talisman: Pulse, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

Spring 2024 Talisman:

• Hunter, Leah. Pulse
• Muscutt, Carson. High on Bluegrass – Jordan Riehm
• Meyers, Jeffrey. Science of Movement – Exercise Science
• Murray, Debra. Pasture to Plate – Agriculture
• Murray, Debra. Vegetarian Tortilla Soup
• Coffee, Bobbi. Passion, Pain, Curiosity – Innovation Campus
• Story, Miriam. Drafts of a Postcard (October 2023)
• Johnston, Katelyn. Beyond Sound – Deaf
• Hunter, Leah. One Good Week – Madison Weis
• Alali, Cecilia. Crafted Cadence – Speech Team
• Blankenship, Alisa. Loving You
• Sandlin, Ellie. Here After – Death
• Booth, Pandora. Rooted in Rhythm – Step Shows
• Booth, Pandora. Horoscopes
• Pulse Playlist

Charge The Cockpit Or Die: An Anatomy Of Fear-Driven Political Rhetoric In American Conservatism, Daniel Hostetter

Senior Honors Theses

Subthreshold negative emotions have superseded conscious reason as the initial and strongest motivators of political behavior. Political neuroscience uses the concepts of negativity bias and terror management theory to explore why fear-driven rhetoric plays such an outsized role in determining human political actions. These mechanisms of human anthropology are explored by competing explanations from biblical and evolutionary scholars who attempt to understand their contribution to human vulnerabilities to fear. When these mechanisms are observed in fear-driven political rhetoric, three common characteristics emerge: exaggerated threat, tribal combat, and religious apocalypse, which provide a new framework for explaining how modern populist leaders …

Call For Submissions For Volume 37, Angela M. Hosek

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Forum Response — The Only Constant Is Change: Exploring Grief, Burnout, Ungrading, And Ai In The Basic Communication Course, Kristina Ruiz-Mesa, Ana Terminel Iberri

Basic Communication Course Annual

In the years since the start of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the world of higher education has seen incredible developments in teaching modalities, increased awareness of the socio-political and economic constraints facing many of our students and faculty, and an acute awareness of the rhetorical and material precarity that is facing higher education (Morreale et al., 2022; Ruiz-Mesa, 2022). These precarious conditions have contributed to questions regarding the future of higher education and adaptations needed to serve our diversifying student needs and address the pressing issues facing our world and our campuses. Conversations about well-being in the basic course classroom …

A Basic Investment In Mercy: Problematizing Assessment In The Basic Course, Kate Swartz

Basic Communication Course Annual

This essay addresses the assessment aspect of the Basic Course; namely, it problematizes our reliance as instructors on traditional grading schema that interfere with our students’ best interests. I address this problem with a mercy-centered approach that uses an ungrading assessment method. In doing so, I acknowledge potential issues with this approach as well as argue for its expanded use as a merciful, beneficial way to provide feedback.