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Rhetoric Research Areas
The Department of Speech Communication at the University of Georgia offers both a master and a doctoral degree. All graduate students are fully funded and summer support is usually available. The department has two primary emphases: Rhetorical Studies and Communication Studies; this page will discuss the Rhetoric side of the department.
Faculty in Rhetoric
Barbara A. Biesecker, (Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh), Professor, rhetorical theory and criticism, feminist theory and criticism, and cultural studies. bbieseck@uga.edu Celeste M. Condit, (Ph.D., University of Iowa), Professor, Social theory, women and minorities, rhetoric of science (genetics). ccondit@uga.edu
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Kelly Happe, (Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh), Assitant Professor, Rhetoric of science, women’s studies, rhetorical theory and criticism. khappe@uga.edu Thomas M. Lessl, (Ph.D., University of Texas), Associate Professor, The rhetoric of science, religious communication. tlessl@uga.edu |
Edward M. Panetta, (Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh), Associate Professor, Argumentation and public discourse. epanetta@uga.edu Roger Stahl, (Ph.D., Penn State University), Assistant Professor, Rhetorical theory, critical and post-structural theory, war and media. rstahl@uga.edu |
RHETORICAL STUDIES
The faculty has broad and diverse strength in rhetorical theory and rhetorical criticism. We engage multiple, even competing, conceptualizations of rhetoric, utilizing insights not only from the classical Greco-Roman tradition, but also from a variety of theoretical conversations and socio-political perspectives including Enlightenment, pragmatist, structuralist, materialist, post-structuralist, feminist, post-colonial, and psychoanalytic. We practice rhetorical criticism in multiple modes as well, taking measure of the persuasive and constitutive effects of symbolic acts.
Areas of Emphasis:
Feminist Rhetorical Theory and Criticism
Faculty research and teaching in this area focuses on feminist theory and the rhetorical tradition, feminist politics and social change, and feminist critiques of biomedicine. Recent publications and graduate courses have explored feminist contributions to our understanding of public address, rhetorical agency, visual rhetoric, and the materiality of the body.
Public Argument
Faculty research and teaching in this area examines the ever-changing sites of public discourse, deliberation and debate, paying particular attention to the political and social implications of persuasive practices at particular historical moments.
Rhetoric of Science
Faculty research and teaching in this area focuses on the public understanding of genetics, materialist approaches to knowledge creation, scientific constructions of race and gender, the interface between the advancement of scientific inquiry and its public patrons, science’s relationship to religion, and the role of rhetoric in the development of scientific culture.
Rhetoric of War
Faculty research and teaching in this area examines war and/as its symbolization. Published work and graduate course offerings have explored war and the media, the rhetoric of 9/11 and the war on terror, war and public memory, and war and global political culture.
Visual Rhetoric
Faculty research and teaching in this area encompasses the critical and theoretical exploration of the power of visual culture to affect the attitudes, beliefs and actions of audiences or publics. Thus faculty research and teaching attend to not only a diverse array of visual objects or image-texts but also to changing technologies of visualization and regimes of visibility.
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