Courses: Public Speaking, Rhetorical Criticism, Persuasion, Political Communication, and Media Communication. Objectives: By the end of this activity, students should be able to: explain the key components of Lloyd Bitzer's rhetorical situation; assess and navigate various conditions affecting various speaking situations; conduct audience analysis…

Students rarely question the relevance of most communication courses. For example, most students realize that courses focused on improving public speaking and interpersonal skills will benefit them personally and professionally after graduation. Convincing them that a rhetorical theory and criticism course is equally empowering can be a bit more…

The purpose of this course is to revive the commonplace book and revise it for the digital age. Though by the early modern period (c. 1500-1800) assembling quotations and other material had long been a trusted means of moral and rhetorical development, it was during that time that so-called "commonplace books" came into being as…

Rhetorical criticism and the way it is taught has evolved considerably over the past 30 years. In the 1950s, virtually all instructors used the same textbook and the "effect" model of teaching was used universally. White males were virtually the only speakers studied, and the classical tradition held complete dominion. A historical…

Four teaching approaches are discussed. (CH)

A course on women in public speaking, developed at the University of Cincinnati, focuses on the rhetoric of selected women who have been involved in various movements and causes in the United States in the twentieth century. Women studied include educator Mary McLeod Bethune, Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin, suffragette Carrie Chapman Catt, Helen…