This Rhetorical Life

Episode 13: Uncivil Rhetoric

Oct 092013

I think that when we look at rhetorical means in relation to people who are making decisions that are destroying the planet, that are destroying people’s lives, that are immiserating and incarcerating large numbers of especially people of color around the country and around the globe, we should not be concerned about making them comfortable. We should not be concerned about finding a seat at their table. We should be thinking about how it is that we get together so that collectively we can make them very uncomfortable so that we can change them and—again—to do this collectively, democratically in a way that we discover ourselves and each other. — Nancy Welch

[W]e’re part of this larger national movement, and so when we’re in Syracuse and we have this opportunity in front of us, my thought was that anyone in the country who has been paying attention to the treatment of Bradley Manning should take the opportunity to, you know, call out President Obama on this issue because he ultimately has the power. — Ursula Rozum

Image from August 22nd Interruption of Obama at Henninger High School in Syracuse. Amelia Ramsey-Lefevre shouts through cupped hands as she and Ursula Rozum are escorted out of the gymnasium.

Amelia Ramsey-Lefevre shouts through cupped hands as she and Ursula Rozum are escorted out of Obama’s speech in Syracuse, August 22nd.

Episode 13 is a two-part episode that features an interview with Nancy Welch discussing the motivation for her scholarly work, composition’s activist roots, and the importance of participating in activist collaborations once tenured. The second part features an interview with Ursula Rozum and Amelia Ramsey-Lefevre who interrupted President Obama’s speech at Henninger High School on August 22, 2013 in order to ask Obama to pardon Private Manning through nonviolent free speech action. This podcast blends activism in both academic and public contexts, highlighting the ways that particular rhetorical acts are treated as un/civil.

To read a PDF of the full transcript, please download it here: Transcript for Episode 13

The music sampled in this podcast is “Biomythos” by Revolution Void, “Indyair” by Springtide, “Note Drop” by Broke for Free, and “Subterranean Zerbie” by The Mork Quartet.

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Episode 12: This We Believe

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Sep 052013

Stories fascinate me. They’re so laden and richly textured with the values and the literate activities of individuals that it makes me happy to think of that as shaping the communities within which they work and live and make change. — Cindy Selfe

If higher education is at least in part about critical thinking, about citizenship, about making sure that the work we do in the world is ethical and moral and matters, I’m not sure that we, in traditional higher education, haven’t done a particularly good job yet of justifying the work that we do in ways that are more palatable in this new climate. — Steve Lamos

Episode 12 is a glimpse into This We Believe, a project from Writing Democracy to record and archive conversations about democracy. This podcast features brief narratives from Cindy Selfe, Paul Feigenbaum, Steve Lamos, and Ellen Cushman who talk about democracy in our classrooms and in the world, in theory and in practice, and through linguistic and social action.

To read a PDF of the full transcript, please download it here: Transcript for Episode 12

The music sampled in this podcast is “As Colorful as Ever,” “Murmur,” and “Note Drop” by Broke for Free and “Namer” by High Places.

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Episode 11: Interview with Collin Brooke

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Aug 162013

I’m a writing professor, and [my blog is] one of the places that I write. That was part of the motivation initially for me was you become a better writer by writing. I think that you could say the same about focusing or specializing in technology. It doesn’t make sense to me to talk about that stuff without actually doing it.

Episode 11 features Ben Kuebrich and Allison Hitt interviewing Collin Brooke about digital publishing, the value of new media scholarship, and getting involved with the digital humanities community.

To read a PDF of the full transcript, please download it here: Transcript for Episode 11

The music sampled in this podcast is “Quartz Boy” by Pixie Lord,“Emo Step Show” by Custodian of Records, “Namer” by High Places, and “Be Sweet” by Marco Trovatello.

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Episode 10: Interview with Rebecca Dingo

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Jul 162013

In Networking Arguments, Rebecca Dingo enacts a feminist transnational rhetorical analysis of global policies and conferences that are about women’s role in a global economy. Focusing on three rhetorical commonplaces—gender mainstreaming, fitness, and empowerment—Dingo extends traditional rhetorical analysis to account for how arguments shift rhetorically as they are networked. Our conversation begins by us discussing the differences between the three feminist transnational terms Dingo uses to explain exactly how rhetorics shift: transcoding, ideological trafficking, and interarticulation. As we talk about gender mainstreaming—the development of policies that are intended to promote gender equality and women’s best interests—and women’s empowerment, we discuss how transcoding, ideological trafficking, and interarticulation offer different nuanced ways that these well-intending rhetorics shift and are distorted.

An image of Dingo's book cover: Networking Arguments. A night image of people standing on the sidewalk at Times Square.

Networking Arguments: Rhetoric, Transnational Feminism, and Public Policy Writing

Episode 10 features CCR student Kate Navickas interviewing Rebecca Dingo. A follow-up to the transnational feminism panel held in March (which you can listen to here), Dingo discusses both the theoretical and practical concepts highlighted in her book, Networking Arguments.

To read a PDF of the full transcript, please download it here: Transcript for Episode 10

The music sampled in this podcast is Yacht’s “We Have All We Ever Wanted,” “Emo Step Show” by Custodian of Records, and “Golden” by High Places.

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Episode 9: Overcoming Cancer

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May 242013

Overcoming rhetoric is not limited to disability—we see it in motivational messages every day that ask people not to let obstacles get in their way, as if they can so simply choose to make those decisions. And while Jolie’s op-ed is not about disability per se, there are strong overlaps here to how we make choices about our bodies, how we represent our bodies, and how we literally (through reconstructive surgery) construct our bodies to fit the norms set for them by societal conceptions of “beauty” and “women.”

Billboard image that reads, "Threw cancer a curve ball. Overcoming. Pass it On." Image of a boy in a baseball uniform with one leg.

Billboard image: “Threw cancer a curve ball. Overcoming. Pass it On.” (image via values.com)

This episode addresses the overcoming rhetoric around cancer and the expectations that we set for women’s bodies—a conversation that stems from Angelina Jolie’s May 14th New York Times op-ed titled “My Medical Choice.”

To read a PDF of the full transcript, please download it here: Transcript for Episode 9.

The music sampled in this podcast is “Quartz Boy” and “Cartoon Friend” by Pixie Lord.

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Episode 8: “The Silent Protest” with John Carlos

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May 042013

The video provides details referenced in Carlos’s remarks over the next hour, the conditions of racism that John Carlos’s actions responded to, his childhood in Harlem, how he got involved with the Olympic Project for Human Rights, and other details about how the silent protest was developed and interpreted in its time.

The John Carlos Story (image via johncarlos68.com)

Episode 8 features a recording of Dr. John Carlos’s featured session at CCCC in Las Vegas this past March (read the description here). Shannon Carter, Associate Professor of English from Texas A&M-Commerce, has been working closely with Carlos and introduces his keynote by identifying three themes that are relevant to our field: time, collective action, and reciprocity. In his address, Carlos offers insights into the 1968 Mexico City silent protest, his experiences facing racial prejudice, and the choices we all make as writers working for social justice.

To read a PDF of the full transcript, please download it here: Transcript for Episode 8.

The music sampled in this podcast includes Prefuse 73, J Dilla, Digable Planets, Curtis Mayfield, & Mos Def.

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Episode 7: Transnational Feminism Panel

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Apr 122013

From a feminist perspective, what does it mean to live a rhetorical life in a globalized world? Why is a feminist perspective productive for 2013? What are important sites and lived spaces in which we need to be rhetorical? How do you bring a feminist perspective that highlights a transnational world into your teaching, your administrative duties, your service work, your field commitments, personal life, and your activism? How do you locate transnational issues and sites that are important? And finally, how do you enact a feminist transnational method?

On March 22nd, the CCR Graduate Circle hosted our first live-recorded podcast event: “Feminist Perspectives on Living a Rhetorical Life in a Transnational World.” To facilitate this conversation, we invited a range of diverse speakers with different areas and levels of expertise on transnational feminism and rhetorical studies. Participants in the panel included Rebecca Dingo, Dana Olwan, Anna Hensley, Tim Dougherty, and Eileen Schell.

“Feminist Perspectives on Living a Rhetorical Life in a Transnational World.” Image created by Seth Long.

To read a PDF of the full transcript, please download it here: Transcript for Episode 7.

The music sampled in this podcast is “Stay the Same” by Bonobo.

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Episode 6: Challenges of Specialization with Jim Seitz

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Mar 292013

As undergraduates, students are often unaware of the specializations available to them with their majors and future graduate careers. In an effort to help students negotiate these challenges, Theresa Keicher—a PhD student in the Composition & Cultural Rhetoric program here at SU—spoke with Jim Seitz, Associate Professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh. We asked if he could share some of the productive ways that students could start thinking about specializations within Composition and Rhetoric.

Photograph of Application, The Challenges of Specialization with Jim Seitz

The Challenges of Specialization when Applying to Graduate Programs

Episode 6 explores the process and challenges of specialization that undergraduate and MA students face when applying to English and Composition Studies graduate programs.

To read a PDF of the full transcript, please download it here: Transcript for Episode 6.

The music sampled in this podcast is “One Word Extinguisher” by Prefuse 73.

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Episode 5: The Rhetoric of Occupy Wall Street with Dennis Trainor Jr.

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Mar 152013

There are many rhetorical issues to explore through the Occupy Wall Street movement: the framing of the 99% vs. the 1%, materialist physical rhetorics of occupied space, and so on. We’ll get at those, but it’s also important to note that the most commonly stated victory of the Occupy movement is a rhetorical one. That is, we often hear about the movement changing the national conversation.

American Autumn: an Occudoc (image from democraticunderground.com)

Episode 5 explores the rhetoric of the Occupy Wall Street movement and features an interview with filmmaker Dennis Trainor Jr., who discusses his recent documentary, American Autumn: an Occudoc. This episode also includes a response from Deborah Mutnick, Professor of English at LIU Brooklyn.

To read a PDF of the full transcript, please download it here: Transcript for Episode 5.

The music sampled in this podcast is audio from American Autumn.

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Episode 4: Interview with Jason Palmeri

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Mar 012013

As writers and composition instructors, we struggle to keep up with the influx of new tools and composing spaces, from Twitter and WordPress to tablets and smartphones. Though the digital age might have us believe we live in a unique era, we have always been multimodal, forced to choose between traditional alphabetic writing and other modes of communication, such as speaking, listening, and image making. Or at least, that’s what Jason Palmeri argues in his engaging new book, Remixing Composition, released last spring by Southern Illinois Press.

Remixing Composition: A History of Multimodal Writing Pedagogy by Jason Palmeri

Episode 4 features Jason Palmeri discussing digital and multimodal composing, the challenges of incorporating multimodality into our curricula, and the importance of interdisciplinarity.

To read a PDF of the full transcript, please download it here: Transcript for Episode 4.

The music sampled in this podcast is “One Word Extinguisher” by Prefuse 73.

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