Center for the Study of Rhetoric in Society

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https://hdl.handle.net/10919/54929

At the Center for the Study of Rhetoric in Society, we examine communications in public, nonprofit, academic, corporate, and governmental settings to better understand language in use. How does language inspire people to action? How does writing change society, and why? We search for answers by studying everything from the communication strategies of a national social change movement to “everyday rhetorics” that often go unnoticed or unexamined. All of our research and creative projects combine research methods developed in rhetoric and writing studies with methods across the disciplines. Through externally funded research and outreach, we seek to translate analysis into action. We welcome collaboration and partnerships with other academic units, community organizations, corporations, scholars, and activists in Virginia, the United States, and internationally.

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 42

Autism and Rhetoric
Heilker, Paul V.; Yergeau, M. (National Council of Teachers of English, 2011-05)
By understanding the verbal and nonverbal manifestations of autism as a rhetorical imperative, a perspective that involves applying Krista Ratcliffe's concept of rhetorical listening, scholars can do much to dissolve the idea of otherness that appears in discussions of this topic.
Bennett H. Young and the Rhetoric of Reconciliation
Giguere, Joy M. (Virginia Tech, 2015-11)
Serving twice as Commander-in-Chief of the United Confederate Veterans, and then holding the title of Honorary Commander-in-Chief for Life until his death in 1919, Bennett H. Young was an instrumental figure in expanding the Lost Cause memorialization movement by actively supporting monument projects, attending dedication events, and giving countless orations. Throughout these activities, Young's leadership and visibility vested him with a great deal of authority when it came to shaping the minds of ex-Confederates on issues related to the Lost Cause and white reconciliation. While these two ideals were, and remain today, fundamentally at odds with each other, Young often intertwined them in his speeches, at once exhorting his audiences to revere the cause of the South but to also put to rest old prejudices for the sake of working toward a modern era of peace and prosperity. This paper examines his position as a leader of the Lost Cause movement, with a particular focus on his address delivered at the unveiling of the Confederate Soldiers' Monument at Arlington National Cemetery in 1914.
Bounding Veterans Studies: A Review of the Field
Craig, Jim (Virginia Tech, 2015-11)
Over the past decade, the amount of research and teaching concerning veterans has proliferated to a point where some believe there is an academic discipline of Veterans Studies. Assuming this is correct, what is Veterans Studies? Is it a social science, a humanities subject, a business discipline, or a subset of education research? Alternatively, is Veterans Studies, like veterans themselves, intrinsically multifaceted? Finally, what existing academic disciplines could be instructive for current academics in defining the limits of Veteran Studies? This paper examines the current state of Veterans Studies through a literature review. Following this review, it briefly explores the history and structure of various "Studies" fields to determine if these established disciplines could be instructive for Veterans Studies practitioners.
Bridging a Gap Between Knowledge and Experience: Civilian Views of Military Service
Hayek, Philip (2014-04)
Assume that knowledge can never exceed experience. In the case of studying the military and veterans’ issues, then, how much can a civilian understand, or how much credibility might a civilian have to leverage when making claims about ideology, motives, or identity concerning veterans? Are the experiences of veterans insulated from the public in a way that deflects any possible judgment from outsiders, from civilians? Consider the value judgments concerning the military that reveal a certain binary opposition: I support the troops (read: thank god it’s not me) or I’m anti-military (read: I wouldn’t go if you paid me). Both positions have no hope of catching alive the idea of being a part of that military institution. Can anyone outside of the realm of experience observe, or “know,” and therefore form value judgments about veterans? In this paper, Enlightenment- and Progressive-era rhetoricians like Hugh Blair, Richard Whately, and Wayne Booth, among others, offer insights into how the attitude of the American public and the common sense we share plays a role in defining the tastefulness, or appropriateness, of discourse about veterans. A change in society’s common understanding of what is tasteful will not only limit how ideas are formed, but these boundaries will disqualify any ideas or discourse outside of what is accepted as tasteful. The articulation of our nation’s sentiment surrounding veterans is constricted not only by what is considered tasteful but also by a perceived and actual distance between civilians and military personnel. The burden of proof for arguments concerning the military and veterans rests on civilians who will never have access to the knowledge that experience places in the hands of veterans. Rhetorically, veterans share a common sense language that is removed from the general population, and therefore from popular opinion. Insights from rhetorical theory can be a productive starting point from which to study how veterans as a population resist any value judgments from civilians that fall outside the binary opposition of for or against.
The Changing Face of War
Short, Nancy S. (2014-04-28)
Society has views of warfighters, who they are and the battles they fight. Recently a new group of warfighters have been brought into our consciousness; however, it is necessary to examine how we are influenced by the media, as well as our values and beliefs. Discussion will involve common issues females in the military face, recommendations for future research, and available resources.
The Church: One of the First Military Veterans Organizations
Price, Stuart V. (Virginia Tech, 2015-11)
Today, the Federal Department of Veterans Affairs recognizes well over 100 military veteran organizations including the American Legion, American Veterans (AMVETS), Paralyzed Veterans of America, and Veterans of Foreign Wars. But these assets, these associations, and these contact resources were not always available. I want to show you how the church "in this case the Baptist church" helped two veterans relocate from the battle trenches of the Civil War to the civilian world following General Robert E. Lee's infamous surrender at Appomattox. The reintegration challenges faced by these two veterans and the assistance they received in addressing them demonstrates how, 150 years ago, the church served as one of our first military veterans organizations.
Closing Discussion "The Future of Veterans Studies"
Committee Panel (2014-05-29)
Our conference theme for 2014 is Humanizing the Discourse, a title that speaks to a two-fold aim. We hope to foster increasingly sophisticated dialogue regarding veterans. This requires recognizing the individual humanity of people who can sometimes be turned into one-dimensional caricatures behind headlines, statistics, and stereotypes. In particular, this year we invited contributors to draw on the tools of the arts, humanities, and social sciences in addressing veterans’ issues and shaping policy. Theatre, film, and other narrative formats present rich possibilities for helping render and explicate the complexities of veterans’ experiences — not limited to those of U.S. veterans, nor exclusively those of post-2001 veterans — across historical and cultural contexts. In keeping with our consideration of the humanity of veterans and the variety of their circumstances, we also seek to broaden our discourse with questions such as, “Who ‘counts’ as a veteran?” “How have veterans themselves found — and made — meaning of their military and civilian experiences?” and “How are mixed civilian-military communities talking about veterans issues?” To engage such questions, in addition to traditional sessions featuring up-to-date research from contemporary scholars, we are highlighting a series of featured events.
The Contributions of Veterans in Business and Economy: Africa as a Case Study
Oshigbo, Taiwo Oluwaseyi (2014-04)
This paper discusses the growing influence retired military men and women are now exacting in African society based on their business franchises, which cut across telecoms, agriculture, mining, shipping, oil and gas, broadcasting, small medium enterprise, and more. These are mass-oriented and beneficial investments not only to the society but to the economic growth of their respective nations, which will be advantageous to the collective development of the society and the continent at large. This paper shows a relationship between the period spent as service members and in business careers after retirement, which is a positive indicator and a palliative to stem the idea of young military officers nursing the nocturnal ambition of coup d'etat, since life after service years are no longer an armageddon. This paper takes a periscopic view of how these veterans’ impacts and successes in their new chosen careers have positively affected their immediate communities and beyond in the areas of youth employment and empowerment; capacity building; and re-focusing, re-engineering, and social development indicative of a transformation that underscores a paradigm shift in people’s perception of the men and women in khaki.
Defense to Degree: Accelerating Engineering Degree Completion for Military Veterans
Soldan, David L.; Gruenbacher, Don; Schulz, Noel; Hageman, William B.; Vogt, Blythe; Natarajan, Rekha (Virginia Tech, 2013-04-15)
This paper will focus on the accelerated track for military veterans into bachelor's degrees in engineering. It is important to have contact with the military veteran prior to their arriving on campus to begin their schooling. Current policies give little credit for military experience or training. The development of on-line pre and post assessments and subject based tutorials are being used to accelerate the veteran's entry into the electrical engineering circuit theory sequence and the traditional mathematics sequence. Veterans may have a base of technical knowledge acquired through the technical nature of their service posts. Assigning them to introductory level courses with traditional freshman and sophomore students does not respect their technical expertise nor challenge their capabilities and accustomed pace.
Examining the Differences in Veterans and Non-Veterans at the Chronic Pain Management Unit
Jiwani, Alisha; Hapidou, Eleni G. (2014-04)
The CPMU consists of both veterans and non-veterans who exhibit a wide range of chronic pain problems. In this study, it is hypothesized that veterans and non-veterans will score better at discharge than at admission, based on expected trends. In addition, due to their combat exposure, it is predicted that veterans will score differently than non-veterans on a variety of pain-related measures. It is predicted that veterans will exhibit more anxiety and fear-related symptoms than non-veterans. Patient information was extracted from the CPMU database in order to obtain demographics, program evaluation scores, and MMPI-2 scores. Fifteen veterans were matched with fifteen non-veterans based on age, gender, time of admission, and pain duration. A two-way ANOVA with repeated measures on one factor was conducted on each of the measures at admission and discharge for veterans and non-veterans. Paired t-tests were used for MMPI-2 scores and discharge only variables to assess any differences between veterans and non-veterans. Intuitively, many of the significant results illustrated that upon discharge, most subjects performed better on measures that were encouraged by multidisciplinary treatment programs. Results also indicated that scores on the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), and on both task persistence and seeking social support dimensions of the Chronic Pain Coping Inventory (CPCI) were different for veterans and non-veterans depending on when they completed the questionnaires. Veteran scores were consistent with our hypothesis across measures that detected significant group by session interactions. Further studies need to be conducted to gain a better understanding of the differences between veteran and non-veteran profiles.
Examining the Motives for Veterans Writing Workshops: Is It Clinical, Political, Instructional, or All the Above?
Morris, Paul J. "Skip" (Virginia Tech, 2013-04-15)
This paper surveys some of the issues involved with forming a veterans writing group. There appear to be three reasons for starting a veterans writing group: therapy, politics, or instruction, and these intentions often merge. Through interviews with administers and facilitators of veterans writing groups, I examine these motives in an attempt to show college English teachers the challenges they could face when they move beyond the instructional into the clinical or political.
Heal: An Experience Report
Williamson, Richard A. (Virginia Tech, 2015-11)
For over ten years I have been learning about life with a son who experiences Post- Traumatic Stress. My experiences with both the roadblocks and the resources from my adventure into this realm of the unknown have led me down multiple and conflicting pathways. I have narrowed my energies and focus into an attempt to create a space for healing for our Veterans and their families. Through vast amounts of networking, I have realized the multitude of opportunities available for our Veterans. My goal is to share my experiences with others who may be attempting similar feats to my own and perhaps my history will help others to achieve their goals.
How Do Military Veteran Students Write? Exploring the Effectiveness of Current Writing Pedagogy
Singleton, Meredith (2014-04-28)
Through Post-911 GI Bill benefits, military veterans are flooding college admissions offices and writing classes at rates not seen since the World War II era. According to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, over 1 million veterans attended colleges and universities between 2009 and 2013; and 53.6 percent of veteran students using benefits applied them toward completing undergraduate work at a college or vocational/technical school (“Annual Benefits Report,” 2011). Clearly, many writing instructors will likely encounter a military veteran in their classes in the near future. Unlike the majority of first-year and undergraduate writing students, these students bring with them deeply engrained professional training that starkly contrasts with current writing pedagogy. Contemporary writing curricula teach and engage traditional students in communal writing practices focused on self-exploration and personal meaning-making. However, for the returning military veteran, these strategies may prove problematic. Through training in highly structured environments, they learn to do as instructed, not ask questions, and successfully complete the tasks assigned, with little room for error or personal adaptation. In an incredible culture shock, and in direct contrast with their previous superiors, writing instructors encourage these students to determine strategies that work based on personal preferences, actively avoiding prescriptive writing instruction and shunning the idea of presenting writing as a successive, inflexible process. College writing instructors, therefore, need to ask whether or not current writing pedagogy meets the needs of military veteran students and employs their professional training. Furthermore, what can instructors do to better assist these students as they transition from military to academic training? Thus, this substantial shift in the writing student profile presents an opportunity to re-evaluate current teaching strategies to determine approaches that will more directly tap in to these students’ highly developed skills. This paper responds to Hart and Thompson’s call to action (2013) to writing programs and instructors to begin exploring their veteran populations. Seeking a better understanding of the military veteran student’s unique training, this paper contrasts current military training materials with practices and approaches in the writing classroom. This paper addresses the assumption that entry-level writing students succeed in an environment where they are free to explore flexible writing strategies and methods, an assumption that may leave veteran students at a distinct disadvantage. The results of this analysis call into question the effectiveness of current writing pedagogy for this particular audience, suggesting rather a composition pedagogy that returns to cognitivist theories of composing (Flower, 1989; Flower & Hayes, 1981) and recognizes that these students have learned to succeed in very prescriptive, rigid environments. This paper suggests that it may benefit these students to learn the academic writing process through their prior frame of reference, rather than through the less structured one of current pedagogy. Expanding on an initial case study of one military veteran college writer, the ultimate goal of this research is to explore alternative, effective pedagogies that better intersect with the military training these students possess.
Last Night I Dreamed of Peace: The Diary of Dang Thuy Tram. War, Writing, Reconciliation
Duffey, Suellynn (Virginia Tech, 2015-11)
Last Night I Dreamed of Peace: The Diary of Dang Thuy Tram is a diary written by a North Vietnamese field physician serving in South Vietnam during the war we fought there who treated Vietnamese communists and nationalists whom American GIs had wounded. The diary was captured by an American GI, Fred Whitehurst, kept against military regulations, and held for thirty-five years because of the deep affection Whitehurst had developed for the diarist and his desire to return it to her family. After the family was finally found, the diary was published, first in Vietnam and subsequently in our country and eventually in many others. The stories of its finding, its long life in Whitehurst's possession, its return, and publication globally are significant stories of reconciliations across tense, conflictual boundaries.
Images of Reintegration: Alternative Visual Rhetorics of the Returning World War II Soldier
Grant, Leonard Francis III (Virginia Tech, 2015-11)
During World War II, comic books and movies buoyed the public's spirits and offered hope to combat the uncertainty of a world at war. However, these visual media often did so at the expense of portraying authentic military veterans and the struggles they faced repatriating after WWII. This presentation examines two cases, the comics of Bill Mauldin and John Huston's Let There Be Light, that slipped the boundaries of their genres to portray the unglamorous lives soldiers returned home to. By defying viewers' expectations, these images created powerful visual arguments for greater social opportunities for returning warriors. This presentation offers a rhetorical analysis of the visuals these artists created and reviews how their legacy is being continued today with comics and movies that are designed to help warriors repatriate and the public to understand their needs.
Local Military Matters: Bridging the Military-Civilian Gap through College-Community Interactions
Hart, D. Alexis (Virginia Tech, 2015-11)
The call for papers for the 3rd annual Veterans in Society Conference included a statement made by President Ruscio of Washington & Lee University in which he wondered "whether people with different backgrounds, different experiences and different opinions can address difficult questions and, if not necessarily agree with one another, at least strive, with mutual respect, to better understand each other and to find common ground." Similar questions have been asked by generations of military veterans with respect to the potential impact of their military backgrounds and experiences in their lives as civilians. The oft-cited PEW Research Center's 2011 study of war and sacrifice in the Post-9/11 era draws attention to the "military-civilian gap" and notes that this gap "is much wider among younger respondents." Consequently, as Woll writes, "Reintegration challenges can be particularly pronounced for young service members and veterans enrolling in or returning to colleges, universities . . . where most of the students are younger and lack experience with and exposure to the military." Such lack of experience and understanding on the part of "traditional" college students not only can lead to student-veterans feeling frustrated or isolated in classrooms but also, at an extreme, result in behaviors such as those of the University of Florida fraternity members whose chapter was suspended after an incident in which disabled military veterans were verbally insulted and spat upon.

In an effort to bridge the "military-civilian gap" and to help military veterans and college students "better understand each other," I designed a first-year seminar titled "Meadville's Military Matters" in which first-year college students at a fouryear liberal arts college interacted with, interviewed, and composed profiles and "war stories" (using David Venditta's War Stories: In Their Own Words as a model) for military veterans in the local community. While doing so, the students were asked to develop responses to the questions: Why does the military matter to the local community, to the nation, the world? What military matters have shaped the local community's economy, history, landscape, etc.?
MILITARY BRATS: A Living Study in Race Relations
Musil, Donna (Virginia Tech, 2015-11)
In 1948, President Harry Truman issued Executive Order 9981, desegregating the United States military. Much has been written about the Order's effect on soldiers; almost none about the powerful effect it has had on generations of military children, who began living in the same neighborhoods and attending the same schools, churches, and playgrounds twenty years before the Civil Rights Movement exploded. Racist speech was also prohibited and defiant children were immediately reported to their parent's commanding officer, who could reprimand or demote their parent. How did this shape the racial attitudes and identity of military children? How have they benefitted and what have been the biggest challenges transitioning out of the military? How might their experiences provide a window into possible solutions for other areas torn by racial strife? These are just a few of the questions "Military Brats: A Living Study in Race Relations" will discuss.
Military Experience and the Arts: Bridging the Gap Between Military and Civilian Cultures Through Creative Expression Scholarship
Martin, Travis L. (Virginia Tech, 2013-04-15)
This paper considers the arts as a means of engaging veterans' military experiences, to help in reframing trauma and helping veterans use their pasts to move into positive futures. The author provides motivations and background on the material and explains the role of the arts in expressing and rendering military experience, before moving into the theory and practice of the arts-especially writing-as a path to healing and acceptance.
Models of the Post-Racial World? Rhetorics of Race among U.S. Military Brats
Nobles, Heidi (Virginia Tech, 2015-11)
The U.S. military has long been claimed as a model for racial integration, having been integrated by executive order before the general population; significantly, too, the military is constantly shuffling but organized by service branch and rank, and so installation neighborhoods are more prone to organized diversity than their civilian counterparts, which tend toward homogeneity based on race and class. For the estimated two million children growing up in this system, such experiences of diversity provoke worthwhile questions of what influence those military children will have upon leaving the military system for the civilian world. Many have speculated that military children are more comfortable with constructive racial integration than their civilian peers; as third culture kids, they have been referred to as prototypes for the future due to their blended identities and global backgrounds. Yet as sociologist Dr. Morton Ender noted back in 2006, no one has yet done a study specifically looking at race among military kids; as of 2015, as far as I can tell, this claim remains true. In this paper, I look at the content and quality of what now-adult military kids say about race to explore the constructive elements of their rhetoric about race in and after the system, as well as to consider the unique challenges and anxieties involved in living out racial experiences in unusual and shifting environments.
Moving Words / Words that Move: An Analysis of Discursive Practices Plaguing U.S. Servicewomen
Grohowski, Mariana (Virginia Tech, 2013-04-15)
Through a rhetorical analysis of three terms commonly used in military culture to describe servicewomen, this paper aims to inform instructors of the influence repeated exposure to visual/verbal practices (Fleckenstein; Sheridan-Rabideau) can have on female student veterans. The three terms focused on in this paper are: 1) "trou" used to refer to West Point female cadets' body shape; 2) the phrase "Queen for a Year," which is the "default status" all women are ascribed in the Armed Forces; and 3) the military cadence or "Jody call," which couples the call and response of sexually‑degrading messages with marching in formation. After establishing the exigency for increased attention to the effects of (military) cultured language practices have on female student veterans; a rhetorical analysis of the three terms commonly used in military culture to describe servicewomen follows; before closing with pedagogical implications for cultivating a pedagogy of inclusion for female student veterans, through a critical engagement with language.

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