Politicians, preachers, and pupils sometimes make statements we deem lies. From the perspective of psychology and rhetoric, however, “lies” do not necessarily exist. Everything uttered speaks to manifestations of hopes and fears. For example, sometimes fellow professors complain when students… Read More ›
rhetoric
A song, a television show, and two thoughts.
Terra Naomi’s “Say It’s Possible,” a powerful song inspired by Vice President Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, has captured my fascination since first hearing it in 2007. You can watch it here. Lyrics are here. Of all the lyrics I find… Read More ›
“Overcoming Disabilities,” Normativity, and Rhetoric – Hidden Power of Words Series, #28
Earlier today I was writing a letter of recommendation for a student. Through the process of describing their academic abilities and experiences, it finally occurred to me that all-too-often how we talk about academic success–for students with any type of… Read More ›
A few thoughts about Christmas songs, the related theologies, and traditions.
A powerful lesson happens when we have understandings of the past informed by evidence: the realization that most things considered “traditional” or as having lasted forever are actually new developments–often in the past century, sometimes in the past decade or… Read More ›
Mark Zuckerberg, Rhetoric, and the “Huge Healthy Glacier”
Rhetoric always matters. Just days after scientists (science is real!) announced that a trillion ton glacier broke off of Antarctica, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg made this calculated post: From a perspective of intertextuality, it’s only real purpose can be to falsely… Read More ›
21 Assumptions Revealed by 21 Words and Pieces of Plastic Claiming to Support Soldiers
We seldom stop and think about how much we assume and how much our world assumes of us. In this blog article, I do a detailed analysis of such a situation working form the following display. I’m not pointing to… Read More ›