Dr. Tania S. Smith_
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Winter 2010 |
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Dr. Tania S. Smith, Assistant Professor Undergraduate Communications
Studies (COMS) Program Coordinator E-mail : smit@ucalgary.ca
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Rhetoric is the study and practice of persuasive and informative communication. Rhetorical practice may involve ethical or coercive purposes, occur in public and private settings, and is used in genres as diverse as debate, conversation, teaching, fiction, and technical report writing. Rhetoric contributes a body of practical theories that help people to adapt their spoken and written communication to specific audiences and purposes. Rhetorical theory helps communicators to understand the opportunities and limitations of their social context, their own public character, the use of emotional appeals, and rational argumentation and evidence. The same theories can be used to critique the rhetorical strategies and purposes of others. An ethical approach to rhetoric involves active listening, careful research, strong reasoning, and inviting one's audiences to mutual understanding and socially responsible action. |
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As a branch of the humanities and one of the original "liberal arts", rhetoric investigates the dynamics of discourse through qualitative, textual, historical, and philosophical methods, and through reflective praxis. Rhetoricians study the meaning of discourse in relationship to its social and political context and its creators' intentions and identities. Rhetoric has historically tended to focus on spoken and written language more than other symbolic means of communication, and therefore rhetoric borders closely upon linguistics and literary studies. Because of its long, contentious relationship with philosophy, logic and science, rhetoricians have generated a large body of epistemology (theory of knowledge). We are interested in questions regarding how we come to know and believe certain things as individuals and societies through the mediation of language in context. Rhetoric also has a very strong tradition of investigation into the study and practice of advanced education, since it is concerned about how rhetorical theories and practices are best learned by advanced students who already have fundamental skills of communication. |
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