‘Rhetoric’ has a bad rap – but some of the original rhetoricians’ techniques can actually help foster productive conversations.
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Ryan Leack, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Ancient Greek philosophers despised the Sophists’ rhetoric because it searched for relative truth, not absolutes. But learning how to do that thoughtfully can help constructive debates.
Sure, you can try to force people to agree with you – but respectful persuasion is something else.
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The events of Jan. 6, 2021, have been called an insurrection. The same word has often been used to describe the mostly forgotten rebellions against plantation owners by enslaved people.
An image of a mock gallows on the grounds of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is shown during a House committee hearing.
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
There are genuine political disagreements, and then there are time-worn strategies for selling denial to the public. A sociologist breaks down the patterns.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump rally in Bedminster, N.J., on Aug. 14, 2022.
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Threats to law enforcement have risen in the aftermath of the FBI raid on former President Trump’s Florida estate. Does ‘message laundering’ by top GOP figures have something to do with it?
An image of a mock gallows on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is shown as the House select committee holds hearings in June 2022 into the attack.
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
It’s easy to consider the erosion of democratic norms in the U.S. as purely political, but it poses serious risks to the country’s economic order. Is democracy in the gallows?
In hackathons, people come together to build more extensive and cohesive datasets.
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“Hackathons” can imply breaching security and privacy. To more accurately reflect their creative and constructive intent, they can be referred to instead as “datathons” or “code fests.”
A family poses in front of their sod house in Custer County, Neb., in 1887.
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The ways Americans talk about firearms is full of contradictions, two communication scholars explain – and that powerfully shapes the country’s approach to gun policy.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the U.S. Congress on March 16, 2022.
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In a speech that touched on America’s darkest days and most inspirational leaders, Ukraine’s embattled president made a powerful call for stronger action on Russia.
The impacts of our words should be of greater concern in our political discourse.
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If we learn how to disengage from communication circuits that lay the groundwork for fear and aggression, we have a better chance of managing conflict constructively.
Delivered under the eyes of history.
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Billed as a speech from a leader making daring decisions to fix the nation, the prime minister’s conference appearance rapidly descended into jokes about beavers.
A mural depicting Breonna Taylor is seen being painted at Chambers Park on July 5, 2020 in Annapolis, Maryland.
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Lee M. Pierce, State University of New York, College at Geneseo
When there is nothing new to say, pegging news stories to the anniversaries of the deaths of Black Americans objectifies the victims and helps make violence ordinary.
Instead of asking how universities might benefit from shifting courses online permanently, we ought to ask how students might suffer from fewer opportunities for lived experience and practice.
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Metaphors are not used for their own sake in politics, but as part of a strategy to persuade a particular audience to accept a point of view, and act accordingly
Fringe groups have long understood that capturing the public’s attention is the best way to spread their views.
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For many extremist groups, a primary goal is to spread their ideology. Costumes and uniforms – even ridiculous ones – are a form of spectacle that can garner attention and interest.
The lines between political fandom and sports fandom have blurred.
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Researchers find that the most devoted fans take their team’s defeats personally and often blame losses on the refs or cheating. Sound familiar?
Trump addresses a crowd in Dalton, Georgia, on Jan. 4, the night before the state’s U.S. Senate runoff.
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