U of M Rhetoric Center Will Open with Conference Oct. 22
For release: October 14, 2004
For press information, contact Gabrielle Maxey

The University of Memphis will mark the opening of its Center for the Study of Rhetoric and Applied Communications with a mini-conference Friday, Oct. 22, in the Fogelman Executive Center, Room 123. The public is invited to the free event.
The schedule of lectures is as follows:

9:15 a.m. - "Friends, Enemies, Neighbors: The Cultural Politics of Shining Cities and Evil Empires" by Stephen Mailloux, professor of English and rhetoric at the University of California, Irvine. His most recent book is Reception Histories: Rhetoric, Pragmatism and American Cultural Politics.

10:45 a.m. - "Negotiating the Meaning of Pain: Comparing Text and Performance in Patient-Physician Communication" by Barbara Sharf, professor of communication at Texas A&M University and co-author of Communicating Health: Personal, Cultural and Political Complexities and The Physician's Guide to Better Communication.

Noon - Lunch break

2 p.m. - The John Bakke Lecture in Communication: "Presidential Debates as Practical Politics" by Craig Ralph Smith, professor of communication at California State University, Long Beach, and president of the Freedom of Speech Foundation. He has served as a speechwriter and consultant for several prominent political leaders, including former Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush.

3:30 p.m. - The Michael Osborn Lecture in Communication: "A Viewer's Guide to the Presidential Debates" by David Zarefsky, professor of argumentation and debate at Northwestern University. He is past president of the National Communication Association and president-elect of the Rhetoric Society of America.

5 p.m. - Reception in the lobby of the Communication and Fine Arts Building

For more information, call 678-2565.

More News Releases