KirtWilson |
human of necessity but rhetorician by choice |
Coach Obama says, “Let’s win this one.”
Watching the President’s speech on the economy last night, there was one image that I couldn’t get out of my head–the stern high school coach standing in the locker room after the first half of a difficult football game.
Here is my take, for my undergraduate course, on the president's economic speech last night.
I am teaching a course this Fall on presidential rhetoric, and I've decided on two things. First, to use the Obama administration as a test case for the hypothesis that presidential "rhetoric/communication" is shifting due to technology and, second, to use a lot of technology in the class. If you are interested in this undergraduate course, you can find information and subscribe to its RSS feed here. Only course students will be commenting on the posts, however, so send me any ideas directly: kirtwilson@psu.edu.
Interesting piece of media criticism by BagNews about how women politicians are portrayed by the media. Notice the links among gender, language that invokes the terms crazy, mad, raging, and angry, and the visual emphasis of eyes and mouths. Click on the image above.
I've created a short blog entry for the Digital Research initiative at PSU exploring the possibilities of Google+ as a system for academic collaboration. Click the link above.
I and several colleagues at Penn State have agreed to contribute to a new blog titled Digital Research in the Liberal Arts. Right now most of the blog's posts focus on mobile technologies like the iPad, but I suspect that its subject matter will expand in the coming months. Check it out.
Carefully prescribed gender roles and everything.
So it is another crummy weather day here in Minneapolis. I woke up to rain and it has now turned to snow. I feel just like the little man in this web (flash) based game called Icycle. If you have a little down time today, I recommend that you check it out. (arrows to move, space to jump) Just make sure you get your grading done, first!
Update: follow the link for a larger version of the flash game.
There are moments when a full atmospheric style suit seems to be just what the Dr. ordered to get you through the day. Nothing sticks to this shell, my friend. Well, with the exception of barnacles, I guess.
Kirt Wilson is an Associate Professor of political communication, oratory, and rhetoric theory at Penn State University.
