Latour – On Interobjectivity
Latour, Bruno. “On Interobjectivity.” Mind, Culture, and Activity 3 4 (1996). 228-245. Print. Latour echoes the questions that come to the fore at the beginning of Reassembling the Social early on this piece: namely, how do we understand society? Is it determined by a superstructure or does it only occur through interactions between two participants? Is there a middle ground? When we observe interaction are we merely observing the... Read More
Gries – Practicing Methods in Ancient Cultural Rhetorics: Uncovering Rhetorical Action in Moche Burial Rituals
Laurie Gries – “Practicing Methods in Ancient Cultural Rhetorics: Uncovering Rhetorical Action in Moche Burial Rituals” in Rhetorics of the Americas 3114 BCE to 2012 CE G. claims that studying cultures on their own terms is the future of ancient non-Western rhetorical historiography. In this piece she will demonstrate what that looks like. The use of symbols inscribed on material artifiacts will be the main means of meeting Pre-Columbian... Read More
Schiappa – Sophistic Rhetoric: Image or Mirage?
Schiappa – “Sophistic Rhetoric: Oasis or Mirage?” S. begins by noting that the sophistic turn is valuable in contemporary rhetorical studies as it provides scholars who see the working of discourse rooted in ancient Greece an alternative to the Platonic and Aristotelian traditions. Yet, Schiappa sees this move as merely an act of mimesis – upon further scrutiny, the relationship between historical sophistical rhetoric and the current situation... Read More
CCR760 – Miller, Rutter, Sullivan, Lay, Slack et. al.
Readings from Johnson-Eilola and Selber’s Central Works in Technical Communication Miller, C. (1979, 2004). A humanistic rationale for technical communication. 47-54. Rutter, R. (1991, 2004). History, rhetoric, & humanism: Toward a more comprehensive definition of technical communication. 20-34. Sullivan, D.L. (1990, 2004). Political-ethical implications of defining technical communication as a practice. 211-219. Lay,... Read More
CCR691 – Network – Ch. 6 – for Comment
Spinuzzi, Clay. Network: Theorizing Knowledge Work in Communications. New York: Cambridge UP, 2008. Chapter Six: Is Our Network Learning? Summary: In this chapter S. discusses how the nature of work has changed fundamentally in the age of informational capitalism. By referring to workers as “deskilled” (Haraway), “dividuals” (Deleuze), “reskilled” (Castells), and “lifelong learners” (Zuboff and Maxmin), S. points out that the... Read More
