Rhetoric and Public Culture

• Cluster Requirements

This interdisciplinary program of study addresses foundational problems in both the practice of democracy and the conduct of inquiry.   “Rhetoric” refers to systematic study of how texts, images, and other media operate as a mode of action.  It comprises a civic art, a hermeneutical method, and a continuing challenge to all systems of classification.  Historically, this study has ranged from reflection on the practice of public address within the first democratic societies, to a tradition of technical craft and instruction in civic, clerical, and literary composition, to a general theory of the discursive constitution of knowledge and power.  Because of the scope of the linguistic turn in the human sciences during the 20th century, “rhetoric” now provides a pertinent basis for reflection on the discursive and organizational conventions of contemporary scholarship.  Such reflection is becoming increasingly necessary as scholarship and democracy alike adapt to new communication technologies and related elements of globalization defining the 21st century. 

“Public Culture” delineates a fundamental feature of modern civil society: the network of media and social practices organized around political participation. Three basic assumptions guide scholarly study of public culture:  First, publics emerge through the interplay of a wide range of arts, media, and other modes of performance.  Second, public identity involves specific habits of audience response and social interaction that have contingent relationships to other forms of power.  Third, public agency operates through both political institutions and other communicative practices that are more vernacular, nomadic, or transitory.  Because they are at once distinctively modern, inherently pluralistic, and inevitably contested, public cultures have become vital political forms in an increasingly interconnected world.

Thus, “rhetoric and public culture” denotes study of the communicative practices by which public culture is created, sustained, modified, and challenged.  The program welcomes scholars who wish to be both attentive to rhetoric and engaged with important intellectual and political discourses that cross the disciplines and other institutional boundaries.

Students interested in pursuing a PhD in African-American Studies, Art History, Communication Studies, Comparative Literary Studies, English, French and Italian, German Literature and Critical Thought, History, Music, Performance Studies, Philosophy, Political Science, Religion, Slavic Languages and Literatures, Sociology, Spanish and Portuguese and Theatre and Drama are encouraged to find a second intellectual “home” in this interdisciplinary cluster.

How to Participate

There are many different ways for faculty and students to participate in the intellectual life of the cluster. Many cluster events, such as visiting lecturers and conferences, are open to all members of the University. Cluster seminars are open to graduate students across the University. We encourage all students, faculty, and staff of Northwestern to learn more about our research and activities by participating in our public events.

Prospective or current graduate students interested in joining the cluster cohort should contact Professor Robert Hariman r-hariman@northwestern.edu, or other cluster faculty at any time.  Matriculating graduate students should indicate their interest when they apply to their respective graduate programs.

Additional program information is available at the Rhetoric and Public Culture page, Department of Communication Studies (http://www.communication.northwestern.edu/programs/phd_communication_studies/).