Rhetoricity

Eric Detweiler
Rhetoricity

Rhetoricity is a quasi-academic podcast that draws on rhetoric, theory, weird sound effects, and the insights of a lot of other people. It's something that's a little strange and, with luck, a little interesting. The podcast's description will evolve along with it. So far, most episodes feature interviews with rhetoric and writing scholars. The podcast is a project of Eric Detweiler, an assistant professor in the Department of English at Middle Tennessee State University. For more on Rhetoricity and his other work, visit http://RhetEric.org.

  1. 10/06/2023

    "The Path Chose Me": Keith Gilyard on His Career, Writing, and Legacy

    This episode features an interview with Dr. Keith Gilyard conducted by guest host Dr. Derek G. Handley during the 2023 Rhetoric Society of America Summer Institute at Penn State University. They discuss Gilyard's path to a career in rhetoric, writing, and composition studies; his writing process and creative writing; academic mentorship and leadership; and his legacy and contributions to the field of African American rhetoric. Keith Gilyard is the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of English and African American Studies at Penn State University. He formerly was a member of the faculty at Syracuse University and at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York. He served as Thomas R. Watson Visiting Distinguished Professor of Rhetoric and Composition at the University of Louisville and as Presidential Scholar-in-Residence at the University of Oklahoma. The author of twenty-four books, his works include the education memoir Voices of the Self (1991), Composition and Cornel West (2008), On African American Rhetoric (with Adam Banks, 2018), biographies of John Oliver Killens (2011) and Louise Thompson Patterson (2017), the novella The Next Great Old-School Conspiracy (2015), and the poetry collections Impressions (2021) and On Location (2023). Gilyard is a former Chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication and former president of the National Council of Teachers of English. He is the recipient of two American Book Awards, the CCCC Exemplar Award, the NCTE Distinguished Service Award, and the RSA Cheryl Geisler Award for Outstanding Mentor. This episode features a clip from "Super Glue" by Plushgoolash. Episode Transcript

    1h 6m
  2. 08/30/2023

    AI Goes to College: Large Language Models and the Teaching of Writing

    This episode of Rhetoricity features members of the MLA-CCCC Joint Task Force on AI and Writing: Antonio Byrd, Holly Hassel, Sarah Z. Johnson, Anna Mills, and Elizabeth Losh. The task force also includes Leonardo Flores, David Green, Matthew Kirschenbaum, and A. Lockett. In July 2023, that task force published a working paper laying out issues, principles, and recommendations related to the effects of generative artificial-intelligence tools on the college writing courses. In this episode's roundtable discussion, these task force members clarify some of the terminology around AI technologies, reflect on the process of writing the working paper, and discuss the pedagogical, historical, and labor implications of large language models for students and teachers working in higher education. This episode is part of The Big Rhetorical Podcast Carnival 2023, which runs from August 28–31. The theme of this year's carnival is "Artificial Intelligence: Applications and Trajectories," and it features a keynote by Dr. Isabel Pedersen. Other participating podcasts include 10-Minute Tech Comm; Defend, Publish and Lead; Kairoticast; Live Theory; Neurodissent; Pedagogue; TC Talk; and Writing Remix. Here's a list of some of the materials referenced in this episode: The task force's Quick Start Guide TextGenEd: Teaching with Text Generation Technologies, including Antonio Byrd's chapter "Using LLMs as Peer Reviewers for Revising Essays" Anna Mills's How Arguments Work Black in AI Kate Crawford's Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence The White House's Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights Kathryn Conrad's "A Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights for Education" Hugging Face The Wall Street Journal's "Cleaning Up ChatGPT Takes Heavy Toll on Human Workers" The Washington Post's "Behind the AI Boom, an Army of Overseas Workers in 'Digital Sweatshops'" Memes of the brawl in Montgomery, Alabama This episode features a clip from "Artificial Problems" by Smoked Meat Fax Machine. Episode Transcript

    59 min
  3. 06/01/2021

    Crossing Over with Cedric Burrows

    This episode features an interview with Cedric Burrows conducted by guest interviewer Derek G. Handley. Their conversation focuses on Dr. Burrows' 2020 book Rhetorical Crossover: The Black Presence in White Culture. Along with many other topics, they discuss his writing process, the music and social movements he takes up in his research, the role of personal stories in theoretical writing and Black intellectual traditions, and how he decided to pursue a career in rhetoric and composition. Dr. Burrows is an assistant professor in the Department of English at Marquette University. In addition to being the author of Rhetorical Crossover, he has published work in an array of scholarly journals and was the winner of Marquette's 2020 Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Faculty Award. Dr. Derek Handley is an assistant professor in the English Department at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he is also affiliate faculty in the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies. He is currently working on a book project that explores the rhetorical and civic actions taken by African Americans in Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, and St. Paul, Minnesota, during the 1950s and ‘60s as they attempted to protect their communities from urban renewal. This episode includes clips from the following: "Milwaukee" by talons' "Leftovers" by Millie Jackson "What a Difference a Day Makes" by Dinah Washington "Big Long Slidin' Thing" by Dinah Washington The Five Heartbeats "Mrs. Huxtable Goes to Kindergarten" The Story of Funk: One Nation Under a Groove Episode Transcript

    56 min
  4. 04/11/2021

    Demanding Black Linguistic Justice: An Interview with April Baker-Bell

    This episode features guest interviewer Derek G. Handley speaking with Dr. April Baker-Bell. They discuss Dr. Baker-Bell's book Linguistic Justice: Black Language, Literacy, Identity, and Pedagogy as well as her work on such projects as the Black Language Syllabus and "This Ain't Another Statement! This is a DEMAND for Black Linguistic Justice!" Dr. April Baker-Bell is a transdisciplinary teacher-researcher-activist and Associate Professor of Language, Literacy, and English Education in the Department of English and Department of African American and African Studies at Michigan State University. A national leader in conversations on Black Language education, her research interrogates the intersections of Black language and literacies, anti-Black racism, and antiracist pedagogies, and is concerned with antiracist writing, critical media literacies, Black feminist-womanist storytelling, and self-preservation for Black women in academia, with an emphasis on early career Black women. Baker-Bell’s award-winning book, Linguistic Justice: Black Language, Literacy, Identity, and Pedagogy, brings together theory, research, and practice to dismantle Anti-Black Linguistic Racism (a term Baker-Bell coined) and white linguistic supremacy. The book provides ethnographic snapshots of how Black students navigate and negotiate their linguistic and racial identities across multiple contexts, and it captures what Antiracist Black Language Pedagogy looks like in community with Black youth. Linguistic Justice features a range of multimodal examples and practices through instructional maps, charts, artwork, and stories that reflect the urgent need for antiracist language pedagogies in our current social and political climate.   Baker-Bell is the recipient of many awards and fellowships, including the 2021 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's New Directions Fellowship, the 2021 Michigan State University's Community Engagement Scholarship Award and the 2021 Distinguished Partnership Award for Community-Engaged Creative Activity, the 2020 NCTE George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language, the 2019 Michigan State University Alumni Award for Innovation & Leadership in Teaching and Learning, and the 2018 AERA Language and Social Processes Early Career Scholar Award. Dr. Derek G. Handley is an assistant professor in the English Department at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he is also affiliate faculty in the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies. He’s currently working on a book project that explores the rhetorical and civic actions taken by African Americans in Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, and St. Paul, Minnesota, during the 1950s and ‘60s as they attempted to protect their communities from urban renewal. He is also collaborating on a digital public humanities project with his UW-Milwaukee colleague Anne Bonds entitled “Mapping Racism and Resistance in Milwaukee County.” That project uses GIS mapping and rhetorical analysis of racial housing covenants and African American resistance to them in Milwaukee County. This episode contains a clip from Podington Bear's "Detroit." Episode Transcript

    1h 2m
4.7
out of 5
21 Ratings

About

Rhetoricity is a quasi-academic podcast that draws on rhetoric, theory, weird sound effects, and the insights of a lot of other people. It's something that's a little strange and, with luck, a little interesting. The podcast's description will evolve along with it. So far, most episodes feature interviews with rhetoric and writing scholars. The podcast is a project of Eric Detweiler, an assistant professor in the Department of English at Middle Tennessee State University. For more on Rhetoricity and his other work, visit http://RhetEric.org.

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