This article defines research centers as associative enterprises for solving scholarly and societal problems that cannot be adequately addressed by individuals. The authors identify more than fifty research centers in rhetoric and writing, past and present, and argue that they function as change agents by emphasizing collaboration and conducting…

Explores the tension between critical rhetoric's "doxa" and a modernistic "episteme." Develops a revised conception of doxa positioned within a critical rhetoric, which is contrasted to episteme. Advances a conception of prudence (practical wisdom) that uses doxa as its underpinnings. Argues that the actions of the agent may be…

Challenges an ideology hidden within the history of rhetoric that privileges one form of the art over another--one approach moves outward toward the social world of public affairs, the other inward toward the center of the human soul. Recounts several "moments" in the creation, repression, and eventual recovery of a rhetoric of the…

Outlines the elements of the human rhetorical potential, arguing for a psychologically plausible theory of meaning. Examines recent work in cognitive neural science to see if the human rhetorical potential is biologically, or neurologically, plausible. Suggests further research on the human rhetorical potential as it relates to discourse…

Argues that key documents of the Chicano movement--El Plan Espiritual de Aztlan and El Plan de Santa Barbara--can best be understood through their expression of ideographs. Suggests that these plans were deployed to secure support for the movement and to sustain a particular ideology. Suggests that the plans express the deep cultural roots of the…

Invites rhetorical critics to reappraise the way they study discreet social movements and pay isolated tribute to woman's rights figures. Examines how Mary Wollstonecraft, Margaret Fuller, and Angelina Grimke each co-opted the ideational and stylistic rhetorical characteristics of pre-existing social movements (the enlightenment,…

Presents basic research on the concept of rhetorical coherence, analyzing an actual welfare interview emersed in controversy. Suggests a pentad of criteria necessary for the achievement of rhetorical coherence. (SR)

Reviews criticism of Philip Wander's 1983 article, "The Ideological Turn in Modern Criticism." Shows how critics of Wander's "ideological criticism" subscribed to an essentialist notion of rhetoric, adopted a theory of innocent reading, and displayed unexamined prejudices about canonical texts. Urges academic rhetoricians to acknowledge that all…

Addresses the debate over rhetoric's epistemic status in terms of Nietzsche's critique of epistemology. Suggests that Nietzsche's aestheticism provides an alternative to the debate. Focuses on differences between the rhetorics of the epistemic and the aesthetic. (SR)

Continues the process of questioning what is taken for granted in communication research and expanding the views of rhetorical processes. Explores how and where texts are created, and how texts interact with each other, especially in terms of "intertextual interanimation." (RS)

Notes that the rhetoric of Frances E. Willard relied primarily on "womanhood" arguments, making her uniquely successful at promoting woman suffrage with conservative audiences. Concludes that the popularization of Willard's strategies represented a transformation of the symbolic context of the suffrage movement. Examines the implications…

Proposes an alternative to the patriarchal bias in most traditional rhetorical theories--invitational rhetoric, grounded in the feminist principles of equality, immanent value, and self-determination. Argues that its purpose is to offer an invitation to understanding and that its communicative modes are the offering of perspectives and the…

Argues that the two principle modes of organizing rhetorical theories in histories of rhetoric (according to influence or systems) frequently mask or distort the particularity of rhetoric's history. Forwards an alternative critical history that privileges the notions of text, particularity, change, and criticism. (SR)

Clarifies how the scheme systems work in C. Perleman and L. Olbrechts-Tyteca's "The New Rhetoric," responds to a critique of it, and examines patterns of scheme use in five panel discussions. Concludes that the description of inferential scheme categories in "The New Rhetoric" is generally complete and useful for the study of…

Responds to an article in an earlier issue of this journal. Argues that, rather than attempting to promote theory construction based on an artificially limited field of communication, an effort should be made to unify the field by assimilating its diversity, and to bridge the broad span between interpersonal communication theory and classical…