Category Archives: Society

Correlation does not equal causation – Sexist media edition

A good friend shared Cracked Magazine’s online article, 5 Ways Modern Men Are Trained to Hate Women. It’s another of the continuing series of pop magazine articles that make the claim sexist media are warping our children into adopting sexist, … Continue reading

The left half of your brain was constructed by society

I was “raised” as a social constructionist. A hard social constructionist to be accurate. My training in rhetoric was based on the idea that knowledge and understanding were a social construction. I had little, arguably no, influence on my understanding … Continue reading

In the name of God

Across Nation, Mosque Projects Meet Opposition In Murfreesboro, Tenn., Republican candidates have denounced plans for a large Muslim center proposed near a subdivision, and hundreds of protesters have turned out for a march and a county meeting. In late June, … Continue reading

The Tea Party’s Scripture

I don’t normally do political postings. I guess I just don’t like venturing into something that inflammatory. But I’ve been thinking a lot about the Tea Party, the new political movement that’s sweeping the nation and self-described as A community … Continue reading

Redefining Racism

So there’s been a lot of news stories of late that seem to hit at racism issues. The Virginia Governor forgot to mention that slavery was a major factor in the Confederacy. The Texas Board of Education renamed the 18th century … Continue reading

Rise of the Nerds

Ok, so I don’t watch a lot of network television. And it’s taken me until tonight to finally watch an episode of The Big Bang Theory. And I’ve got to admit that it’s pretty cute and remarkably accurate (scientifically). And … Continue reading

International Conspiracy Theorists

I’ve always been fascinated with the conspiracy theory mindset. There’s the surface level rhetoric of taking events that aren’t fully explained and presenting a rationale for them that is plausible — though fully unlikely. But there’s also the deeper issue … Continue reading

Teaching the Rhetoric of Commercials

I’ve been putting together the readings for a course I’m teaching this fall: Text & Discourse. It’s an intro to rhetoric styled course where you’re exposing sophomores to the idea that language has a persuasive aspect. There’s a special emphasis … Continue reading

Millennials and Attention Spans

An interesting perspective hit me the other day when I was thinking about the millennial generation and their perceived short attention span. At least in my experience, baby boomers tend to think of the millennial generation as being very impatient … Continue reading