David Zarefsky

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Please join us for Dr. Zarefsky's lecture on Lincoln's famous "House Divided" speech.

Zarefsky was a guest on WILL's "Focus 580." You can listen to the the interview by clicking on the link below.

Political Strategy and Public Opinion in the Words of Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln--Spring 2009 Events

We are gearing up for a big semester of Lincoln events. See below for information.

Wed., Feb. 4, 3:30-5:30 pm, Levis Faculty Center, 3^rd Floor

David Zarefsky, Northwestern University: "Lincoln and the House Divided: Launching a National Political Career."

David Zarefsky is Owen L. Coon Professor of Argumentation and Debate in the Department of Communication Studies at Northwestern University. A past president of both the National Communication Association and the Rhetoric Society of America, Zarefsky is author of more than 70 scholarly essays and author/editor of 6 books, including President Johnson's War on Poverty (Alabama, 1986) and the award-winning Lincoln, Douglas, and Slavery: In the Crucible of Public Debate (Chicago, 1990).

Thurs., March 5, 3:30-5:30 pm, Levis Faculty Center, 2^nd Floor

Angela Ray, Northwestern University: "Learning Leadership: Lincoln at the Lyceum, 1838"

Angela Ray is Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Northwestern University. A scholar of 19th century public address who frequently focuses on women's rhetoric, Professor Ray is author of the award-winning The Lyceum and Public Culture in the Nineteenth Century United States (Michigan State, 2005).

Wed., April 8, 3:30-5:30 pm, Levis Faculty Center, 3^rd Floor

Susan Zaeske, University of Wisconsin-Madison: "'The Sorrow-Quenching Draughts of Perfect Liberty': Temperate Bodies/Political Bodies in the Rhetorics of Abraham Lincoln and Frances E.W. Harper"

Susan Zaeske is Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is the author of the award-winning Signatures of Citizenship: Petitioning, Antislavery, and Women's Political Identity (North Carolina, 2003).

We hope to see you all at these events!

In addition, Ned O’Gorman, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication, will be teaching an undergraduate course entitled “Lincoln’s Legacies.”

Kirt Wilson: "Debating the Great Emancipator"

For those unable to attend the lecture in person, or those wishing to relive the moment, follow the provided link to a streaming video of Dr. Wilson's talk.

Debating the Great Emancipator

Note: You will need RealPlayer to view the video. Enjoy!

Kirt Wilson lecture and visit, Sept. 14-16, 2008

This week we at Illinois are pleased to host Kirt Wilson as our inaugural speaker for the Lincoln's Rhetorical Worlds speaker series.

Wilson appeared on AM-580's "Focus 580" this morning (Monday, Sept. 15, 2008), where he and guest host Christopher Benson had a marvelous hour-long conversation on "America's Emancipation Moment: Memories of Lincoln and Slavery's Demise." The entire interview is archived here. Enjoy!

Coming soon: streaming video of Kirt's public lecture, "Debating 'The Great Emancipator': Lincoln's Rhetoric and Our Collective Memory."

Announcing the Lincoln's Rhetorical Worlds Speaker Series

Lincoln's Rhetorical Worlds is a yearlong speaker series that will bring to campus five prominent scholars of rhetoric and nineteenth century public culture. In free, public lectures, these scholars will examine Lincoln's complex discursive legacy and explore the rhetorical worlds of Lincoln's America.

Our five guest speakers will give public lectures, visit graduate and undergraduate courses on presidential rhetoric and Lincoln's legacy, and discuss their research with the interdisciplinary Rhetorical Studies Reading Group, sponsored by the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities.

Fall 2008

Kirt Wilson, University of Minnesota: "Debating 'The Great Emancipator': Lincoln's Rhetoric and Our Collective Memory." Monday, Sept. 15, 7 pm 112 Gregory Hall

Professor Wilson is also scheduled to appear as a guest on "Focus 580," a local public radio program, on Monday, Sept. 15 at 11 am on AM-580.

Spring 2009

David Zarefsky, Northwestern University (Feb. 4-5, 2009; talk TBA)
Angela Ray, Northwestern University (March 4-6, 2009; talk TBA)
Susan Zaeske, University of Wisconsin (April 2009; talk TBA)

Fall 2009

Michael Leff, University of Memphis

As our foremost "rhetorical president," Lincoln provides an ideal case for examination of the ways that presidential communication frames and reflects American ideals and identities. Lincoln also serves as a point of departure for exploring the vivid rhetorical landscape of the 19th century United States, a world animated by discourses of slavery, religion, suffrage, war, and sectionalism (to name but a few); enabled by spaces for rhetorical training; constrained by the limitations of racism, sexism, and class politics; and vexed by the pragmatic challenges of governance. We are pleased to guide our campus and local communities in exploration of the social, cultural, political, aesthetic, and ethical aspects of Lincoln's Rhetorical Worlds.

The series is sponsored by the Offices of the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor for Public Engagement and the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois, in cooperation with the Lincoln Bicentennial Committee.

Questions? Contact lincolnrhetoric@gmail.com.