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December 06, 2007
Diss-o-rama
My dissertation prospectus hearing was last week, and while I have been formally passed into official dissertating status, the prospectus needs a bit of revision in planned chapter structure. Two significant additions to my original plan are critical race theory (which had been part of the early, early plan but got put aside and is now back) and situating my project into other discourses of social movements/protests etc. within the discipline. Hmmmm. K.
So to begin at the beginning, here is the short summary of my dissertation project, as edited for presentation in a job application letter:
“Constructing a Landmark: A Rhetorical Analysis of Brown v. Board of Education.”
In this project, I work to answer a question posed by Derrick Bell in the year prior to the 50th anniversary of this landmark Supreme Court case. Bell asked, “How did a decision that promised so much, and by its terms deliver so little, become the object of such admiration and awe?” Basing my analysis in a range of rhetorical theories, including Kenneth Burke’s dramatism, and the classical theory of stasis, and interdisciplinary theories including Critical Race Theory, I examine this text as a rhetorical event, situated in an historical moment with multiple audiences, multiple purposes, and a range of receptions. I analyze the implicit forces that led to the iconic nature of this decision in an attempt to make them more explicit, and finally consider what implications this analysis might have for the discipline of composition and rhetoric in the future.
Now, obviously, this description is going to morph over time, and what actually goes in a job letter next fall will emerge from the writing I do between now and then. Still, it is nice to have the project formally underway. If you're interesting in following it, the primary category will be "Dissertating" and sub-categories will be added as needed to comment on specific ranges of thought I'm considering.
Posted by cageyer at December 6, 2007 03:52 PM