Teaching Speaking: the academic and the vocational

Teaching Speaking: the academic and the vocational

An HEA day-long workshop sponsored by the Department of Politics, Goldsmiths, University of London

Organised by James Martin (Goldsmiths) and  Alan Finlayson (UEA)

17 May 2012, 10am-5pm at Goldsmiths, University of London, New Cross SE14 6NW

Politics is the practice of argument and debate, of clarifying disagreement and achieving persuasion around controversial questions of power and resource. Oratory and spoken communication therefore remain central components of all political activity, even in an age of text and technology. The craft of the professional speechwriter offers a vital, yet largely untapped source of knowledge for teachers of politics, particularly those interested in enhancing the transferable skills of their students. As the practical benefits and employability implications of HE increasingly takes centre-stage, this link between the academic and the vocational dimensions of political communication invites further attention.

This workshop explores how speechwriting and speechcraft might be incorporated into the politics curriculum. It asks what teachers can do to improve the communicative skill set of students of politics and how knowledge of speech performance might expand students’ grasp of politics as an activity. The workshop brings together professional practitioners and teachers of political speech to consider the different expectations and possibilities in teaching the art of speaking. It will reflect on the pedagogic goals of such teaching in light of the vocational opportunities they may support. The workshop also aims to clarify a broad range of guiding principles to assist the development of speech as part of the HE politics curriculum.

Speakers include: Max Atkinson (professional speechwriter); Professor Alan Finlayson (UEA);  Dr Edwin Bacon (Birkbeck, UoL); Dr Johan Siebers (UCLAN); Dr Matthew Wyman (Keele)

(see the full advert at http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/events/detail/2012/seminars/disciplines/DW136)

There are 30 places available. First come, first served: but you must book your place in advance. The event is free (and includes lunch — let me know if you are a veggie or have special requirements. It’s only sandwiches, mind). The HEA can fund travel for UK scholars if you contact them IN ADVANCE. See the HEA web site (above).

To book, please contact James Martin (j.martin@gold.ac.uk)

PSA 2012. Report

Thanks to everyone who participated in or attended the panels at the Belfast PSA this year. The two panels were very well attended and the papers were very interesting indeed with some excellent questions from the floor. Belfast was a marvellous and welcoming  city in which to host the conference.

The next call for panels and papers for PSA 2013 (in Cardiff) will be coming around September this year so do keep a look out for that. Indeed, get on the mailing list and you won’t miss it!

The first proper business meeting for the group was also held  at the PSA Conference (I hope to put the minutes up later). The big news is that Dr Judi Atkins has become the group’s new secretary, while Alan Finlayson remains the Treasurer and James Martin the Convenor.

Rhetoric Society of Europe

A new Rhetoric Society of Europe will launch its website on 15 Dec 2011. You can visit the site at the following address: www.eusorhet.eu

PSA Conference 2012: two Rhetoric and Politics panels

The annual PSA conference, to be held in Belfast on 3-5 April 2012, will host two panels from the Rhetoric and Politics specialist group! The panels are:

• Rhetoric and the Coalition Government: Session 2 (Tuesday 3 April 2012, 14:00-15:30)
• Rhetoric and British Politics: Session 3 (Tuesday 3 April 2012, 16:00-17:30)

Check out the PSA Conference web site for further details.

Labour Orators from Aneurin Bevan to Gordon Brown

This conference was held at the University of Huddersfield on 9 November, organised by Drs Richard Heyton and Andrew Crines. I managed to attend and enjoyed it very much. It’s a very rare thing to find a conference on the rhetoric of a whole political tradition in the UK, so this was a unique event. Labour orators have made a huge impact on British politics, giving voice to the aspirations, hopes and demands of working people. A range of Labour historians and scholars of British politics and rhetoric gave economical papers on the major leaders (plus Bevan and Tony Benn) in the Labour party, surveying their distinctive styles of oratory and the key argumentative moments. It was illuminating, in particular, to learn more of the radical liberal and republican orientation of figures like Benn and Foot, and to hear of the Welsh concept of hywl in Kinnock’s oratory (among many other things). To be honest, the conference could have lasted two days! It was an excellent, neatly organised event that, I gather, will issue forth an edited book in the near future.

See the Huddersfield University News write-up (click)

Conference 2012: Discourse-Communication-Conversation

Loughborough University will hold an ‘anniversary conference’ celebrating its ‘Discourse and Rhetoric Group’ and Culture and Media Analysis Research Group’ in March 2012.

See here for details:

http://www-staff.lboro.ac.uk/~ssca1/DCconf2012/DC2012home.html

New Facebook Page!

We now have a Facebook page! Go have a look and visit from time to time. I’m not quite sure what we do with it but something will come to me …

Click here to go to Facebook

PSA 2011 Rhetoric Panel

We will be holding a panel at the PSA 2011 conference! The panel is named ‘Contemporary Political Rhetoric: New Approaches’ and will be held on the second day (Wed 20 April, Session 5, 9-10:30am). These are the papers:

Beyond the Literality Test: The ideological functions of the Kosovo-Holocaust analogy

Akrivoulis, Dimitrios

Ideologies and Rhetorical Argumentation

Finlayson, Alan

‘Let us look to the stars ..’: Rhetoric as Strategic Intervention

Martin, James

I also hope to hold the first Specialist Group Meeting. So put all this in your diaries and come along.

Welcome!

Welcome to the web site of the new PSA specialist group for Rhetoric and Politics. Keep returning for updates on the development of the site and the group’s progress.