In Rhetoric and Community, seventeen leading scholars of rhetoric and discourse join forces to explore an area of growing scholarly interest - how rhetoric defines, rallies, polarizes, and marginalizes specific communities. Contributors to the volume consider such contentious issues as how individuals are forged into "communities"; what sustains vibrant, constructive communities; how communities become fragmented; and what leads to divisions of race, class, and gender, the rhetoric of hatred and violence, or failures of public discussion to resolve common problems.
J. Michael Hogan is the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor Emeritus of Rhetoric at Penn State University and Visiting Professor and Chair of Communication Studies at Davidson College. His most recent book is Public Speaking and Civic Engagement.