Six Samford University communication students were chosen to present papers representing various types of rhetorical criticism at the joint meeting of the Southern and Central Speech Communication Association in St. Louis, Mo., April 8-11. The papers were competitively accepted from submissions from colleges throughout the South and Midwest.
Samford senior Nathan Lott's paper was judged best at the conference. His topic was "Bill Clinton and the Art of Rhetorical Blameshifting." Lott is from Tyrone, Ga.
Other participants and their paper topics were:
Emily Adams of Conyers, Ga., "A Narrative Analysis of Dar Williams' 'Traveling Again.'"
Jenn Burgess of Memphis, Tenn., "A Dip into Oblivion: A Feminist Analysis of Ally McBeal."
Megan Shackleford of Bradenton, Fla., "A Feminist Criticism of a Glamour Article."
Lesley Vinzant of Vestavia Hills, "Ally McBeal and the Post-Feminist Movement."
Jason Zinn of Knoxville, Tenn., "A Narrative Critique of Dave Matthews' 'Recently.'"
Public presentations of the papers were followed by detailed critiques by nationally known communication scholars.
Michael Janas and Amanda Borden of Samford's Speech Communication and Theatre department attended the conference with the students.