The Communication Studies Department hosted a WELLCore event with Dr. David Zarefsky, professor emeritus at Northwestern University on January 25. Dr. Zarefsky discussed the importance of communication criticism and explained how it applies to presidential inaugurals.

Professor Michelle Shaw was a student of Dr. Zarefsky at Northwestern and invited him as part of her COM 4200 Communication Criticism class.

Dr. Zarefsky has taught courses in argumentation, Presidential rhetoric, and the history and criticism of U.S. public discourse, with a particular focus on the pre-Civil War period and on the 1960s. Among his publications are over 70 scholarly articles concerned with American public discourse (historical and contemporary), argumentation, rhetorical criticism, and public speaking. He is also the author of six books, including titles on the Lincoln-Douglas debates and the rhetoric of the war on poverty during the Johnson administration.

For more information about the event go here.