Dialogic Rhetoric: How Publics Emerge, Meaning is Created, and Governments are Structured as Localized Solutions to Public Problems

Jason Grant

Advisor: Douglas Eyman, PhD, Department of English

Committee Members: Isidore Dorpenyo, McKinley Green

Horizon Hall, #4225, https://gmu.zoom.us/j/92255192876?pwd=RHlxT3hTRy90T3ZTMU5jR3p2Y1FTdz09
April 22, 2024, 01:00 PM to 03:00 PM

Abstract:

This work takes up the call for further intellectual discourse and empirical research into social justice by conducting a rhetorical analysis of texts that advocate for systemic changes to local government  in the context of American municipalities. By applying a dialogic rhetorical approach, this research brings together voices from the fields of rhetoric, public administration, technical communication, and democratic theory along with a case study of the charter review process in Portland, Maine to inform our understanding of how publics emerge, meaning is created, and governments are structured as localized solutions to public problems.