"Rhetoric, I shall urge, should be a study of our misunderstanding and its remedies. We struggle all our days with misunderstandings, and no apology is required for any study which can prevent or remove them. ... How much and in how many ways may good communication differ from bad?"
— I. A. Richards
The study of rhetoric is arguably the study of intellectual history in western thought. From the Sophists in ancient Greece to modern intellectuals, one remarkably consistent touchstone has involved communication and its capacities to persuade. My own interest in rhetoric was elevated by French sociologist Bruno Latour and his elaborations on various actors and their alignments in agonistic contexts. Since then, rhetoric has informed my scholarship as well as numerous classes I have taught—including The Rhetoric of Humor, The Rhetoric of Human Rights, Introduction to Rhetoric, History of Rhetoric, and upper-level course on the rhetorics of conspiracy and the rhetorics of cyborgs.
Select Publications, Rhetoric
Lovvorn, Jason F. "Augusta National, Masters Memory (Lapses), and Constitutive Rhetoric." Rhetorics of Southern Place: Contemporary Memoirs and Analyses, edited by Jennifer Beech and Heather Palmer, Brill Press. (forthcoming)
Select Presentations, Rhetoric
“Rumbling Falls and Cave Rhetorics.” Department of English Spring Speaker Series. Belmont University. February 2024.
“Rhetorics of Alignment in a Post-Truth Age.” The Thomas R. Watson Conference in Rhetoric and Composition. Louisville, KY. October 2018.
“Mobilizing Service: Materiality, Affect, and Writing.” The Thomas R. Watson Conference in Rhetoric and Composition. Louisville, KY. October 2016.
“Service-Learning and the Rhetoric of Engagement.” The Thomas R. Watson Conference in Rhetoric and Composition. Louisville, KY. October 2014.