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1. A Brief Historyof Communication
• It’s been studied for a LONG
time!
The study of human
communication has a rich
history of discovery and debate

2. “Communication” as the
first discipline
• Before there was math
• Before there was astronomy
• Before there was religious study
• We had to communicate
• The ancient scholars investigated how this
happened

3. The ancients asked questions…
• “How is it we persuade one another to do
something?”
• “Or think in a certain way?”
• “Is the source of knowledge from the
Divine?”
• “Or is knowledge created by human beings
when they communicate?”

4. This was the study of rhetoric
• Rhetoric- it is a part of who we are as human beings
• Rhetoric includes:
• “The energy inherent in our thoughts and
emotions…
• …that is transmitted through a system of signs (like
language)…”
• To influence another’s action(s).”
• From George Kennedy

5. There are other definitions of
rhetoric
• Advice to others about future language use
• (like a speech writer working for a presidential
candidate)
• From Jane Donaworth
• Rhetoric and the creation of meaning is
everywhere…
• Music
• Architecture
• The clothes you are wearing right now!

6. Rhetoric in ancient Greece
• Plato- said knowledge comes from the Divine
• Outside of us
• The Sophists (contemporaries of Plato) said
NO
• It comes from debate and interaction
• That being said….

7. Ancient Greece and Rome, the
Classical Period (500 B.C. to A.D. 400)
• Rhetoric- argumentation,
debate, public speaking, oral
interpretation
• Most studies geared towards
problem-solving

8. In Rome, Cicero Divided rhetoric into
5 parts or the
5 Canons of Rhetoric:
1) Invention: the process of discovering what
can be said about a given topic and by
finding arguments that will allow others to
understand
2) Arrangement: effective way to organize a
speech for maximum impact

9. 5 Canons of Rhetoric con’t:
3) Style: should the speech instruct, persuade, or
entertain; use of vivid, clear , and appropriate
language
4) Memory: ways to make sure the audience
remembered the message of the speech
5) Delivery: proper diction, volume, tone of
voice, pitch of voice, emphasis, and rate of
speaking

10. Medieval Period and the
Renaissance (400 to 1600)
• The study of rhetoric Became
secondary to Theology
• Emphasis on letter-writing and
preaching
• Rhetoricians emphasized
embellishment and amplifying
rhetorical style

11. Modern Period (1600 to 1900)
• Written medium developed and evolved:
books and newspapers
• Rhetoric was studied four ways…
1) Classical: looked at Greek rhetoric and theory
2) Psychological and Epistemological: looked at
how people responded to persuasive messages

12. Modern Period (1600 to 1900)
3) Elocutionists: developed elaborate rules for
delivery
4) Belletristic: looked at written and spoken
communication as art; developed rhetorical
criticism

13. Contemporary Period
(1900 to now)
• Communication departments formed at universities
• Humanistic and Scientific methods of research are
developed and employed
• Professionals began to study interpersonal
communication in the turbulent 1960’s and 1970’s
• Interest in social issues reshaped the study of
rhetoric and public speaking in the 1970’s
• Began to study social movements
• Rise of electronic (mass) media

14. Types of research
• Scholars use quantitative research methods to
gather information in numerical form
• Descriptive statistics discuss human behavior in
terms of quantity
• Surveys are used to measure how people think,
feel and act
• Experiments are studies where the context is
controlled by the researcher

15. Types of research
• Scholars use qualitative research methods to
study how people interpret and give meaning
to their experiences
• Researchers interpret symbolic activity through
textual analysis
• Researchers conduct ethnographic studies
• Qualitative scholars use historical research

16. Types of research
• Critical methods identify and challenge
communication practices that are harmful to
individuals and social groups
• promote social awareness
• theories exploring power and dominance

17. Features of communication
• Communication is a process, ongoing and
always changing
• Communication occurs within systems of
interrelated and interacting parts
• Communication is symbolic
• Communication involves meanings
• Content level – literal meanings of messages
• Relationship level – between communicators

18. Breadth of the Field
• Intrapersonal communication is communication with
ourselves (“self-talk”)
• Interpersonal communication focuses on
communication between people, and it ranges from
quite impersonal to highly interpersonal
• Performance Studies looks at the ways in which we
perform our personal, professional, and social
identities
• Group and team communication includes interaction
in task, social, and personal groups and teams

19. Breadth of the Field
• Public communication includes both public
speaking and criticism of public address
• Organizational communication focuses on
communication skills that affect work life and
organizational culture
• Interviewing
• Listening
• Leadership
• Decision making

20. Breadth of the Field
• Mass Communication includes the influence of
mediated messages on society
• New Communication Technologies looks at how we
are changing the way we think, work and relate
• Intercultural communication - how cultures shape
individuals’ ways of communicating and how
individuals’ communication reflects and sometimes
changes cultural values and understandings
• Ethics and communication infuses the other seven
areas in the field of communication

21. Central themes in the field
• Symbolic activities are central in contexts
ranging from intrapersonal to intercultural
• Meanings are central to all forms of
communication and meanings are created with
symbols
• Ethics focuses on moral principles and codes
of conduct

22. The Dept. of Communication
Studies at UNCW
• We emphasize a broad view of the discipline
• The basics:
• Public speaking:
• The use of the ancient principles of rhetoric
• Research methods:
• How we discover and investigate and test
theory

23. Core course and principles
• Communication theory:
• A closer look at qualitative and quantitative
theory
• Rhetorical theory:
• Detailed study of the changes in rhetoric and
the themes that remain true today
• Capstone:
• Put it together, graduate, and get a job!