I am Craving a Big Boy

This quarter at SCAD I'm using the 4th Edition of The Speaker's Compact Handbook (Sprague, Stuart, and Bodary). I've also taken the plunge with their "bundled" package. Of course that means more money for students. I chose it because it is a way to record (most likely on their phones) and upload speeches via software that even I can figure out. I showed my boss the on-line tutorial. It had a 50's retro style that reminded me of an early commercial for Frisch's Big Boy (which, I just found out, was Cincinnati's first, year-round drive in, opening on Central Parkway in 1948).

 Somehow, somehow, this quarter, I'd like to teach more integrated concepts, as opposed to a set of information (which, most often in public speaking, is a set of skills). What are, for example, the broader, social-rhetorical ideas behind the classic concepts that we teach such as audience analysis? I feel guilty of the accusation leveled at our internet society:  lots of information, far less meaning. The above fact is an interesting piece of trivia about my hometown, for example. But it acquires a place, a meaning, when seen in the landscape of the era of drive in restaurants and the concomitant rise of individual car ownership, the sprawl of suburbs, and the new values of convenience, speed, and, independence. Business owners awakened to the new market of children. (And, I think that the drive-in era might have been a point when family entertainment and eating out merged.)  No, I don't have this social / history view of each of my city's fun facts -- I've been reading Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation. In fact, it's going to be required reading in my upcoming (eeek!!) speech class this quarter. It will give us something to chew on, as they say -- the ol', basis for in-class discussion and jumping off points, at least, for speech assignments. I'll let you know!

Before closing this morning I'd like to wish my wonderful friend Douglas Kaufman Happy Birthday. At present, he's the only follower of this blog. He's a huge support to me and a "diamond in the rough," as his mom, Ruth, described him.

Common Ground

Last time I proposed that public speaking is not a standard course at liberal arts schools (the top half or so of US News And World Report's approximately 150 National Liberal Arts Colleges). However, these schools clearly value public speaking and communication skills; presentation skills are often integrated into class assignments, part of a degree requirement, or an outcome in an academic programs. Thus, speech skills seem definitely expected, and do appear as a lower level learning outcome, but are rarely the basis of an entire course.  (This makes sense, in that it seems that these institutions see public speaking as a skill instead of an area of academic content.)

If public speaking skills are taught in an ancillary fashion at these schools, where and how does this take place?

One consistent home for teaching or reinforcing speech skills is the academic resource center -- the place where students go for tutoring or skills sessions, which could range from writing to time management. These centers are apt for working on speech because one-on-one tutoring is typically provided. Wellsley College is a prime example. Their Learning and Teaching Center provides public speaking tutors and, at one time, offered a class on public speaking during their wintersession. (They also had a Toastmaster's Club.) Another is Mt. Holyoke's Speaking, Arguing, and Writing (SAW) Center -- part of the Weissman Center for Leadership and the Liberal Arts, which also contains centers for Community Based Learning, ESL, and Teaching and Faculty Development Initiatives. The SAW Center features peer tutors and, although the website stresses writing, the peer tutors are also audiences for delivery and even filming of a speech. But SAW goes beyond a resource for speaking and writing; it is a student partner for developing  a critical argument, whether written or spoken. "SAW Peer Mentors welcome fellow MHC students who want to talk about their writing and speaking projects and grow as confident, critical, creative, and persuasive communicators." The SAW Center is of particular interest because it focuses not just on public speaking mechanics, but on the rhetorical aspect of communication. 

Hamilton College in Central New York, home for 1800 students, also provides a support center for speech:  The Oral Communication Center (OCC). The OCC offers the standard, one-on-one tutoring, as well as workshops and communication courses in "applied communication skills" (students get credit for taking it, but only a quarter of normal course credit). One interesting aspect of the OCC is the connection to Hamilton's writing mission. I've found that many colleges celebrate their commitment to writing, yet tuck speaking into a support role or a happy outcome of sorts. But Hamilton sees speech as integral to their writing-centered tradition because the tradition is based on clear and effective "writing and elocution." The word, "elocution" harks back to the history of rhetoric in academe, of the tie between dramatic performance and argument.Thus, speech at Hamilton seems not be writing's step-sister, but pivotal to the goals that the college says it's committed to: developing eloquent and effective critical thinkers and speakers. (Also, Hamilton is one of the few liberal arts colleges that I've found to offer a concentration in Communication).

I'll close this (rather lengthy) post with the more traditional speech center at Minnesota's Carleton College. The student-staffed "Speakeasy" is part of their Academic Support Center. Its purpose is to help students with "public speaking and comps talks." Thus, the center is partially designed to support student performance in a major assignment --  oral defense of their senior project or "comps." The Speakeasy coach holds office hours at two different locations or by appointment at a mutually convenient place. Their webpage banner is:

Come See Us for Free Coaching on Oral Communication Skills!

With no disrespect meant for the Speakeasy, their banner makes me think of communication as one of those niceties that's conspicuous only when absent or fundamentally lacking.  Hamilton's OCC, on the other hand, is a integrated into the mission of the school and, as such, has a broader, if not higher, purpose of enriching student abilities in argument and critical thinking, both written and oral. Mt. Holyoke's SAW Center is somewhere between the two as a traditional speech resource, but one that leans toward being a broader resource; it favors writing support but includes speaking as a form of argument (rhetoric).

                                               From Hamilton's OCC webpage

What is it about public speaking?

Public Speaking is a widely offered skills course at the college and university level, yet not among the course offerings at many of the most prestigious liberal arts schools. Why is that? Public speaking is one of the original seven liberal arts, under the rubric of rhetoric, and closely tied to two others -- logic and grammar. Its skills are fundamental to the goals of higher education (cogent presentation of ideas and information) and to enacting citizenship, community, and even  family. (Of course, if you're reading this blog, I probably don't have to convince you about the importance of enacting public speaking at the college level.)

This blog will explore questions that arise from the presence -- and absence -- of public speaking courses in higher education, more specifically the connections between public speaking and a liberal arts curriculum.

As an opening (and rather basic) premise, perhaps a standard public speaking class is too skills based for inclusion in the course offerings at elite liberal arts school--although the skills are clearly valued. When I looked up US News and World Report's first-ranked liberal arts college, Williams, I received one "hit" for public speaking in their "Online Catalog 2011-2012" (which is unusual -- other school websites that I've investigated typically yield many more). The mention is part of a description for "Museum Associates":

 "The Museum Associates Program of the Williams College Museum of Art provides students an opportunity to broaden their knowledge of art and art history, to learn about the field of museum education, and to develop valuable communication and public speaking skills while working with the public. The only academic requirement is the completion of ArtH 101-102."

Similarly, at other highly-ranked liberal arts schools, public speaking is an outcome (formal and informal) for academic programs, but often not a dedicated class. Bates College (#21) offered (the last time seemed to be 2009) Geology majors an "Arctic Workshop," founded in part to give graduate students "an opportunity to present their ongoing research, gain experience in public speaking, and obtain feedback from more senior researchers." Other schools cheerfully point to public speaking as part of a program experience. Bryn Mawr's (#25) May 2010 Alumnae Bulletin described a student's internship with the China Youth Climate Action Network:

Zhang founded a program to train 130 students and young professionals to deliver public talks that spread the message about climate change in their communities. The effort involved soliciting funding, selecting and training speakers, and obtaining media coverage.

It’s no surprise the internship greatly improved her skills in a number of areas, including public speaking and event organizing. 

In addition to academic programs, public speaking is often linked to career skills, which I'll explore in a future entry, and to broader, capstone-type goals. At my alma mater, Kenyon College (#33), public speaking is one of the goals for the Senior Exercise: "Develop and demonstrate speaking ability--through public presentations, roundtable discussions or symposia with peers, or through oral exams, etc."   

My starting questions for this blog, then, will be: How do liberal arts institutions convey this clearly-valued skill?  Other questions, and hopefully a few answers, to follow.