Kean University prides itself on the diversity of its student population. Additionally, we’re actively working to improve the diversity of our teaching faculty. We want to better reflect the students with whom we work. That commitment to diversity is a reflection of the surrounding community. We are a short journey to New York City’s cultural mosaic and right next door to Elizabeth and Newark. Each of those smaller cities comes with its own proud Latin history. When we see local diversity as a resource to draw from, we enhance our discourse and broaden our horizons. Those goals benefit our students, our community, and our society. Education serves to expand people’s worldview. What better way to do that than to share our perspectives as we explore new ideas?

Such lofty sentiments sound great for promotional materials and values statements. But what about the content of a course? In particular, how does diversity work in a class about the history of rhetoric? The subject matter of this course has its roots in white, hegemonic, patriarchal societies. The study of rhetoric (as an academic discipline) has its roots in white, hegemonic, classist, exclusionary institutions. In other words, the history of rhetoric is the story of bearded white men talking about what other bearded white men have said for thousands of years. In its typical presentation, rhetoric tends to be stuffy, self-congratulatory, and centered on what bearded white men have determined are the important things everyone should know. Those lofty sentiments from the opening paragraph are a far cry from the preceding millennia of rhetoric instruction.

What, then, is Kean to do? How can we study the history of rhetoric and celebrate our diversity at the same time?

This book offers one possible solution. We’re re-writing the history of rhetoric from diverse perspectives.

Our Approach to History

The book traditionally used in Kean’s History of Rhetoric in Writing course, James A. Herrick’s The History and Theory of Rhetoric, closely follows the rhetorical tradition. The author is a bearded white man, and his attention centers primarily on other bearded white men and their thoughts on the bearded white men who preceded them. The book you’re now reading takes the opposite approach. With the exception of this preface, only one other chapter of this book was authored by a bearded white man. Everything presented in this textbook comes from the perspective of a Kean student. Each chapter’s author is eager to help you learn about the history of rhetoric from a perspective unique to Kean in today’s society. We hope this approach makes rhetoric feel more real. We also hope to balance historical trends of rhetorical study with the political urgencies of today. This book should represent a more diverse population with broader needs for their rhetorical knowledge.

We don’t focus only on history. In this text, we focus on the application of rhetorical concepts. Yes, each chapter introduces the ideas of white men from the past. But every time, you’ll see how their ideas apply to the world around you, today. In other words, the authors of this book have worked hard to make history relevant—to you and to today’s world.

Chapter Features

Each chapter contains features designed to make the material easier to process. In addition to simple, concise, student-authored writing throughout, each chapter also contains:

• Section headings designed to ease navigation
• Glossary terms designed to emphasize important concepts and common terms
• Review questions designed to check understanding after each section
• Discussion questions designed to extend your thinking beyond the book
• An animal photo designed to balance the seriousness of the content

Professors often assign entire chapters for reading without providing specific details, suggestions, or guidance for working with that much content. Each chapter’s author employed the features listed above to help you process the relevant material. In short, students wrote these chapters to help you learn the content as easily as possible.

How This Book Works in Class

You can use this text as a replacement for, or a companion to, Herrick’s original textbook. In cases where an instructor uses the traditional text, this book can help explain the major concepts from Herrick’s text. This book presents those concepts in terms that should be more concise and simpler to understand. Bear in mind, though, that the chapters in this book are significantly shorter than those in the original. That was an intentional choice, designed to make these chapters easier to read and digest. But because of the substantial difference in length, the chapters of this book cannot reproduce all content from the original. If your instructor assigned reading from Herrick’s text, this book can help you understand that one. But it cannot replace Herrick’s text entirely, especially for things like quizzes/tests. In those cases, think of this book as a study aid.

However, this book is designed to stand on its own. Instructors should be able to use this book as the sole textbook in a History of Rhetoric in Writing course. They can do so without feeling like they’re missing out on material. We hope to present a vibrant, dynamic view of rhetoric in the real world that meets the needs of students and faculty alike.

The Future of History

To that end, this book is a living document, and we expect frequent additions and updates. If you have ideas for material to add or refresh, reach out to Professor Friend. You can help start the conversation about how to make this book even better. We should never think of this project as complete, because cougars shouldn’t rest on their laurels. As we all know, cougars climb higher.