According to Dr. Jennifer MacLennan, the first occupant of the D.K. Seaman Chair in Technical and Professional Communication, in the College of Engineering, the answer is a definitive yes . And it turns out that her students undergraduates, graduate students, and professional engineers agree with her, often telling her that their exposure to rhetoric changed their lives. But she says her courses, which analyse everything from Aristotle to advertisements, are not as exotic as they sound.
Rhetoric is the study of how human beings use symbols, usually language, to influence other people.
And when you think about it, the essence of communication hasn t changed all that much since Aristotle s day. He discussed ethos, pathos, and logos appeals, and when we communicate today whatever the medium, whatever the message we deal primarily with how to say what we want to say to whom. So much of what we say puts up roadblocks to understanding. It s important to be aware of what motivates what is said and written. MacLennan was appointed to the Seaman Chair in the fall of 1998.