Elizabeth Weiser 

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Reviews

Articles

“Gather Us In: A Legacy of Civil Discourse.”

“Who are We? Museums Telling the Nation’s Story.”

“Rene Wellek and Kenneth Burke: Prague Influences on Modern Rhetoric.” 

“Dramatistic to the Core: Allen Tate and A Grammar of Motives.”

Introduction. Engaging Audience: Writing in an Age of New Literacies.

“‘As Usual I Fell On the Bias’: Kenneth Burke’s Situated Dialectic.”

“Beyond Shame: The Dialogic Narrative and Comic Correction.”

“Burke and War: Rhetoricizing the Theory of Dramatism.”

“Where is Style Going? Where Has it Been?”

 

 

 

Research 

Dr. Weiser is currently working on a multiyear, multinational, and interdisciplinary project with the working title of Who We Are: Global Museums and National Identity, examining the manner in which national museums around the world build identification between citizens as their narratives create and reflect a national identity. Her research has taken her to seven countries on four continents, with more planned. An initial paper, "Who are We?: National Museums Telling the Nation's Stories," was named a finalist for the 2010 International Award of Excellence from the International Journal of the Inclusive Museum. Her work is listed as a "related project" with the European National Museums initiative EUNAMUS.

Weiser's historiographic research has focused on the intellectual and social conversations affecting the development of rhetorical theories. Her book Burke, War, Words was published in November 2008 by the University of South Carolina Press. It explores the intertwined relationships between Burkean dramatism and contemporaneous theories of language and motivation, and weaves the story of Burke's development of his theory in response to World War II. Weiser argues that Burke's dramatism is a call to action to counter fascism, combining various language theories into a bias-falling celebration of effective civil discourse. Weiser's article on effective dialogue, “Burke and War: Rhetoricizing the Theory of Dramatism,” was named one of the top two articles to appear in Rhetoric Review in 2007. Her article on the impact of Burke’s critical situating across dichotomous viewpoints, "'As Usual I Fell on the Bias': Kenneth Burke's Situated Dialectic," appears in Philosophy and Rhetoric in spring 2009. Other articles examine the role of various New Critics (Rene Wellek, Allen Tate) on Burke's developing theory. An article co-authored with psychologist Joseph Horak and creative writer Debra Monroe explores the intersections of Burkean dialogism, narrative pedagogy, and psychological development, and appears in JAC in 2008 as “Beyond Shame: The Dialogic Narrative and Comic Correction.” Another essay with Horak, "Gather Us In: A Legacy of Civil Discourse," explores more personally the difficulties in and need for listening and persuading today.

Weiser has also co-edited two collections. Engaging Audience: Writing in an Age of New Literacies (NCTE Press, 2009)brings together compositionists from the departments of English, communications, public relations, and writing to offer insights that serve as a guide for incorporating audience awareness into the contemporary classroom. Another collection, Women and Rhetoric between the Wars, opens up the field of feminist historiography to rhetoricians between 1920-1940, and is under review at Southern Illinois University Press.



 

At the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, 2008At the National Museum of Australia, 2009