Public Speaking and Civic Engagement

On May 20, 2008, I had the privilege of serving as the scholarly adviser for the latest episode of "The Exchange," a series of Internet-2 videoconferences for high school students hosted by the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.  Entitled "Setting the Student Agenda for 2008," this episode, hosted by MTV news correspondent SuChin Pak, brought together high school students from Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, Georgia, and Louisiana to discuss the important issues of the 2008 presidential campaign.  A video of the live two-hour videoconference can be viewed on the NCC Website.  Below is a picture of SuChin hosting a charity event.  Another episode of The Exchange is scheduled for September 23.

The American Democracy Project (ADP) is a national initiative designed to promote education for citizenship.  The project began in 2003 as a partnership between the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and The New York Times. There are now some 229 participating colleges and universities, and the ADP has hosted national and regional meetings, a national assessment project, and a number of campus initiatives, including voter education and registration drives, curriculum revision projects, campus audits, speaker series, and various special events and awards programs.  For more information, and to see if your college or university is on the list of participating schools, visit the ADP Project page on the AASCU website or the Knowledge Network website sponsored by The New York Times. 

We had a great time selecting pictures for the new book. This is one of my favorites, depicting Theodore Roosevelt on the stump. It comes at the beginning of the chapter on Delivering Your Speech Effectively (p. 294). Teddy is probably a little too intense for today's audiences! I also like the hats people wore back then!

Preparing Future Faculty is a great program designed to prepare new Ph.D.'s for careers at a variety of different kinds of institutions.  One of our co-authors, Patty Andrews, directed the PFF program in the Department of Communication and Culture at Indiana University.

Visit the Preparing Future Faculty website for more information, resources, and useful links.  

Glen Willliams has prepared an outstanding guide to using the DVD that accompanies Public Speaking and Civic Engagement. We welcome any comments or suggestions for making this resource even more useful.  Here is the link: 

http://cstl-cla.semo.edu/williams/DVD.htm

I've just been notified that copies of the new book have arrived at the publisher and will be available at the National Communication Association conference in Chicago. Yipeee! Hope to hear from some readers/users soon!

Welcome to the new weblog for discussions about the new public speaking textbook, Public Speaking and Civic Engagement. We're excited about the possibilities for this interactive venue for discussion of our new textbook, and we look forward to your comments and suggestions.
Mike Hogan