This study analyzes Jack Kerouacs writing method of spontaneous prose and articulates how the method can be understood as performative writing. Kerouacs Essentials of Spontaneous Prose, On the Road, Visions of Cody, and Doctor Sax are explored to evaluate both the successes and failures of the authors attempts to break literary boundaries and create a new writing method based upon spontaneous tenets. These three novels, which were written in succession from 1950 to 1953 when Kerouac was in his most productive period, represent both the emergence and dissent of the authors use of performative writing. To explicate the cultural genesis and dissemination of Kerouacs writing method, the historiographical method of performance genealogy is utilized to address two fictions operating within the larger discourse surrounding Kerouac. First, by focusing on the authors works rather than on his biographical life, this study seeks to contribute to our understanding of Kerouacs status as an author and as a performer of fiction. Second, by focusing on the cultural historicity of his writing method, it is argued that Kerouacs method of spontaneous prose is a much more complicated approach to novelistic discourse than both his earlier critics and some contemporary fans have acknowledged. By addressing spontaneous prose as a method of performative writing, this study articulates what spontaneous prose is and what it does. To this end, the study tracks the doing of spontaneity over the course of three separate literary performances of the novel. As the genealogical trajectory of the writing method demonstrates, in On the Road Kerouac has only begun to implement the changes he wanted to explore after discovering his literary method. Visions of Cody represents the authors commitment to the writing method, but as its series of literary experiments shows, Kerouac is not yet able to balance his writing method with a sustained approach to narrative story telling. Finally, in Doctor Sax, Kerouac is able to achieve what his two earlier novels had not. That is, a synthesis between the form of invention and the subjects of invention themselves. Implications for performance studies and performative writing are explored.

This project examines the history of science and its relationship to the popular, or lay, audience, a problem of rhetorical inquiry since Aristotle. This project also explores the implications of the emerging trend in lay literature on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) to transform the causal mechanism underlying ADHD so that it is isomorphic in structure and parallel in content to the most contemporary and fetishized sciences of the human body. In other words, how ADHD was once a problem of brain chemistry, and is now a problem of genetics is not simply a matter of scientific practice on the level of empirical data, but instead reflective of a larger societal trend in the era of rational instrumentality to reduce human behavior to the analogy of a mechanical machine. As such, by examining literature on ADHD that is designed to persuade a lay audience of the existence of ADHD, this project argues that the rhetorical dimensions of ADHD are perpetuated by a logic of a black box, or a type of reasoning that privileges effects over the internal operations of an organism or machine.

Current trends in representations of rape show a new fascination with a rape scenario, a fascination that puts a normative slant on discourse surrounding rape. Normalizing the rape scenario carries various consequences for women; the first and foremost is that it turns the experience of rape into an entertainment commodity, thus causing womens voices to be appropriated into dominant discourses and the capitalist project. One possible way to circumvent this normalization is to look toward feminist performance strategies in order to subvert this rape scenario and the discourses surrounding it from within. In this thesis, I explore ways to accomplish this subversion by examining two performance artifacts: A Texas Association Against Sexual Assault (TAASA) commercial featuring a young rape survivor and the Clothesline Project, a performance installation. Chapter One theorizes the process of normalization that occurs in rape discourse as a performor else double bind. In Chapter Two, I critique both the TAASA commercial and how the media representations following its airing co-opt its transgressive potential. In Chapter Three, I analyze the Clothesline Project as a type of postmodern memorial. The Clothesline Project remains one of the only attempts at erecting any sort of memorial of rape, possibly due to the problems associated with representing rape. I argue that the Clothesline Projects strategies of representation can be a transgressive attempt not only to speak out about rape, but also to refuse the spectacle of personal narrative. Chapter Four revisits the performance artifacts and connects them to Diana Taylors notion of the scenario. This research demonstrates the possibilities found within these artifacts for subverting the normative pull of rape survivor discourse.

In this thesis, I take you on a walk a walk in the making of representations around the Red Stick Farmers Market in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This thesis is written at a moment of instability, or crisis, in this discipline. In a crisis of representation, how do we represent anything? Experimenting with various methodologies of writing, representation, dialogic performance, history, and ethnographic inquiry, this thesis provides a walk over various terrains. We begin by building the framework for the walk, then tour three areas of ethnographic expansions and alternatives: new ethnography, performative writing, and historicity. John VanMaanen calls for an impressionistic ethnography, which is the telling and re-telling of the backstage stories of ethnography. Ask a dancer, and she might tell you that the backstage stories are not only about the costumes and the scenery of the ballet; the backstage stories are also about the blisters, the politics of who gets which role, the lives that dancers, choreographers, and set-designers live outside of the studios and stages, the people who sit in the audience, and many other things. The backstage stories of ethnography are also vast. For these purposes, the chapters of this thesis focus on three of the more banal elements of doing ethnography at the Red Stick Farmers Market: mushroom soup, cookies, and dirt. These three elements provide an exploration of writing, making, and doing ethnography at this point in time.

Wisdom is a multi-faceted, multi-dimensional, multidisciplinary construct which has been discussed and examined since the beginning of recorded history. Many classical and contemporary scholars have sought to define wisdom, but a precise definition has proven elusive. Since wisdom often defies easy categorization, this dissertation examines wisdom using a multi-methodological perspective. Four chapters of this dissertation discuss the historiography of various societal attributions of wisdom using performance studies techniques. Three chapters examine wisdom and the instruments constructed to measure the construct from a social scientific approach. This study seeks to clarify, while simultaneously deconstructing, the definition of wisdom. The four performative chapters address wisdom primarily from the perspective of Gregory Ulmer's "mystory." The three social scientific chapters discuss the existing social scientific literature, information about the sample and questionnaire, and the results of the statistical analysis of the 12 hypotheses and 17 research questions posed. The discussion considers how the methodologies used clarify and obscure wisdom. Conclusions about the elusive nature of wisdom are posited. The role of different methodological approaches, age, and poor performance of existing wisdom scales suggest directions for future research.

This dissertation will contribute to the project of explaining what environmental communication studies may offer theoretically to an understanding of communication and rhetoric in general, investigate a complex problem in rhetoric from a variety of methodological approaches, offer examples of rhetorical criticism relevant to environmental communication researchers, and delve into certain salient aspects of ecological rhetoric (defined herein as rhetoric from an ecological perspective). The hypothesis of this doctoral thesis is twofold: 1) studying environmental communication can illuminate much about communication and rhetoric in general, and 2) ecological rhetoric has considerable persuasive potential in itself for reasons that can be demonstrated through criticism and ascertained through theoretical reflection. This dissertation is a critical and conceptual project that might also shed light on some practical questions about environmental advocacy. Case studies in historically significant instances of environmental communication from Garrett Hardin and Al Gore, as well as reflections upon the Interstate and the erosion of the Louisiana coastline, analyzed by means of rhetorical criticism, media ecology, semiotics, and quantitative methods, should highlight the narrative, material, and indexical quality of ecological rhetoric. Finally, a survey of concepts from network science will connect ecological rhetoric with recent debates in rhetorical theory.

Despite the prevalence of family firms, researchers often ignore the significant impact of the family on the business. Thus, if organizational scholars do not account for the family as a variable in their research, they will not account for a significant number of the organizations they purport to understand. The fact that family businesses comprise such a large percentage of organizations proves that the family business context deserves more attention from both organizational and organizational communication scholars. With this in mind, the original intent of this dissertation was to explore the impact of family relationships on communication practices and behaviors within the family business. Initially, the goal of this project was to investigate the ways in which the combination of the family and business systems impacted the communication within the family and within the business. Although this general objective is accomplished, the data collection and analysis process reveals a new angle that explains the findings more specifically. In particular, the data suggests that the broad categories and themes derived from a review of family business literature reflect aspects of family business that are mostly negative. The family business literature does not seem to offer much explanation for the positive experiences within the family business. Since the data mostly reflects positive experience, the prevailing family business research does not adequately explain or fit the data. As a result, the data prompted a new search for literature and research that includes the positive experiences of the family business as well as the negative. This dissertation uses theories of Enrichment and Depletion to compare the prevalence of positive experiences versus negative experiences. Data collection involved case studies of four different family businesses. Participants from these businesses were interviewed and transcripts of the interviews were then analyzed to compare and contrast the enriching (positive) and depleting (negative) experiences. The findings revealed that although family business members face issues of depletion, the participants overwhelmingly reported enriching experiences within their business. These findings suggest that the enrichment occurs within the family business and should be included within family business and family business communication literature.

This dissertation explores the relationship between ethics, pedagogy, and rhetoric through the relationship between NPDA partnerships and how forensic coaches impact these relationships. The main argument which is introduced is that directors of forensics and NPDA debaters are currently in a state of tension, and arguably in a state of crisis. This dissertation aims to heighten the level of intellectual discussion in this subfield as well as add to both the quantity and quality of research. The study begins with an introduction and review of the relevant literature. These chapters are focused on the philosophical and pragmatic underpinnings of theory in forensics as well as the existing studies in this subfield. Next, there is a quantitative study to assess how argumentativeness and verbal aggressiveness influence competitive relational satisfaction within NPDA partnerships. The original human subject study in this dissertation begins with the student/debaters because of the bottom-up nature of the subculture of forensics. Following the quantitative portion, there is a qualitative follow-up with the coaches of these partnerships, and finally, I explore the rhetorical and pedagogical impacts of the findings. It is concluded that especially in forensics, there is no one model pedagogy or ethic, just as there is no one way to garnering competitive success. It is argued that further theoretically and historically grounded study must be conducted in this area in order to bolster the credibility of forensic literature as well as to provide further understanding in this area.

The growth of distance education, in its many forms, has had consequences for both online universities as well as more traditional universities. This study examines instructional behaviors and communication strategies used in face-to-face and online educational settings. The purpose of this study is to explore student perceptions of instructor immediacy, motivation, and communicator competence in addition to their own motivation and intrapersonal communication use in higher education settings. This dissertation follows a social scientific organizational pattern: introduction, literature review, methods, results, and discussion. The first two chapters examine the purpose of the study and the appropriate research on distance education, teacher immediacy, communication and communicator competence, student motivation, and imagined interactions. The third chapter describes the participants, instruments, and methods utilized in both the pilot and current study. The fourth chapter presents the results of the 6 hypotheses and 5 research questions posited for this current study. Finally, the discussion considers how the results clarify the potential and pitfalls associated with online education. Conclusions about the roles of immediacy, motivation, communicator competence and imagined interactions in online education are posited. The role of sample demographics and different methodological approaches are examined and implications for future research are considered.

This study enacts performance analyses by combining experimental and avant-garde performance practices of artists or art movements such as John Cage, Jerzy Grotowski, Dadaism, and Eugenio Barba with the differential philosophies of Jacques Derrida and Gilles Deleuze. By focusing on the ways that performance practice informs understandings of the ghost and différance in Derridas theories, and processes of production and experimentation in Deleuzes, this study examines performance as a process of negotiating practice and theory that continues to produce rather than disappear. To reinforce the productive capacity of performance, this study looks at three different sites and the processes at work in their development as performance products: the development of the performance The Maidens, the photography exhibit The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult, and Marina Abramovićs performance art series Seven Easy Pieces. Within each of these sites, the processes of experimentation at work in their creation are highlighted to focus performance practice and theory on the multiple variables at work before, during, and after the event of performance.