In 1958 Stephen E. Toulmin wrote of inadequacies of formal logic and proposed a new field-dependent approach to the analysis of arguments. Despite a generally negative response to his proposal from formal logicians, Toulmin's model for the laying out of arguments for analysis was subsequently appropriated by several speech communication textbook writers. In some textbooks, the Toulmin model has become successor to the syllogism as the paradigm of logical argument. Yet, perhaps due to their seemingly uncritical acceptance of Toulmin's approach there appears to be serious disagreement and confusion among speech communication professionals about the nature and applications of the Toulmin model. Towards a resolution of this problem, this study provides a descriptive analysis and assessment of the history of the Toulmin model and its proposed applications to speech communication.

Recent scholarship on the renewed Sonderweg theory does not approach the debate with a comparative analysis. This thesis therefore presents a new argument looking at the influence of British and Afrikaner tensions in South Africa, culminating in the South African War of 1899-1902, and how their treatment of the various African peoples in their own colony influenced German South-West African colonial native policy and the larger social hierarchy within the settler colony. In analyzing the language of scholarly journals, magazine articles, and other publications of the period, one can see the direct influence of the Afrikaners, including South African Boers, on German South-West African settlers, and their eugenically infused discussion of Herero, Nama, and Bastards, within their new home. Furthermore, the relations between the German settlers and the British settlers and colonial officials in the neighboring colony serve as a case-study of the larger rivalry between Berlin and London that would later culminate in World War I. In looking at how this British colony influenced German South-West Africa in socially, politically, economically, and scientifically, one can place this new research within the context of the renewed Sonderweg debated amongst scholars like Isabel Hull and George Steinmetz, extending the critique that Steinmetz argued in The Devil’s Handwriting: Precoloniality and the German State in Qingdao, Samoa, and South-West Africa

This research examines the intellectuals’ reform activities in local society at the turn of twentieth century. Focusing on Wuxi, a city in south China, this study seeks to shed light on two major issues. First, it studies the reform activities in the areas of education and print media in such a transformative era. I come to argue that differences existed between reforms at a national level and the circumstances in local society. These reformers in Wuxi provided the common people more choices besides Chinese learning, rather than following the ti-yong formula. They connected their reform proposals with the common people. Second, this study scrutinizes the complexity of their local endeavors. The most profound challenge these reformers encountered, I argue, was whether they could compete in the urban space, which had become a site of conflict and contestation.

While there are facts that are known about Claudius Greer Clemmer, there is much that is not known. By most accounts, he was a generous man who grew up during some of the hardest years of the Great Depression, worked to get an education, and had a successful teaching career. Clemmer worked diligently to do what he could to support himself and his family, working at two jobs. When his career track changed from teaching to business, in 1946, he experienced success in business and investments, sharing that wealth with East Tennessee State University and others. The intent of this qualitative study was to learn about the life of Claudius Greer Clemmer, and determine the events of his lifetime that made him who he was. The examination of his life was grounded by a series of six research questions that framed the study and expanded to include his family and work: What influenced him to pursue high educational standards?What influenced his view of education?What contributed to his philanthropy?What are people's perceptions about his life and work?Who influenced him, and in what way?Who was influenced by him, and in what way? Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory outlines five levels of basic need, beginning with physiological needs, safety and security, love and belonging, esteem, and finishing with the highest level at self-actualization, which is described as accomplishing all that one can accomplish. Maslow's theory describes Clemmer, as he had either achieved or was as close to self-actualization as possible. While the author was considering that he had accomplished self-actualization, it was expressed first by his son and acknowledged later during interviews with friends and associates. The study is significant in that there are no other studies about the life of Claudius Greer Clemmer. Research findings will be of interest to many, including the Clemmer family, the East Tennessee State University family, friends, and alumni of the Claudius G. Clemmer College of Education, along with individuals interested in biography, oral history, and philanthropy.

This article focuses on a sliver of the individuals we now know as the Neo-Latinists, who viewed the vernacular as a vehicle for expression throughout the quattrocento.

Leon Battista Alberti wrote with a sense of irony that separated his works from his humanist contemporaries and linked him to the tradition of fourteenth-century vernacular writers, particularly Petrarch and Boccaccio. His irony was characterized by his encouragement to look for virtue beneath appearances and his distrust of equating virtue with humanist learning.

This is a collection of essays that works to illustrate the cultural force of Neo-Latin and the humanists who wrote them.

Mack provides a comprehensive examination of the content and circulation of rhetorical manuals published during the European Renaissance.

This book reviewed discusses the life of Angelo Poliziano who was a leading humanist in Lorenzo de' Medici's Flroence. Poliziano was brought into the household of Lorenzo as a secretary and tutor for the Medici children in the early 1470's.

The author offers a comprehensive analysis of the thought of Machiavelli situated against the backdrop of political and biographical developments in the early 16th century.