The Rhetoric of Public Places
(First Edition)
©2025, 280 pages
Paperback list price: $48.95
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The Rhetoric of Public Places examines the communicative aspects of physical spaces that contribute to public memory and activity. It explores how these places, ranging from memorials to sites of commerce, engage with and shape public discourse. The book envisions such sites not merely as background settings but as active, rhetorical entities that resonate with symbolic significance and invite nuanced interpretations.
Structured into three sections, the book begins by presenting theories and methodologies of rhetorical critique, outlining how spaces act as texts with persuasive elements. The subsequent part explores places of public memory, such as war memorials and sites representing civil rights movements, examining how these spaces convey messages and reflect collective memories. The book closes with a discussion on places of public activity, including recreational sites and transportation hubs, shedding light on their roles in shaping societal narratives and the everyday experiences of individuals.
Encouraging students to both better understand and critique the implicit messages embedded in public spaces, The Rhetoric of Public Places is an exemplary text for courses in communication studies, cultural geography, public history, and urban planning.
Structured into three sections, the book begins by presenting theories and methodologies of rhetorical critique, outlining how spaces act as texts with persuasive elements. The subsequent part explores places of public memory, such as war memorials and sites representing civil rights movements, examining how these spaces convey messages and reflect collective memories. The book closes with a discussion on places of public activity, including recreational sites and transportation hubs, shedding light on their roles in shaping societal narratives and the everyday experiences of individuals.
Encouraging students to both better understand and critique the implicit messages embedded in public spaces, The Rhetoric of Public Places is an exemplary text for courses in communication studies, cultural geography, public history, and urban planning.
Theodore F. Sheckels (Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University) is the Charles J. Potts Emeritus Professor of Social Science, as well as an emeritus professor of English and communication studies, at Randolph-Macon College. Dr. Sheckels has contributed numerous articles and book chapters and has published thirteen books, which reflect his research on various literary and political communication topics.
Natalie Bennie (Ph.D. Candidate, Pennsylvania State University) is a research assistant and graduate instructor of public speaking and rhetorical criticism at Penn State University. She is also the cofounder of Neo Communications Consulting.
Carl T. Hyden (M.A., Ohio University) is the associate dean for administration in the School of Global Journalism & Communication at Morgan State University. His primary research involves ways in which monuments, architecture, and landscape inhabit place and communicate what is important to society.
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"I think the coverage is excellent in terms of breadth [and] the range of examples is great. The chapters are well focused, and I think students would enjoy the style overall. […] [Chapter 2, Theory and Method] does an excellent job providing students with terms to use as they explore rhetorical criticism and analysis of place. This will allow students to carry a framework into the rest of the text. […] It’s a well thought-out and presented volume, and the breadth of examples—along with the suggested projects in each chapter—make this a promising text to teach from."
Stephen Schneider, Associate Professor, University of Louisville
Stephen Schneider, Associate Professor, University of Louisville
