What:
Abstract:
Building on recent developments in Lacanian rhetorical cricicism, this presentation demonstrates how contemporary evolutionary theory posits genetic determinism without a clear definition of the gene. It makes this case through close readings of Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene, the landmark text of neo-Darwinian genetics. It demonstrates how Dawkins uses metaphors to substitute a single determinate agent in place of the genome’s interactive complexity. Despite Dawkins’ admission that he could not define the gene, his metaphors give his “selfish gene” a sense of unity and coherence that allows him to describe all other levels of life (organisms, species, ecosystems) as reducible to it.
Who:
Presented by Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Composition Oren Abeles.
All are welcome to attend!
When:
Wednesday, October 13, 2023.
Where:
Petersen Library, Walker Arts & Humanities Center.
Please join the Department of Humanities for a Rhetoric, Theory and Culture Colloquium on Wednesday, November 14 titled “Islands of Resistance.” 
The Department of Humanities is pleased to announce the first Rhetoric, Theory and Culture Colloquium of the semester titled A Sixth Great Lake Beneath Our Feet. Professor 
The Department of Humanities is pleased to announce a Rhetoric, Theory and Culture Colloquium to be held on Friday, March 23. RTC student Federico Correa will first present his talk “The Ambivalence of Learning: Between the Feeling of Being at Home and the Challenges of Leaving It” followed by RTC student Laura Vidal Chiesa presenting “Women and Embodiment: Expressing through Our Bodies.” Oren Abeles will be providing commentary to the presenters.
The Department of Humanities is pleased to announce a Rhetoric, Theory and Culture Colloquium to be held on Friday, November 10. RTC student Nancy Henaku will first present her talk “Instrumentalizing empowerment: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings’ ‘Feminist’ Rhetoric” followed by RTC students Edzordzi Agbozo & Tolu Odebunmi presenting “Rhetorical ecologies in contemporary West Africa: reconsidering the ‘triglossic structure’.” Patty Sotirin will be providing commentary to the presenters.
The Department of Humanities is pleased to announce a Rhetoric, Theory and Culture Colloquium to be held on Friday, February 24 titled “Crisis and Communication in Cross-Cultural Contexts.” RTC student Vincent Manzie will first present his talk “Applying the Rhetoric of Renewal Model in a Contemporary African Context: Lessons Learned from the Royal Dutch Shell Oil Crisis in Nigeria” followed by RTC student Tolulope Odebunmi presenting “Whatsapp: A Safe Haven for Gender Transgression?” Ramon Fonkoué will be providing commentary to the presenters.
The Department of Humanities is pleased to announce a Rhetoric, Theory and Culture Colloquium to be held on Friday, January 27 titled “When Pop Culture Does Science.” RTC student Anna Swartz will first present her talk “The CSI Effect: Are Jurors Starstruck by Forensic Science?” followed by RTC student Shelly Galliah presenting “Creatively Intervening on a Manufactured Scientific Controversy: John Oliver’s Statistically Representative Climate Change Debate & the Problems and Promises of Satirical Science Accommodation.” Andrew Fiss will be providing commentary to the presenters.
The Department of Humanities is pleased to announce a Rhetoric, Theory and Culture Colloquium to be held on Friday, December 2 titled “The Postcolonial Condition.” Associate professor of French and cultural studies, Ramon Fonkoué will first present his talk “The Postcolonial Condition in the 21st Century: A Non-Citizen at Home, a Locus of Paradigm Shift in the World” followed by RTC students Yunana Ahmed and Nancy Henaku presenting “Performativity in African Scam Messages: A Feminist Discourse Analysis.” Scott Marratto will be providing commentary to the presenters.