The
Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate Program | Seminars | Interdisciplinary
Conferences | Electronic
Journal | Symposia & Lectures | Book
Series | Undergraduate
Courses
The Project on Rhetoric of Inquiry (POROI)
is an interdisciplinary program at the University of Iowa. The
Project explores how scholarship and professional discourse is
conducted through argument, how paradigms of knowledge are sensitive
to social-political contexts, and how the presentation of scholarly
and professional findings is an audience-sensitive process. POROI
began informally in 1980. Activities now include seminars, workshops,
national conferences, a variety of classes, the Graduate Certificate
Program in Rhetorics of Inquiry, and a peer-reviewed on-line
journal.
Look below for a brief description of these
activities.
The Interdisciplinary Graduate
Certificate Program
The Project on Rhetoric of Inquiry and the
Graduate College offer a Certificate Program in conjunction with
a graduate degree in any field. In order to earn the Interdisciplinary
Graduate Certificate in Rhetorics of Inquiry, students must complete
four courses from among those offered through POROI, including
a course on the nature of rhetorics of inquiry. Click
here for more information.
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Seminars
POROI sponsors “The Rhetoric Seminar” in
which papers are distributed ahead of time via POROI's web site
(URL will go here). Participants arrive ready to engage in a
freewheeling interdisciplinary exchange of ideas intended to
help the writer revise the paper for its targeted audience. Scholars
from on- and off- campus are invited to present their work at
the Rhetoric seminar.
The “Public Rhetoric Seminar,” conducted
in community settings, focuses on public texts (speeches, reports,
policy statements, etc.) about issues of local, regional, state,
national, or global significance. Click
here for more information.
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Interdisciplinary
Conferences
POROI sponsors Rhetoric Symposia and cross-disciplinary
conferences. Some of these have included Story Telling in Science
and Scholarship: The Role of Narrative in Various Dimensions
of Life and Inquiry; Rhetoric of the Human Sciences: Language
and Argument in Scholarship and Public Affairs; and Inquiring
Minds Want to Know: Rhetoric of Inquiry for a New Century.
POROI is increasingly interested in communication
between academia and the general public and between academic
and artistic communities. Tthe conference Infinite Respect, Enduring
Dignity: Voices and Visions on the September Attacks brought
together scholars, artists, and religious and political leaders
for two days of panels and performances devoted to exploring
various issues and emotions in the aftermath of the events of
September 11, 2001. In October 2003, a national conference, The
Promise of Empathy, fostered a fuller, more holistic understanding
of the emergence of empathy as a topic of critical importance.
POROI is currently planning a conference to be held in February
2005 on the topic of Intellectual Property. Click
here for more information.
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Electronic Journal
Poroi: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Rhetorical
Analysis and Invention is an online peer-reviewed journal for
scholarship attuned to rhetoric in culture, inquiry, and politics.
The journal is sponsored by the Project on Rhetoric of Inquiry
and published electronically by the University of Iowa Libraries.
Scholarly articles in Poroi address interdisciplinary audiences
and emphasize rhetorical analysis and invention in all fields
of learning.
As an electronic journal, Poroi is more flexible
than paper journals about its lengths, forms, and publication
schedules. It appears several times a year, as submissions warrant,
and it publishes single articles as well as special symposia
or issues organized by guest editors.
http://inpress.lib.uiowa.edu/poroi
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Symposia and
Lectures
Conferences are especially effective means
for conducting cross-disciplinary inquiry. Scholars from a variety
of fields can focus on ideas that start in one discipline but
then open to others. POROI regularly sponsors conferences held
at the University of Iowa, but also has co-sponsored events at
other locations. Conferences and co-sponsored lectures are regularly
advertised on POROI’s website.
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Book Series
Members of POROI have edited two book series.
Rhetoric of the Human Sciences was launched by the University
of Wisconsin Press in the wake of the 1984 national conference
on that topic and features nearly two dozen books. A second series,
New Practices of Inquiry, was published by the University of
Chicago Press. It contains nearly a dozen books, all based on
interdisciplinary work, especially work bridging humanistic and
scientific boundaries.
See
descriptions.
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Undergraduate
Courses
POROI offers cross-listed upper-level classes
and participates in a variety of special undergraduate initiatives,
including instruction in the interdisciplinary Literature, Science,
and the Arts program and the University Honors Program.
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