The statue of Abraham Lincoln outside Maxwell Hall
This week, after two years’ planning, the ’ Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies (CRS) will host the 15th Biennial Public Address Conference (BPAC) at the Genesee Grande Hotel in 鶹ƵSept. 29-Oct. 1. More than 100 rhetoricians from across the nation and globe will gather for this acclaimed symposium on histories and practices of public discourse.
The theme of the 15th Biennial Public Address Conference is “The Conceit of Context.” Public memory scholar Professor Carole Blair from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill will deliver the keynote address on the evening of Thursday, Sept. 29. Eight plenary sessions on Friday, Sept. 30, and Saturday, Oct. 1, range in topic from campaign parody, “Making a Murderer” and the politics of place to Black Freedom commemoration, the 2008 South Korean Internet protests, transnational representations of violence in Mexico and more. Rhetorical historian Stephen E. Lucas, Evjue-Bascom Professor in the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will be honored at the closing banquet on Saturday evening.
For more information about registration, presenters, the history of BPAC and more, see the symposium website at or contact the hosts, Professors Charles Morris and Kendall Phillips of CRS, at cemorris@syr.edu or kphillip@syr.edu.
