by Erica Mundell
Staff Writer
On Tuesday March 31, the Writing, Rhetoric and Communications department will be hosting Dr. Alan DeSantis, Ph.D., who will be talking about his book “Inside Greek U: Fraternities, Sororities, and the Pursuit of Pleasure, Power, and Prestige.”
His book examines the gender roles that are established through the lessons learned from being in a fraternity or sorority. He shows the narrow definitions of “real men” and “nice girls,” and how those definitions can contribute to behaviors like eating disorders, or events like the ones that occur during hazing rituals. These analyses are aimed at reforming the Greek system and broadening its limited gender characterizations so that it would no longer impede a student’s intellectual or emotional development.
DeSantis has been a professor of communication at the University of Kentucky since 1993. “Both my research and my teaching are informed by social constructionism,” he said on his website. “Specifically, I am interested in the way social discourse (e.g., mass media, family, school, government, church) creates our understanding of each other, race, class, gender, and culture.”
DeSantis teaches many of the upper-level communications courses at UK. He is also the University of Kentucky’s Faculty Athletics Representative to the National Collegiate Athletics Association and the South Eastern Conference.
“The WRC lecture series was designed to bring regional and national figures in writing, rhetorical theory and communication studies to Transy’s campus,” said Assistant Professor of Writing, Rhetoric and Communication Dr. Scott Whiddon. “Furthermore, this series helps answer the question ‘What exactly does a rhetorician or communication studies scholar do?’ Because so many students here at Transy are involved with Greek life, we thought it might be useful to bring someone who considered such a practice from a rhetorical/communication studies perspective.”
In part with each year’s event, the WRC program sets up a “master class” session for majors, minors and interested students. The students read a piece of the guest’s work and then in a classroom/workshop format, discuss the piece with that year’s speaker.
Last year’s speaker was Dr. Katrina Powell. She brought in examples of letters written by Appalachian residents who were displaced by plans for a national park. “It was one of the best classroom experiences I’ve ever been a part of,” said Whiddon.
The “master class” helps students in their academic writing, as well as helping them to gain the “ways of knowing” that come with studying rhetoric and communication.
Dr. DeSantis will be speaking in the Campus Center gym at 3:30 p.m. For more information contact Gary Deaton at gdeaton@transy.edu or Scott Whiddon at swhiddon@transy.edu.
