Ithaca College

 Ashley Hall, assistant professor in communication studies (H&S), and co-author Melissa Harris, have published a timely rhetorical analysis of eulogies presented by Dr. Martin Luther King and President Barack Obama.  The article appears in the Journal of Contemporary Rhetoric, Volume 8, Issue 3.

 Drs. Hall and Harris discuss the eulogies as an exception to the tradition, "a hybrid rhetoric based on the life, death, and social conditions at the time of the eulogy."  The eulogy by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was for the young victims of the Sixteenth Street Church Bombing, and the eulogy of Barack Obama was for Rev. Clementa Pinckney after the massacre at Emanuel AME Church.

The authors explain that "there is currently an alarming trend of Blacks being murdered by police and racially charged incidents, often resulting in social upheaval within communities across the country. (Their) analysis provides insight into the resulting eulogies of unjustified Black death and the rhetorical power of the eulogist when addressing communities on the verge of civil unrest."

This publication continues Dr. Hall's commitment to meaningful research that confronts both traditional expectations in the field of rhetoric and contemporary social issues.