Wabash College invites you to hear Marouf A. Hasian, Jr. give the 2006 Brigance Forum Lecture at 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 22, in Baxter Hall, Room 101. The title of his talk is "The Indeterminate ‘War on Terrorism’ and America’s Flirtation with ‘Martial Law’ Rhetorics."
Professor Hasian is Professor of Speech Communication at the University of Utah. He received his Ph.D. and M.A. in speech communication from the University of Georgia, his J.D. from Campbell University Law School in North Carolina, and his B.A. from the University of North Carolina.
Through an examination of legal rhetorics circulating in the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of the U.S. government, Professor Hasian will address important legal, political, and social questions, including:
• Do Americans still believe in the Enlightenment principles in the U.S. Constitution, or are we ready to embrace the possibility that we need to live under "martial law" as we battle Al Qaeda terrorists?
• How far are some observers willing to go in restricting the "rights" of both citizens and non-citizens?
• Are many decision-makers and laypersons demanding that "extra" constitutional weapons be used in the indefinite "War on Terrorism?"
• In the name of "flexibility," the unique nature of the conflict, or other pragmatic wartime considerations, is the U.S. Constitution—like the Geneva Conventions—becoming a "quaint" historical artifact?
The Brigance Forum is an annual public lecture or debate in memory of the late William Norwood Brigance, teacher, scholar and leader in the Speech Association of America. In his 38 years at Wabash College, "Briggie" taught generations of Wabash students how to be more effective when they spoke and, through his textbooks, he taught thousands more in American high schools and colleges. As editor of History and Criticism of American Public Address and as editor of the Quarterly Journal of Speech, he gave direction to the scholarship of the field. As president of the Speech Association of America, he guided the profession through the expansion of the postwar years. The Brigance family, friends, former students whom he taught, and those who continued the tradition of Speech at Wabash after him, have, through their contributions, endowed this program as an ongoing memorial to William Norwood Brigance.
Following the lecture there will be time for audience questions, and a reception in the Littell Lobby. His talk is free and open to the public.