College of Humanities

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Donald Trump’s (Rhetorical) Gender Gap

Tuesday, October 2, 2018 - 2:00pm

FakeNews logo

Donald Trump has a complicated relationship with women. On the one hand, he claims to love them, to revere them, and to champion their causes. On the other hand, he’s openly sexist and misogynistic, and he has been credibly accused of sexual violence by nearly 2 dozen women. Gender theorists have done much in the past 30+ years to explain how someone can hold those two attitudes in their mind simultaneously, but many people remain perplexed that Trump manages to convince so many other people that these attitudes are not just compatible, but desirable. Rhetoricians have spent centuries trying to understand how someone like Trump manages to persuade people to support him, and rhetoric can help us understand how Trump uses persuasive symbols and why people are persuaded by him. In this talk, Dr. Ryan Skinnell, Assistant Professor of Rhetoric at San Jose State University, uses concepts from the book he edited, Faking the News: What Rhetoric Can Teach Us About Donald J. Trump, to help explain how Trump’s gender gap works rhetorically. Read more

82 Names Syria Don't Forget Us

Thursday, September 27, 2018 - 1:45pm to 3:30pm

82 Names

Syrian prisoners recorded their names on this scrap of fabric in hopes that one of them would be able to smuggle it out—That person was Mansour Omari. Featuring Mansour Omair, Directed by Maziar Bahari. Guest speaker: Maziar Bahari.  Read more

Susan Burton and A New Way of Life

Tuesday, September 25, 2018 - 4:00pm to 6:45pm

Susan Burton Flyer

You are invited to a lecture and round table discussion with Susan Burton, activist and movement builder on behalf of formerly incarcerated women. She is the founder and director of A New Way of Life Reentry Project (ANWOL) https://anewwayoflife.org/. Susan was among the 5 finalists for CSUN's 2018-2019 Common Read, and while her book was not ultimately selected, it has received national attention. Her ANWOL Project in the Watts area of South Los Angeles has become a model across the country of direct services to women returning from prison.  The event will also highlight the student organization, Revolutionary Scholars, comprised of formerly incarcerated students and students who have been impacted by mass incarceration. These and other activist students are invited to take part in a roundtable with Susan after her talk. Read more

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