Cleveland State University associate professor of political science and expert on the American Presidency, Dr. Justin Vaughn, and Dr. Jennifer Mercieca of Texas A&M University are organizing a conference titled "Rhetoric, Politics, and the Obama Phenomenon." A study of the rise of America’s 44th president from relative obscurity to the most influential man in national and world politics, the conference will be held on March 4-7, 2010 in Bryan, Texas at the Brazos Cotton Exchange.

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Barack Obama’s meteoric rise from a little-known Illinois state Senator in 2004 to President of the United States in 2008 was made possible in large part by his exceptional media strategies and rhetorical performances. President Obama’s image, words and family have all become a part of the world-wide phenomenon that is Barack Obama. This conference will bring together rhetoric, media and political science scholars to explore and analyze Barack Obama’s image politics, communication practices and rhetorical strategies. Scholars will present papers on such topics as the visual politics of Obama, Obama and leadership, Obama and civil rights, Obama’s rhetorical style, and other topics relevant to the Obama phenomenon.

The conference features nine plenary speaker sessions and six panel discussions featuring presentations by more than four dozen faculty members and graduate students representing more than 20 states, including leading authorities like Dr. George Edwards (Texas A&M University), Dr. David Zarefsky (Northwestern University), Dr. Martin Medhurst (Baylor University) and Dr. Bonnie Dow (Vanderbilt University), who will also deliver the keynote Kurt Ritter lecture.

Key sponsors of the conference include CSU's College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, CSU's Department of Political Science, Texas A&M University's College of Liberal Arts, Texas A&M University's Department of Communication, the Melbern G. Glasscock Center for the Humanities, and the City of Bryan, Texas.

For more information, contact conference organizers Dr. Jennifer Mercieca, Department of Communication, Texas A&M University (mercieca@tamu.edu) or Dr. Justin Vaughn, Department of Political Science, Cleveland State University (j.s.vaughn@csuohio.edu).

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