Methodologies for the Rhetoric of Health and Medicine

This volume charts new methodological territories for rhetorical studies and the emerging field of the rhetoric of health and medicine. In offering an expanded, behind-the-scenes view of rhetorical methodologies, it advances the larger goal of differentiating the rhetoric of health and medicine as a distinct but pragmatically diverse area of study, while providing rhetoricians and allied scholars new ways to approach and explain their research.

Collectively, the volume’s 16 chapters:

• Develop, through extended examples of research, creative theories and methodologies for studying and engaging medicine’s high-stakes practices.
• Provide thick descriptions of and heuristics for methodological invention and adaptation that meet the needs of needs of new and established researchers.
• Discuss approaches to researching health and medical rhetorics across a range of contexts (e.g., historical, transnational, socio-cultural, institutional) and about a range of ethical issues (e.g., agency, social justice, responsiveness).

Lisa Meloncon is Associate Professor of Technical Writing at the University of South Florida. She is the founder and coordinator of the biennial Symposium for the Rhetoric of Health & Medicine. Her research in the rhetoric of health & medicine includes work with disability and embodiment, an historical study of vernacular healing, and understanding the impact of place on healthcare communication.

J. Blake Scott is Professor of Writing and Rhetoric and member of the Texts & Technology Ph.D. faculty at the University of Central Florida. His research in the rhetoric of health & medicine includes studies of HIV testing and prevention practices and of global pharmaceutical policy debates.