Published by EA Maxis in 2009, The Sims 3 is considered to be the best life simulation video game by many gaming enthusiasts, and has sold over ten million copies worldwide. In this life simulation game, players are presented with a possibility space in the form of an entirely customizable town that appears to have no set rules, but they quickly realize the incredibly rigid structure in place only moments after starting to play. Using procedural rhetoric, this rigid structure

I’ve been troubled by the remarks made about “diversity” by other straight white men in public spheres I occupy lately: namely being a Nebraska resident and an avid reader of comics. First, as a Nebraskan, I find myself troubled by the comments about Diversity made recently by Senator Steve Erdman (covered here by the Washington Post). Erdman writes: "Recent Left-wing movements, such as Black Lives Matter and #MeToo, have undoubtedly put tremendous pressure upon the administr

How might we reenvision rhetoric’s relationship to sensation—to the senses, the body, and sensory experience? Debra Hawhee considers this question through a historical lens in her 2015 Quarterly Journal of Speech article, “Rhetoric’s Sensorium.” Hawhee, Professor of English and of Communication Arts and Sciences at Penn State University, studies histories of rhetoric—especially the rhetorical intersections of language and bodies. She approaches this retrospective piece for th

Over the summer, students at a New Jersey high school received the lecture of a lifetime. No, it wasn’t a groundbreaking scholar, established dignitary, or forward thinking entrepreneur; but rather, it was a lecture given by rapper Kendrick Lamar. After listening to Lamar’s summer release To Pimp a Butterfly (TPAB), teacher Brian Mooney couldn’t help but notice the connection between the lyrics’ discussion of racial identity, exploitation of black culture, and oppression with