If U.S. President-elect George W. Bush needs help with his inaugural address, he can turn to students in a special political science class at Elon College for some ideas.
Students enrolled in the three-week Winter Term course, titled “Media, Rhetoric and The Presidency,” are studying the impact that communications styles have had on previous presidential administrations. One project the class will tackle will involve writing Bush’s inaugural address, based upon their study of prior Bush speeches and the inaugurals of previous U.S. presidents.
“We’ve looked at Bush’s campaign speeches to get a feel for the topics he’ll address,” says Laura Roselle, associate professor of political science, who is teaching the course. “I’m looking for not only substance in those speeches, but Bush’s style as well — his tone of voice, the way he speaks. I think it will be a fascinating exercise,” Roselle says. The students must turn their speeches in to Roselle Jan. 18, two days before the inauguration.
The course also examines the role media and communications have played in crisis situations during past administrations, such as the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. “We’re doing case studies of scandals which have played out on television and the impact television has had in those situations,” says Roselle. Students are also learning how presidents try to control media coverage through prime-time addresses to the nation and carefully orchestrated events which are largely molded for television.
Roselle’s course is part of Elon’s Winter Term, during which students are engaged in focused academic study and intensive work with faculty. This January, Elon is offering a special cluster of Winter Term courses titled “Inaugurating the Millennium,” which deal with issues unique to the arrival of the 21st century.
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