Date of Award:
5-2022
Document Type:
Dissertation
Degree Name:
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department:
English
Department name when degree awarded
Technical Communication and Rhetoric
Committee Chair(s)
Jared Colton
Committee
Jared Colton
Committee
Avery Edenfield
Committee
Keith Grant-Davie
Committee
Keri Holt
Committee
Nicole Allen
Abstract
What influences the way we discuss and think about technology? How does technology, in turn, shape our understanding of politics, relationships, and ethics? I explore these questions while reflecting on my own experiences researching and writing about political technical communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. Modern life is saturated with technology. Although many voters may not realize it, technology is central to the operation of democracy. In part one, I use rhetorical methods to explore how the link between electoral politics and technical communication as a field might be strengthened. In part two, I examine cases where apocalyptic culture transmits deeply conservative political perspectives through technical communication. Finally, in part three, qubits (which are the quantum computing version of a bit in modern computing software) are creatively used as a metaphor for thinking about the relationship between ethics, technology, research, and activism.
Checksum
63d9b1da74666a8e3689b529a8f3dfa9
Recommended Citation
Cheek, Ryan K., "A Rhetorical Phenomenology of Political, Apocalyptic, and Qubit Technical Communication" (2022). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023. 8449.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/8449
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