Public address as embodied experience: using digital technologies to enhance communicative and civic engagement in the communication classroom

ABSTRACT

This study examines how students characterize their experience of a communication-based digital humanities project in relation to elements of situated embodiment and situated learning. Analysis of student response data indicates that the Virtual Martin Luther King Project situates students in a particular space and historical context resulting in communication outcomes including a form of cognitive attention that is conducive of reflection and fosters civic engagement. The essay concludes with a discussion of what is transferable from this case in relation to creating the conditions for situated learning and public address as immersive, embodied experience in communication classrooms.

KEYWORDS:

• public speaking
• communication pedagogy/education
• situated learning
• situated embodiment
• digital humanities

Notes on contributors

Victoria J. Gallagher is Professor of Communication at North Carolina State University.

Max Renner is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Communication, Rhetoric & Digital Media program at North Carolina State University.

Ragan Glover-Rijkse is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Communication, Rhetoric & Digital Media program at North Carolina State University.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: [NEH 566520 Digital Projects for the Public: Production Grants].