David Cratis Williams

About

David Cratis Williams
PhD, Speech Communication and Human Relations, Kansas University

Email: dcwill@fau.edu
Phone : 561-297-3850
Areas of Expertise: Rhetorical Studies, Argumentation, Criticism, Propaganda Studies

Much of my academic writing focuses either on issues of argumentation/rhetoric at play during periods of national transitions, as in post-Soviet Russia and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, or on the life and work of Kenneth Burke. And many of my professional activities are within the orbit of these same interests. I am Executive Director of the Eurasian Communication Association of North America (formerly the North American Russian Communication Association), and I am also the Executive Director of the International Center for the Advancement of Argumentation and Political Communication (ICAPCA). ICAPCA is a research consortium that has been studying the rhetorical dimensions of Russian political transitions since 1991.

In a similar vein, I am co-editor of Controversia: An International Journal of Argumentation and Democratic Renewal ; Controversia is the academic journal of the International Debate Education Association. I am also Vice President of the Kenneth Burke Society and will become President in July, 2014. I was co-founder and remain as co-director of the Biennial Wake Forest Argumentation Conference (including the "Venice Conferences" on Argumentation), and I also co-director the biennial "Thinking and Speaking a Better World" International Conferences on Argumentation, Rhetoric, Debate, and the Pedagogy of Empowerment. I am a founding member of the International Society for the Study of Argumentation, and in 2010 I received a "Loyalty Award" from ISSA.

Co-Edited Books:

David Cratis Williams and Marilyn J. Young, Eds. Discourse, Debate, and Democracy: Readings from Controversia: An International Journal of Debate and Democratic Renewal . International Debate Education Association. New York. 2009. 288pp.

Frans H. van Eemeren, David Cratis Williams, and Igor Zagar, Eds. Understanding Argumentation: Work in Progress. Amsterdam: Sic-Sat Rozenberg Publishers. 2008. 233pp.

Frans H. van Eemeren, Michael David Hazen, Peter Houtlosser, and David Cratis Williams, Eds. Contemporary Perspectives on Argumentation: Views from the Venice Argumentation Conference. Amsterdam: SIC-SAT Publishers. 2006. 274pp.

David Cratis Williams and Patricia D. Beaver, Eds. Cratis D. Williams, Tales From Sacred Wind: Coming of Age in Appalachia. The Cratis Williams Chronicles. Contributions to Southern Appalachian Studies Series, 8. Jefferson, N.C., and London: McFarland Publishers. 2003. 444pp.

Greig Henderson and David Cratis Williams, Eds. Unending Conversations: New Writings by and about Kenneth Burke. Rhetorical Philosophy and Theory Series. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. 2001. 233pp.

David Cratis Williams and Patricia D. Beaver, Eds. The Cratis Williams Chronicles: I Come to Boone. Boone, N.C.: Appalachian Consortium Press. 1999. 144pp.

David Cratis Williams and Michael David Hazen, Eds. Argumentation Theory and the Rhetoric of Assent. Studies in Rhetoric and Communication Series. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. 1990. 230pp. Published as paperback February 2006.

Journal Publications:

David Cratis Williams, "Enabling Democracy Through Argumentation and Debate Training." In Topical Problems of Communication and Culture-12. ( Грейдина , Н . Л ., ред ., Актуальные проблемы коммуникации и культуры -12 ) Annual of International Communication Research. Ed. Nadezhda Greidina. Moscow, Piatigorsk: Piatigorsk State Linguistic University. Manuscript accepted for publication for 2013. 12 MS pages.

David Cratis Williams and Marilyn J. Young, "Echoes of Berlin 1989: Post-Soviet Discourse and the Rhetoric of National Unity." In 1989: Rhetoric and Revolutions. Eds. Cezar Ornatowski and Noemi Marin, Special Issue, Advances in the History of Rhetoric. Journal of the American Society for the History of Rhetoric. College Park, MD: American Society for the History of Rhetoric/Routledge. In production for Volume 13, scheduled for fall 2014 publication (28 manuscript pages).

David Cratis Williams and Meredith Mountford. "Text Network Analysis: Exploring Relationships with Qualitative Methodology and Rhetorical Criticism," Russian Journal of Communication. Vol. 5, no. 3, Fall 2013: 295-298. Routledge/Taylor & Francis. Published online at www.tandfonline.com . Hardcopy publication slated for December, 2013.

David C. Williams, Marilyn J. Young, and Michael K. Launer, "Rhetorical Approaches to Political Communication: Putin's 2012 Inaugural Address," Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences ( Института филологии и языковой коммуникации Сибирского федерального университета ), December 2012 [5:12], 1744-1752. Also published electronically.

M.K. Launer, M. Young, and D.C. Williams, Letter to the Editor concerning: J. Hemment, "Nashi, Youth Voluntarism, and Potemkin NGOs: Making Sense of Civil Society in Post-Soviet Russia" [Slavic Review Summer 2012 (71:2), 234-260] Slavic Review: Interdisciplinary Quarterly of Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies ( journal of the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies) Spring 2013 (72:1), 213-216.

Marilyn J. Young, Michael K. Launer, and David Cratis Williams, " The Sinking of the Kursk: A Soviet Response to a Russian Tragedy." In Topical Problems of Communication and Culture - 11. ( Грейдина , Н . Л ., ред ., Актуальные проблемы коммуникации и культуры -11 ) Annual of International Communication Research. Ed. Nadezhda Greidina. Moscow, Piatigorsk: Piatigorsk State Linguistic University, 2010: 376-391. (ISBN 5-89966-562-5).

David Cratis Williams and Joseph P. Zompett, "Debate and the Art of Rhetorical Citizenship." In Topical Problems of Commuication and Culture – 10 . ( Грейдина , Н . Л ., ред ., Актуальные проблемы коммуникации и культуры -10 ). Annual of International Communication Research. Ed. Nadezhda Greidina. Moscow and Pyatigorsk: Pyatigorsk State University, 2010: 122-140.

David Cratis Williams, "Burke Distinguished Scholars Series: Interview with David Cratis Williams" (conducted by Andy King). KB Journal. Journal of the Kenneth Burke Society 6.1 (Fall 2009): http://www.kbjournal.org/.

Book Chapters:

David Cratis Williams, Marilyn J. Young, and Michael K. Launer, "Russian National Identity as Argument Construction: An Assessment of Political Transformations in Post-Soviet Russia." In Proceedings: Seventh International Conference of the International Society for the Study of Argumentation. Ed. Frans van Eemeren, Bart Garssen, David Godden, and Gordon Mitchell. Amsterdam: Sic Sat, 2011: 2008-2016 (CD-ROM).

Noemi Marin and David Cratis Williams, "Presidential Arguments in Post-Soviet Russia: An Enthymematic Return to National Identity as Argumentation of Citizenry?" In Proceedings: Seventh International Conference of the International Society for the Study of Argumentation. Ed. Frans van Eemeren, Bart Garssen, David Godden, and Gordon Mitchell. Amsterdam: Sic Sat, 2011: 1181-1194 (CD-ROM).

David Cratis Williams and Noemi Marin, "Citizen Putin: Presidential Argument and the Invitation to (Democratic) Citizenship." In The Functions of Argument and Social Context. Selected Papers from the 17th biennial National Communication Association/American Forensic Association Summer Argumentation Conference, Alta, UT, August 2009. Ed. Dennis Gouran. Washington: National Communication Association, 2010: 558-564.

David Cratis Williams, "Educational Trajectories for Open and Democratic Societies: Kenneth Burke's 'Linguistic' Approach to Problems of Education.'" In Humanistic Critique of Education: Teaching and Learning As Symbolic Action. Ed. Peter M. Smudde. West Lafayette, IN: Parlor Press, 2010: 208-231.

Joseph P. Zompetti and David Cratis Williams, "Democratic Civic Engagement and Pedagogical Pursuits: Using Argumentation and Debate to Energize Concerned Citizens." In Concerning Argument. Selected Papers from the 15th National Communication Association/American Forensic Association Summer Argumentation Conference, Alta, UT, August 2007. Ed. Scott Jacobs. Washington: National Communication Association, 2009: 819-828.

Current Courses

SPC 4540: Propaganda

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