Margaret R. LaWare

I have been teaching at Iowa State University since fall of 1997 as a member of the Interpersonal and Rhetorical Communication Program and serve as the Associate Director of the Basic Course. I am also an affliate of the Women's Studies Program on campus. I teach the Introduction to Public Speaking Course and help to train teaching assistants who are lab instructors. In addition, I teach courses in Gender and Communication, Business and Professional Speaking, Argumentation, Debate and Critical Thinking and Rhetorical Criticism.

I have a Ph.D. in Communication Studies from Northwestern University. My research covers three principal areas that are interrelated. These areas include visual and material rhetoric in the form of public art and public protest, contemporary women's rhetoric and feminist rhetorical invention, and pedagogy in the Basic Course. A common theme that runs throughout much of my research in all three areas concerns the rhetorical construction of both public and private identities. This concept of the rhetorical construction of identity reflects the communicative nature of an individual’s self. In other words, an individual’s identity or identities are formed in and through interactions with others within their community as well as through encounters with the visual and material components of their environments – the places where they live, work, and seek out sources of entertainment and edification. Of particular interest in my work is bringing into focus and supporting efforts by marginalized or disempowered groups to gain a space for recognition of the uniqueness of their own identities and perspectives within the larger community and culture.

My research has included topics such as the Rhetoric of Women's Human Rights, Chicano Murals, Campus Murals, Women's Peace Encampments, the public speaking classroom as public space and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

I am originally from Long Island, but have come to love the midwest and Iowa. I am a violist and enjoy playing music in ensembles.

Office/Office Hours

• office: 308B Carver
• office hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 11 - noon and by appointment
• office phone: (515) 294-1346
• email: mlaware@iastate.edu
• home page: http://mlaware.public.iastate.edu

Interests

• visual and material rhetoric and public culture
• rhetorical theory and criticism
• feminist theory and criticism
• the rhetoric of war and peace

Selected Publications

"Circling the Missiles and Staining Them Red: Feminist Rhetorical Invention and Strategies of Resistance at the Women's Peace Camp at Greenham Common.” NWSA Journal, Vol. 16 (3), 2004: 18-41.

"The Home Side of Global Feminism: Why Hasn’t the Global Found a Home in the U.S.?" With Catherine Helen Palczewski and Victoria DeFrancisco. Women and Language Vol. 24 (1), 2003: 100-109.

“Encountering Visions of Aztlan: Arguments for Ethnic Pride, Community Activism and Cultural Revitalization in Chicano Murals,” Journal of Advocacy and Argumentation, Vol. 34 (3), Winter, 1998: 140-153.

“The Public Speaking Classroom as Public Space: Taking Risks and Embracing Difference.” Basic Communication Course Annual, Vol. 16, 2004: 279-291.

“Forgotten Veterans Reclaim Their Voices: Gender and Identity in the Narratives of Women Vietnam Veterans.” in The Spoils of War: The Bright and Bitter Fruits of Human Conflict, Bruce A. Butterfield and Jurgen Kleist eds., Peterson, 1997,147-166.

“Welcome Home Brother! (Re)membering Masculine Identities at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial” in Voices in the Street: Explorations in Gender, Media and Public Space. Susan J. Drucker and Gary Gumpert, eds., Hampton Press, 1997,149-171.