Alumni & Professor Partner in Live Tribute to Classical Educator

July 18th, 2012

By Sarah Pride.

CONTACT:

David Halbrook Patrick Henry College (540) 441-8722 OfficeOfCommunications@phc.edu

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Click here at 8:00pm ET to view the live webcast!

Dr. James Tallmon, professor of rhetoric at Patrick Henry College

In a special tribute to the life of Professor Richard M. Weaver, a man who made a strong impact in the realm of classical education, PHC’s Dr. James Tallmon has partnered with alumni-run Ethos Debate to deliver a live webcast of one of Weaver’s influential lectures on July 26 at 8:00 pm ET at www.phc.edu. Weaver is most known for writing the book Ideas Have Consequences, one of the most highly regarded conservative critiques of culture published in the last century. The lecture Dr. Tallmon has chosen to webcast, Language is Sermonic, explores the link between the spiritual dimension of language and human potential. It states:

“…in summation . . . man is not nor ever can be nor ever should be a depersonalized thinking machine. His feeling is the activity in him most closely related to what used to be called his soul. To appeal to his feeling therefore is not necessarily an insult; it can be a way to honor him, by recognizing the fullness of his being.”

Along these lines, classical rhetoric teaches the use of all means of persuasion, including both reason and emotion, head and heart.

Isaiah McPeak ('08), founder of Ethos Debate

As PHC’s professor of rhetoric, Dr. Tallmon also runs a blog and learning resource called the Rhetoric Ring. As he says, he plans to “continue the commemoration and celebration of Weaver by means of weekly blogspots and ensuing discussions for six weeks” through that resource. He and alumnus Isaiah McPeak (’08) will “deepen, broaden, and enhance knowledge gained by listening to the lecture.”

McPeak is currently running Debate Camp at PHC with other alumni through their company, Ethos Debate. He and Tim Snyder (’09), Nathanael Yellis (’08) and Kawika Vellalos (’08) have taught dozens of debate camps around their country since their stint as fellow leaders on PHC’s championship debate team during their undergrad years. Weaver’s arguments fit well with Ethos Debate’s purpose to teach that rhetoric “is essentially moral,” in McPeak’s words.

“We teach how to become an effective and ethical communicator,” he explains.

Dr. Tallmon will deliver the lecture in the public reading and webcast on July 26 at 8:00 pm Eastern time.

View a dynamic presentation about “Language is Sermonic” on the Rhetoric Ring here.