User:Arielholbrook/sandbox

Background

Celeste Condit is a distinguished research professor in the Communication department at the University of Georgia, teaching an undergraduate course in "Rhetoric and Society”, and graduate level courses in pathos, rhetoric of economics, and Burke. She is best known for her contributions to the field of communications in regards to her studies on public discourse, genetics, social change, and gender.

Condit received her Bachelor of Science degree in Speech from Idaho State University in 1977 where she graduated with highest honors. She went on to attend the University of Iowa, where she received her Master's degree in Rhetorical Studies in 1980, and her PhD in Speech Communication in 1982.

She has been employed at a number of universities, beginning her career at Tulane University in New Orleans, where she worked as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communications from 1982 to 1985. Upon leaving Tulane, she became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Speech Communication at the University of Illinois, where she stayed until 1989 when she became an Associate Professor at the University of Georgia. In 1994 she became a Professor at University of Georgia.

A large part of Condit’s university service has been dedicated to Women’s Studies. In 1990 she was the chair of the Women’s Studies evening program and on the department’s search committee, and from 2003-2004 she served on the advisory board for the Women’s studies Institute . She is also a lifetime member of the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language, and Gender .

Scholarly work

One of the focuses of Condit’s research that she is well known for is her studies on gender and communication rhetoric, particularly in regards to the use of pathos . Specifically, she has been outspoken on the issue of rhetoric surrounding women’s health rights and abortion. One of her most popular books, “Decoding Abortion Rhetoric”, outlined the history and issues around abortion rhetoric, in which Condit says, “For the general public, abortion falls within the realm of personal choice, but is generally regarded as morally objectionable”. To further understand this phenomenon, she analyzed how those in pro-life and pro-choice positions have presented their arguments, and how those arguments shaped the public’s attitude and affected public policy. The Library Journal called the book “an important acquisition for all university libraries”, and received praise from the popular Christian magazine, The Christian Century.

During her years of research on abortion rhetoric, Condit noticed a reoccurring theme, where some people were making choices about abortion based on genetic tests, something Condit stated she “did not know much about” at the time . Her university had a fellowship that allowed her to study a second discipline or field, and Condit signed up to study genetics. In learning about genetics, she stated that she discovered how genetics not only had “implications for abortion, but a whole lot of other things”.

This discovery gave Condit a new area of focus for her research. She began to explore the issues of human reproduction, genetics, and the impact of genetic technologies, and how the role of discourse and rhetoric played a role in shaping these issues. In her 1999 book, “The Meanings of the Gene: Public Debates About Human Heredity”, Condit looks at society’s feelings about advancements in genetics and genetic technologies, such as eugenics, sterilization, DNA, genetic counseling, and sex selection, over the course of the twentieth century. Through analyzing TV and magazine stories about genetics dating as far back as 1910, she identifies several “central” public worries about genetics and genetic technologies that endure over time. The three public worries Condit identified were:

1. That genes are deterministic arbiters of human fate
2. That genetics research can be used for discriminatory ends
3. That advances in genetics encourage perfectionistic thinking about our children.

Condit’s book questions if it is scientists, or the public and our media, that shapes decisions about genetic research and its consequences for humans .

In a 2013 YouTube interview with The Association for the Rhetoric of Science and Technology (ARST), Condit stated that one of her current research projects involved looking at the World Health Organization’s handling of issues surrounding the creation of the “so-called ‘superflu’”, and thinking about different ways in which the internet and internet resources could be used to “broaden the deliberation” on the topic. Condit’s main concern at the time seemed to be that all decisions surrounding the ‘superflu” were being decided by a very small group of self-interested people and scientists, and the nations most impacted by the kinds of flu they were claiming to be helpful to were largely unrepresented. She expressed the belief that as science becomes more global and has more global impact, these topics need to be attended to and addressed in a more global way in terms of communication.

Notable books she’s written or co-authored:

• Condit, C., & Lucaites, J. L. (1993). Crafting equality: America's Anglo-African Word (1st ed.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
• Condit, C. (1990). Decoding abortion rhetoric: communicating social change. Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press.
• Condit, C., & Parrott, R. L. (1996). Evaluating women's health messages: a resource book. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
• Condit, C. (1999). The meanings of the gene: public debates about human heredity. Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press.

Other contributions

A few of the journals Condit has contributed to, edited, or written include:

• Condit, C. M. (2000). Culture and biology in human communication: toward a multi-causal model. Communication Education, 49(1), 7.
• Condit, C. M. (1987). Democracy and civil rights: the universalizing influence of public argumentation. Communication Monographs, 54(1), 1.
• Condit, C. M. (1987). TV articulates abortion in america: competition and the production of a cultural repertoire. Journal Of Communication Inquiry, 11(2), 47-59.
• Dow, B. J., & Condit, C. M. (2005). The State of the art in feminist scholarship in communication. Journal Of Communication, 55(3), 448-478.
• Railsback, C. C. (1982). Pro-life, pro-choice: Different conceptions of value. Women's Studies In Communication, 5(1), 16-28.

Condit has won numerous awards, including the National Communication Association Distinguished Scholar award in 2002, and the Golden Anniversary Monograph Award in 1997 with her co-authors Marouf Hasian and John Lucaites for their work “The Rhetorical Boundaries of ‘the Law’: A Consideration of the Rhetorical Culture of Legal Practice and the Case of the ‘Separate But Equal’ Doctrine”. She was also the Carroll C. Arnold distinguished lecturer, which is an annual convention held by the NCA featuring the most accomplished researchers in the field of communication, in 2004. At the University of Georgia, she won the faculty excellence award twice, in 2006 and 2014. She also won the 2000 Article of the Year Award from the NCA for her work, "Culture and Biology in Human Communication”.

Full List of Honors and Awards

• Douglas Ehninger Teaching Award (co-recipient), 1982
• American Council of Learned Societies, Travel Grant, 1985
• List of Teachers Rated Excellent By Their Students, Spring 1987, Univ. of Illinois
• Fellow, Institute for Behavioral Research, University of Georgia, 1990-1991, 1998-Present
• Humanities Center Fellowship, University of Georgia, 1991-92
• Idaho State University Professional Achievement Award, 1992
• Creative Research Medal, UGA 1993
• Marie Hochmuth Nichols Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Public Address, SCA 1994 (for Crafting Equality, with J.Lucaites)
• Golden Anniversary Monograph Award, 1997, National Communication Association (co-recipient, with co-authors Hasian and Lucaites)
• Douglas Ehninger Distinguished Rhetorical Scholar Award, 1998
• Distinguished Research Professor, University of Georgia (1999-2004; reappointed 2004-2009,  2009-2014, 2014-Present)
• Article of the Year Award, 2000, Communication Apprehension and Avoidance Division of the National Communication Association for "Culture and Biology in Human Communication."
• Lothar Tresp Outstanding Honors Professor, Spring 2001
• National Communication Association Distinguished Scholar
• (Elected 2002; NCA's version of a "Fellows" Status)
• Carroll C. Arnold Distinguished Lecturer, NCA 2004.
• William A. Owens Award (UGA award for outstanding body of work in the social sciences), 2005
• Faculty Excellence Award, 2006, 2014 (By the UGA SPCM Graduate Forum)
• Online Learning Fellow, UGA, 2012-2013

Professional Memberships and Offices

National Communication Association

• Life Member
  • Short Course Selection Committee 1986-88, 1992
  • Chair, Women's Caucus 1987
  • Nominating Committee 1989, 1995
  • Publications Board Representative, Rhetoric and Communication Theory Division 1990
  • Chair, Nominating Committee, Rhetoric and Communication Theory Division, 1991
  • Chair, Nominating Committee, Public Address, 1992
  • Council of Doctoral Granting Institutions
  • Women's Caucus, Nominating Committee, 1992, 1998
  • Winans-Wichelns Award Committee, 1995-98
  • Rhetoric & Communication Theory Award Committee, 1997-99 (Chair, 1999)
  • Golden Anniversary Award Committee

Southern Speech Communication Association

• Life Member
  • Chair, Nominating Committee, Public Address 1984
  • Secretary, Public Address Division 1984
  • Representative to NCA Nominating Committee, 1991
  • Nominating Committee, 1992, 1993
• Organization for the Study of Communication, Language, and Gender (Life Member)
• Affiliate, Women's Studies Program, UGA, 1990-
• Member, Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute, UGA (2003-)

Further Readings

• Abortion. N.d. In Wikipedia. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
• Feminist Theory. N.d. In Wikipedia. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
• John Lucaites. N.d. In Wikipedia. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
• The Library Journal. N.d.  In Wikipedia. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
• Human Genetics. N.d. In Wikipedia. Retrieved April 1, 2017.