Distinguished Guest Scholar Dr. John Louis Lucaites, professor of rhetoric and public culture in the Department of Communication at Indiana University, will examine various forms and theories of visual rhetoric in the context of public culture, ideology and civic participation. "Dr. Lucaites is a leading expert in the rapidly growing area of visual rhetoric," said Jim Cherney, WSU assistant professor and coordinator of the seminar. "The critique of visual texts - films, photographs, tattoos and even bodies - has become a new focus for rhetorical analysis."

The lecture examines how nuclear imagery eventually gave way to more contemporary instances of "Shock and Awe" animated by what Lucaites characterizes as a "post-cold war nuclear optic." In his presentation, Lucaites draws upon the allegorical reading strategy he developed with Robert Hariman of Northwestern University in their book No Caption Needed: Iconic Photographs, Public Culture and Liberal Democracy.

The lecture is a part of Wayne State University Department of Communication's annual Summer Doctoral Seminar titled "Visual Rhetoric and Public Culture," June 12-15, 2011. The seminar invites competitively selected PhD students from a large international pool to engage in leading communication research and theory.

Lucaites also co-authored Crafting Equality with Celeste Michelle Condit of the University of Georgia. He authored over forty journal articles and book chapters and co-hosts the blog nocaptionneeded.com, which has achieved an international audience of nearly 2,000 viewers each day. He was awarded the National Communication Association (NCA) Marie Hochmuth Nichols Award, the Winans-Wichelns Award and the Diamond Anniversary Book Award. He won NCA's Golden Anniversary Monograph Award three separate times. He is the recipient of the Association of Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Tau Kappa Alpha, Frank Luther Mott Research Award for the best book on journalism and mass communication.

For more information, visit http://comm.wayne.edu/summerseminar.php.

Wayne State's Department of Communication is a part of the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts, educating the next generation of professionals and scholars in the areas of communication studies, dispute resolution, media arts and studies, film, journalism and public relations.

Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution of higher education offering more than 400 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 32,000 students.