John Angus Campbell

John Angus Campbell (Ph.D., rhetoric, University of Pittsburgh) is a professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Communication at the University of Memphis and past President of the American Association for the Rhetoric of Science and Technology. He has twice won the Golden Anniversary Award from the National Communication Association (1971 and 1987) for his scholarly essays and was a recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award (1993) and the Dean’s Recognition Award (1994) from the University of Washington. He was named Communication Educator of the Year by the Tennessee State Communication Association (2001) and most recently (2003) was was the recipient of the Oleg Zinam Award for best essay in the Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies. Professor Campbell is one of the founders of the rhetoric of science, a now flourishing sub-specialty of academic inquiry, and has published numerous highly regarded technical articles and book chapters analyzing the rhetorical strategy of Darwin’s Origin of Species. He recently guest edited and contributed to a special issue on the intelligent design argument in the Journal of Rhetorical & Public Affairs (vol. 1, 1998 no. 4). He is currently at work on a scholarly book with the working title, Charles Darwin: A Rhetorical Biography. As a communication educator Professor Campbell is strongly committed to teaching controversy as a civic and democratic art as indicated by the title of his essay “Oratory, Democracy and the Classroom,” and again in his prize-winning JIS essay “The Educational Debate Over Darwinism.”

Archives

The Rhetorical Structure of Darwin’s Origin of Species

John Angus Campbell
April 29, 2008
Darwin faced a steep persuasive challenge in his masterwork the Origin of Species. As his notebooks (1837-1839) amply show, from the earliest stages of his theorizing Darwin thought long and hard about the problem of persuasion. The Origin can usefully be sectioned into five parts: 1) The introduction explains how he came upon his theory and previews its structure; 2) The first four chapters explain the elements of his theory: selection, variation, competition and the resulting differential adaptation; 3) A fifth chapter explains inheritance; 4) chapters 6-13 comprise the bulk of the book and simultaneously rebut objections and confirm Darwin’s case; and 5) chapter fourteen summarizes his argument. With a little leeway for chapter five the Origin roughly follows the five part …

How Should Schools Handle Evolution? Debate it

Stephen C. Meyer and John Angus Campbell
August 14, 2005
Though many have portrayed the hearings that led to the Kansas policy as a re-run of the Scopes trial, the reality is much different. Rather than prohibiting teachers from teaching about evolution (as Tennessee law did for John Scopes in 1925), Kansas is poised to adopt a policy that would enable students to learn more about the topic.

Darwin Himself Argued for Critical Evaluation

John Angus Campbell and Stephen C. Meyer
April 19, 2005
In February a Shelby County school board member suggested placing a sticker on high school biology textbooks urging students to consider “all theories” of origins “with an open mind.” This proposal is a symptom of a growing national controversy about how best to teach Darwinian evolution in public school science classrooms. For example, a suburban Atlanta school district in Cobb County, Ga., proposed a similar textbook sticker warning students that evolution is a “theory, not a fact.” That proposal was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge, but is being appealed. More recently, the ACLU has sued the Dover, Pa., school district for requiring ninth-grade students to listen to a prepared statement telling them about the theory of “intelligent …

Go ahead, teach Darwinism, but tell both sides of the story

John Angus Campbell and Stephen C. Meyer
February 27, 2005
What should public schools teach about the origin and development of life? Should science educators teach only Darwinian theory? Should school boards mandate that students learn about alternative theories? If so, which ones? Or should schools forbid discussion of all theories except neo-Darwinism? The Kansas State Board of Education is holding hearings to determine what Kansas students should learn about Darwinian evolution and to address some of these very questions. Of course, many educators wish such controversies would simply go away. If science teachers teach only Darwinian evolution, many parents and religious activists will protest. But if teachers present religiously based ideas, they run afoul of Supreme Court rulings. We think there is a more constructive way to …

Teach Scientific Controversy About Origins of Life

Stephen C. Meyer and John Angus Campbell
January 29, 2005
What should public schools teach about life’s origins? Should science educators teach only contemporary Darwinian theory, or not even mention it? Should school boards mandate that students learn about alternative theories? If so, which ones? Or should schools forbid discussion of all theories except neo-Darwinism? These questions are arising frequently as school districts around the country consider how to respond to the growing controversy over biological origins. Dover, Pa., for example, has attracted national media attention by mandating that students learn about the controversial new theory of intelligent design. Of course, many educators wish such controversies would simply go away. On the one hand, if science teachers teach only Darwinian evolution, many parents and …

Teach the Scientific Controversy Over Evolution

Stephen C. Meyer and John Angus Campbell
September 29, 2004
Click here to find out more about the “teach the contoversy” approach to science education. What should public schools teach about life’s origins? Should science educators teach only contemporary Darwinian theory, or not even mention it? Should school boards mandate that students learn about alternative theories? If so, which ones? Or should schools forbid discussion of all theories except neo-Darwinism? These questions are now arising frequently as districts around the country consider how to respond to the growing controversy over biological origins. A school district in Dover, Pa., for example, has attracted national media attention by mandating that its students learn about the new theory of intelligent design. Of course, many educators wish such …

Incorporate Controversy into the Curriculum

Stephen C. Meyer and John Angus Campbell
February 15, 2004
The authors, Stephen C. Meyer and John Angus Campbell are also the editors of the new peer-reviewed book from Michigan State University Press, Darwinism, Design and Public Education. What should public schools teach about Darwin’s theory? Should science educators discuss — or not even mention — the theory of evolution? Many educators wish these questions would simply go away. On the one hand, if science teachers teach Darwinian evolution, many parents and religious activists will protest. On the other, if teachers present religiously based theories, civil liberties groups will threaten legal action. Either way, educators face a no-win situation. Little wonder, then, that many are seeking a way to finesse the issue. Georgia Schools Superintendent Kathy Cox recently …

The Educational Debate Over Darwinism

John Angus Campbell
May 1, 2003
This essay argues that the challenge of teaching Darwin's theory exemplifies how science education must rethink its strategies and become more self-consciously rhetorical if it is to preserve its own integrity and educate tomorrow's public and scientists for democratic citizenship. It presents a model for how science education can reconcile technical ideas and cultural values to improve both scientific and cultural literacy.

John Stuart Mill, Charles Darwin, and the Culture Wars

Resolving a Crisis in Education
John Angus Campbell
April 1, 1996
The two controversies are the teaching of ethics in the public schools — especially from Junior High through High School — and the teaching of science, specifically the teaching of Darwin's theory of evolution.

Monkeying With Science Education

John Angus Campbell
March 18, 1996
The “Monkey Bill” now before the Tennessee Legislature is a bad means to a good end. The good end is to teach students the fascinating process by which scientific theories come to be established as “facts.” Scientific theories in general and Darwin’s in particular are human interpretations of nature which come to be accepted because they are persuasive. The public that a scientific theory has to persuade may be scientists but the professional character of the audience does not change the thoroughly political and rhetorical nature of the process. To advance science education by understanding how science persuades is the aim of a growing academic enterprise called the Rhetoric of Science. When science is not regarded naively as a transcript of nature but as …