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rhetoric of Christian colleges: Organizational discourse and unobtrusive control in higher education

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Date Issued:
1996
Summary:
Christian colleges have been accused of "watering down" their Christian principles in admissions materials to increase enrollments. In response to these arguments, rhetorical criticism, based on conceptions of organizational discourse such as symbolic convergence and unobtrusive control, is used to examine the rhetorical strategies, the relative prominence of Christian principles, and the organizational sagas in this rhetoric. This discourse shapes the organizations and their environments; therefore, this is a rich example to explore the rhetoric of organizations from an interpretive perspective. The strategies, priorities, and sagas identified are discussed in light of the ideals promoted by scholars of Christ-centered higher education. The colleges are unapologetically described as Christian, but they are ambiguously distinguished from one another. This rhetoric provides newcomers with premises for unobtrusive control, and the scene is emphasized. Implications of this strategy and the organizational sagas in these texts are discussed.
Title: The rhetoric of Christian colleges: Organizational discourse and unobtrusive control in higher education.
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Name(s): St. Antoine, Thomas James.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Mulvaney, Becky, Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 1996
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 137 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: Christian colleges have been accused of "watering down" their Christian principles in admissions materials to increase enrollments. In response to these arguments, rhetorical criticism, based on conceptions of organizational discourse such as symbolic convergence and unobtrusive control, is used to examine the rhetorical strategies, the relative prominence of Christian principles, and the organizational sagas in this rhetoric. This discourse shapes the organizations and their environments; therefore, this is a rich example to explore the rhetoric of organizations from an interpretive perspective. The strategies, priorities, and sagas identified are discussed in light of the ideals promoted by scholars of Christ-centered higher education. The colleges are unapologetically described as Christian, but they are ambiguously distinguished from one another. This rhetoric provides newcomers with premises for unobtrusive control, and the scene is emphasized. Implications of this strategy and the organizational sagas in these texts are discussed.
Identifier: 15262 (digitool), FADT15262 (IID), fau:12033 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1996.
Subject(s): Communication in organizations
Oratory
Criticism--20th century
Church colleges--United States
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/15262
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.