Examining the Rhetoric of Historical and Scientific Events

Projects examining pivotal historical events and the powerful rhetoric of media and communication used to shape our understanding of the world today.
 

On view beginning June 1, 2026

Peter Higgs in a construction hat standing under a large Hadron Collider
An image from Bradon Hassell's project "The Higgs Boson Discovery," first theorized by physicist Peter Higgs in 1964.
Crowd protesting with banners against Sterlite
From Harshini Ravindran's project, "Tuticorin Sterlite Protest and Massacre," the protest when police opened fire on demonstrators demanding closure of the copper smelter plant.
From World of Warcraft, videogame characters stand around a massive pile of skeletons
In "World of Warcraft: Videogames and Epidemiology," Deanna Kolski investigates unprecedented pandemic when a virtual disease broke containment and spread to all corners of the digital world.
People in PPE on an outdoor work site surrounded by construction machinery
Nazifa Nuha Chowdhury explores the impact of a train derailment in her project "Train Derails, Vinyl Chloride Ignites Over East Palestine, Ohio."

About This Exhibit

This exhibition features the work of graduate students from the Master of Science in Scientific & Technical Communication and the Master of Arts in English programs. After a semester of immersive archival research, each student selected a significant moment in history related to science and technology to build an expansive multimedia archive, curating the specific documents, images, and artifacts that define these historical moments.

Throughout the term, the students experimented with various rhetorical and digital strategies to frame their collections. They explored how the deliberate arrangement of evidence, whether organized by chronology, stakeholder perspective, or rhetorical stance, shapes the technical narrative. This methodological freedom allowed for highly individualized curatorial choices, highlighting the diverse ways we can interpret and present complex information.

The resulting interactive archives represent a fusion of academic rigor and creative storytelling. Each project reflects a unique perspective on history and communication, demonstrating how a student’s specific interest in policy or the politics of knowledge can transform a static collection of records into a powerful, cohesive narrative experience.

When

On view beginning June 1, 2026

Where

iPearl Innovation Studio, D. H. Hill Jr. Library

Admission

Free and open to the public.

Contact

Contributors