Sensory Engagement with the Rhetoric of Science

Creationist Copia at the Discovery Center for Science and Earth History

Bibliographic Data

ID12465155
AuthorsEmma Frances Bloomfield (0000-0002-6211-4471, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume25
Issue4
Pages65-93
Publication date2022-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueRhetoric and Public Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1094-8392 • E-ISSN: 1534-5238
PublisherMichigan State University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.14321/rhetpublaffa.25.4.0065
OpenAlexW4362690119
LanguageEN
Citations received1

The Institute for Creation Research (ICR) opened the Discovery Center for Science and Earth History in Dallas, Texas in September 2019. Through immersive exhibits and advanced technology, the museum communicates what ICR purports to be the truth of creation science. Informed by the rhetorical concept of copia, I argue that the Discovery Center deploys sensory evidence to support creationism through the rhetorical strategies of rotation, immersion, and interruption. These material strategies use the senses as vehicles to communicate multiple arguments simultaneously, direct museumgoers’ attention, and amplify lived experiences as valid ways of knowing and evaluating the science of human origins. I conclude by noting the role of sensory rhetorical strategies in other scientific controversies and encouraging additional scholarship into how sensory evidence offers convincing challenges to scientific knowledge

Creationism · Epistemology · Linguistics · Political science · Rhetoric · Rhetorical question · Scholarship · Sociology · Animal and Plant Science Education · Law · Philosophy · Rhetoric and Communication Studies · Science Education and Perceptions

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