WordWise is a pathbreaking initiative of Peitho (Radboud Centre for Rhetoric) and Radboud University’s Department of Political Science offering rhetoric as a means to educate responsible and resilient citizens. Within Radboud University, WordWise aims to cooperate with, and serve, all faculties. We will provide Radboud students with the critical and persuasive skills they require to flourish not only in academia, but also in society. WordWise will create courses in rhetoric that are both grounded in general rhetorical theory and tailored to specific disciplines, so that a theologian can apply rhetorical analysis to a sermon, a biologist can outsmart a climate denier, and a GP can broach knotty subjects in clear and cogent language.
Second, WordWisewill design a rhetoric-cum-citizenship module of variable complexity to be used at secondary schools of different levels. It will help the young to enter with confidence a society characterized by fake news, information overload, and influencers.