Atilla T Hallsby
Atilla Hallsby is an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Minnesota. I am trained as a teacher in speech and argument, and my expertise is in rhetorical history, ethics, theory, and criticism. I am particularly fond of post-structuralist theory and seek to develop theory and criticism that advances the critical goals of marginalized communities. My major focus is upon America's rhetorical culture of secrets. Secrets are a crucial part of the culture of national security, the emergence of cryptocurrencies, the ideal of transparency in governance, the surveillance of migrant communities, anti-science conspiracy rhetorics, and narratives of mental illness. By seeking to identify common rhetorical features of secrets, I hope to advance a better understanding of how secrets are strategic ways of leveraging power, how they structure public memory, and how they come to be 'out in the open' through representation and repetition in public culture. I am currently at work on a book manuscript that brings psychoanalytic theory together with landmark secrecy events of the early 21st century. In 2019-2020, I will teach classes in rhetorical theory while finishing ongoing research on the Climategate conspiracy and the legacy of epistemic rhetoric.