The authority of the IPCC First Assessment Report and the manufacture of consensus
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The Department of English seeks to provide all university students with the skills of effective communication and critical thinking, as well as imparting knowledge of literature, creative writing, linguistics, speech and technical communication to students within and outside of the department.
History
The Department of English and Speech was formed in 1939 from the merger of the Department of English and the Department of Public Speaking. In 1971 its name changed to the Department of English.
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1939-present
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- Department of English and Speech (1939-1971)
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- College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (parent college)
- Department of English (predecessor, 1898-1939)
- Department of Public Speaking (predecessor, 1898-1939)
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Abstract
The word “consensus” does not appear in the first report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change back in 1989. It appears prominently, however, when scientists associated with Working Group I represented the report’s findings to the public. This early commitment to “consensus” talk legitimated opponents’ attacks on the existence of a scientific consensus, locked the scientific community in to defending a rigid position, and lead the public debate in unhelpful directions for twenty years. There were alternatives.
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This paper was presented at the National Communication Association conference, Chicago, November, 2009.