HERRICK, James A. 1954-

PERSONAL:

Born 1954; married; children: four. Education: University of California, Fresno, B.A. (speech communication, magna cum laude), 1976; University of California, Davis, M.A. (rhetoric), 1978; University of Wisconsin, Madison, Ph.D. (communication arts), 1986.

ADDRESSES:

Home—35 East 28th St., Holland, MI 49423. Office—Department of Communication, Hope College, 126 E. 10th St., Holland, MI 49422-9000. E-mail—herrick@hope.edu.

CAREER:

Hope College, Holland, MI, instructor, 1984-90, associate professor, 1990-93, professor, 1997—, Guy Vander Jagt Professor of Communication, 2001—, department chair, 1993-2002.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation fellowship, 1982; Lilly Foundation grant, 1988; Knight Foundation fellowships, 1990, 1991; various teaching and research grants and awards.

WRITINGS:

Critical Thinking: The Analysis of Arguments, Gorsuch Scarisbrick (Scottsdale, AZ), 1991.

Argumentation: Understanding and Shaping Arguments, Gorsuch Scarisbrick (Scottsdale, AZ), 1995, revised edition, Strata (State College, PA), 2004.

The History and Theory of Rhetoric: An Introduction, Gorsuch Scarisbrick (Scottsdale, AZ), 1997, third edition, Pearson Education (Boston, MA), 2004.

The Radical Rhetoric of the English Deists: The Discourse of Skepticism, 1680-1750 ("Studies in Rhetoric/Communication" series), University of South Carolina Press (Columbia, SC), 1997.

The Making of the New Spirituality: The Eclipse of the Western Religious Tradition, InterVarsity Press (Downers Grove, IL), 2003.

Contributor of entries to the New Dictionary of National Biography, 1999-2000; contributor to academic journals and periodicals, including Quarterly Journal of Speech, Michigan Association of Speech Communication Journal, Washington Times, Chicago Tribune, Detroit Free Press, and San Francisco Examiner. Manuscript reviewer, referee, and editorial board member for various academic publications and journals.

SIDELIGHTS:

James A. Herrick has written a number of volumes about his specialty, rhetoric and communications. Among these texts is The Radical Rhetoric of the English Deists: The Discourse of Skepticism, 1680-1750. Central to Herrick's study are the doctrines of the principal Deists and his emphasis on their rhetoric. Criticism critic Justin Champion called the volume "a bold work that sets out to underscore the importance of radical anti-Christian discourses to the history of freedom in eighteenth-century English debate.… Herrick argues for a heroic, radical, and populist account of deism, located in clubs, coffee houses, secret guild and clandestine meetings. One of the key premises of his account is the claim that exploring the 'rhetoric' of deistical writings and controversies is critical to refurbishing their reputation and importance." Champion concluded by saying that the book has value "as an overview of the types of debate which convulsed English literary and political discourse in the eighteenth century. It is a very accomplished starting point which should encourage scholars to take seriously the survival and power of radical discourse in the eighteenth century."

John C. Adams wrote in a review for Argumentation that "Herrick's book does what it sets out to do and along the way leaves bibliographic traces that are a catalogue of nearly all of the period's primary sources." Adams further stated that the book "provides a scholarly context for understanding rhetoric's play in the depths and surfaces of Christianity's problematic encounter with life's meaning and purpose."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Argumentation, February, 1999, John C. Adams, review of The Radical Rhetoric of the English Deists: The Discourse of Skepticism, 1680-1750, pp. 119-121.

Criticism, fall, 1999, Justin Champion, review of The Radical Rhetoric of the English Deists, p. 554.

Heythrop Journal, April, 2001, E. M. Knottenbelt, review of The Radical Rhetoric of the English Deists, pp. 208-210.

Library Journal, May 1, 2003, William P. Collins, review of The Making of the New Spirituality: The Eclipse of the Western Religious Tradition, p. 120.

Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, summer, 1998, Donna Landry, Gerald MacLean, review of The Radical Rhetoric of the English Deists, p. 553.

Theological Studies, March, 1999, Melvyn New, review of The Radical Rhetoric of the English Deists, p. 192.