Research
I am a scholar in the rhetoric of health and medicine (RHM), which is a part the medical/health humanities. These disciplines study how people interact with systems related to medicine and how they construct and enact their own notions of health, specifically by studying language use. We look at narratives that people tell about their bodies and experiences, how individuals communicate in medical and health settings, how participants in a situation perceive and describe that situation differently, and aim to understand what people find persuasive within health and medical contexts.
In my work, I use qualitative methods and hermeneutic paradigms informed by rhetorical theory to interpret language, with a goal of creating improved understanding of controversies related to science, health, and medicine.
In my work, I use qualitative methods and hermeneutic paradigms informed by rhetorical theory to interpret language, with a goal of creating improved understanding of controversies related to science, health, and medicine.
Research: Rhetorics of Vaccination
I began my research on vaccination when I was a graduate student in 2010. This research approaches language use surrounding vaccination in an attempt to better understand how arguments about vaccines are constructed, why they are persuasive, and how persuasion can be achieved and communication improved around vaccines.
Monograph: Vaccine Rhetorics, The Ohio State University Press, Spring 2020
Vaccine skepticism and refusal have long perplexed practitioners, public health officials, and researchers alike. In light of the enormous successes of vaccines—including the eradication of small pox and near-eradication of diseases like polio and measles that once threatened thousands of young lives every year—it seems not only confounding but unthinkable that individuals would choose not to protect themselves and their families through such a safe and simple procedure. Yet parents and patients express a wide range of concerns about vaccines, rooted in challenges to dominant risk assessments, the necessity and efficacy of some vaccines, and the power that the state should have to compel medical practices.
Vaccine Rhetorics applies the tools of rhetoric to public arguments about vaccines, with a goal of elucidating why people are persuaded to believe the things they believe. By examining four primary exigencies across vaccination—disease, eradication, injury, and the unknown—through the rhetorical concept of material exigence,Vaccine Rhetorics offers novel explanations for why persuasion is so difficult when it comes to vaccination. The text offers suggestions for theories, methods, and practices that can inform new, rhetorically informed persuasive approaches to vaccination practice and policy, with a goal of achieving more understanding, deliberative discursive outcomes.
Vaccine Rhetorics applies the tools of rhetoric to public arguments about vaccines, with a goal of elucidating why people are persuaded to believe the things they believe. By examining four primary exigencies across vaccination—disease, eradication, injury, and the unknown—through the rhetorical concept of material exigence,Vaccine Rhetorics offers novel explanations for why persuasion is so difficult when it comes to vaccination. The text offers suggestions for theories, methods, and practices that can inform new, rhetorically informed persuasive approaches to vaccination practice and policy, with a goal of achieving more understanding, deliberative discursive outcomes.
Publications, Presentations, and Media on Vaccination
Publications
Hausman, Bernice, Heidi Y. Lawrence,Susan Marmagas, Clare Dannenberg, and Lauren Fortenbery. “H1N1 Vaccination and Health Beliefs in a Rural Community in the Southeastern United States: Lessons Learned.” Critical Public Health. 2018. https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2018.1546825
Lawrence, Heidi Y. “When Patients Question Vaccines: Considering Vaccine Communication through a Material Rhetorical Approach.” Rhetoric of Health and Medicine, 1.1-2 (2018): 161-178.
Lawrence, Heidi Y.“Fear of the Irreparable: Narratives in Vaccination Rhetoric.” Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics 6.3 (Winter 2016): 205-209.
Scott, Jennifer Bracken, Kristin Kondrlik, Heidi Y. Lawrence,Susan Popham, and Candice Welhausen. “Rhetoric, Ebola, and Vaccination: A Conversation Among Scholars.” POROI: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Rhetorical Analysis and Invention11.2 (Dec. 2015): 1-26.
Lawrence, Heidi Y.“Healthy Bodies, Toxic Medicines: Vaccination Beliefs and the Rhetorics of Health, Illness, and the Body.” Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine. 87.4 (December 2014): 423-437.
Lawrence, Heidi Y.,Bernice L. Hausman, and Clare J. Dannenberg. “Reframing Medicine’s Publics: The Local as a Public of Vaccine Refusal.” Journal of the Medical Humanities35.2 (June 2014): 111-129.
Book Reviews
Lawrence, Heidi Y. Review of The Antivaccine Heresy: Jacobson v. Massachusetts and the Troubled History of Contemporary Vaccination in the United States. Nursing History Review (NHR). 26.1 (2018).
Lawrence, Heidi Y. Review of Vaccinations and Public Concern in History: Legend, Rumor, and Risk Perception. Journal of Business and Technical Communication 29.4 (October 2015): 490-495.
Media
Assistant Editors' Interview with Dr. Heidi Lawrence of George Mason University. http://stars.library.ucf.edu/rhm/vol1/iss1/1/
Gross, Rachel. (Media Interview) “Just Add Science? In the Age of Trump, the Science Press Must Rethink its Habits.” The Undark January 24, 2017.
Gross, Rachel. (Media Interview) “The Martian and the Cult of Science.” Slate.com October 2, 2015.
Hausman, Bernice, Heidi Y. Lawrence,Susan Marmagas, Clare Dannenberg, and Lauren Fortenbery. “H1N1 Vaccination and Health Beliefs in a Rural Community in the Southeastern United States: Lessons Learned.” Critical Public Health. 2018. https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2018.1546825
Lawrence, Heidi Y. “When Patients Question Vaccines: Considering Vaccine Communication through a Material Rhetorical Approach.” Rhetoric of Health and Medicine, 1.1-2 (2018): 161-178.
Lawrence, Heidi Y.“Fear of the Irreparable: Narratives in Vaccination Rhetoric.” Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics 6.3 (Winter 2016): 205-209.
Scott, Jennifer Bracken, Kristin Kondrlik, Heidi Y. Lawrence,Susan Popham, and Candice Welhausen. “Rhetoric, Ebola, and Vaccination: A Conversation Among Scholars.” POROI: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Rhetorical Analysis and Invention11.2 (Dec. 2015): 1-26.
Lawrence, Heidi Y.“Healthy Bodies, Toxic Medicines: Vaccination Beliefs and the Rhetorics of Health, Illness, and the Body.” Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine. 87.4 (December 2014): 423-437.
Lawrence, Heidi Y.,Bernice L. Hausman, and Clare J. Dannenberg. “Reframing Medicine’s Publics: The Local as a Public of Vaccine Refusal.” Journal of the Medical Humanities35.2 (June 2014): 111-129.
Book Reviews
Lawrence, Heidi Y. Review of The Antivaccine Heresy: Jacobson v. Massachusetts and the Troubled History of Contemporary Vaccination in the United States. Nursing History Review (NHR). 26.1 (2018).
Lawrence, Heidi Y. Review of Vaccinations and Public Concern in History: Legend, Rumor, and Risk Perception. Journal of Business and Technical Communication 29.4 (October 2015): 490-495.
Media
Assistant Editors' Interview with Dr. Heidi Lawrence of George Mason University. http://stars.library.ucf.edu/rhm/vol1/iss1/1/
Gross, Rachel. (Media Interview) “Just Add Science? In the Age of Trump, the Science Press Must Rethink its Habits.” The Undark January 24, 2017.
Gross, Rachel. (Media Interview) “The Martian and the Cult of Science.” Slate.com October 2, 2015.
Other Research Projects and Groups
Virginia Consortium on the Rhetoric of Health and Medicine (VCRHM)
I am a co-founder and co-director of VCRHM, a group of researchers in RHM studying health in Virginia. You can read more about our work here: www.vcrhm.org
Student Groups
Society for Technical Communication (STC), George Mason University Chapter www.stc-gmu.org
In the fall of 2014, I founded a George Mason chapter of the Society for Technical Communication (STC) and now serve as the faculty advisor for this group. This group aids in professional development for students and alumni interested in technical communication at George Mason University.
If you are a current student, prospective student, or alum and are interested in joining the George Mason chapter of STC, please contact me for more information.
In the fall of 2014, I founded a George Mason chapter of the Society for Technical Communication (STC) and now serve as the faculty advisor for this group. This group aids in professional development for students and alumni interested in technical communication at George Mason University.
If you are a current student, prospective student, or alum and are interested in joining the George Mason chapter of STC, please contact me for more information.
Past Research Projects and Publications
“The Moral Appeal of Environmental Discourses: The Implication of Ethical Rhetorics.” Environmental Communication 6.2 (Summer 2012): 212-232. With Clare J. Dannenberg, Bernice L. Hausman, and Katrina M. Powell. DOI: 10.1080/175242032.2012.668856
Abstract: Environmental sustainability demands civic action through both changes in individual and community behaviors in addition to national and international agreements and cooperation. In moral appeals to the environment, individuals are often called upon to behave in ‘‘good’’ ways—to reduce, reuse, recycle—to ‘‘save the planet.’’ Behavior, and our attitudes about it, is therefore an important component to ongoing sustainability efforts.
This pilot study, conducted in Fall 2009, brings together research methods in sociolinguistics and rhetorical studies to examine the discourses that students produce when describing issues and practices concerning sustainability. In interviews with 15 students in an earth sustainability general education core, our study found that students were knowledgeable about environmental issues and expressed intentions to engage in sustainable behaviors. Yet, students produced accommodating discourses when addressing competing demands on their time and resources. The sociolinguistic analysis of interview data shows a disassociation from environmental issues at the symbolic level of language use. The rhetorical analysis shows that this disassociation manifests as guilt, largely because when choosing between various moral appeals in their social context, students are left without tangible direction for engaging in new sustainable behaviors.
“Emerging Genres in Professional Writing: Corporate Rhetoric and New Media.” May 2007. Link to paper.
My master’s thesis, completed in May 2007, describes the current position and use of New Media texts by corporations, focusing on the use of blogs, podcasts, and online video as a means for engaging audience and attracting consumers. By reconceptualizing these texts as genres and viewing them rhetorically, this thesis argues that increased attention and study within the academic field of Professional Writing could highlight opportunities for Professional Writers to improve these workplace texts and could lead to better preparation for New Media communications in the teaching of professional writers.
A review of existing literature in prominent Professional Writing journals [Journal of Business and Technical Communication (JBTC), Technical Communication Quarterly (TCQ)] revealed the absence of New Media genres in present Professional Writing scholarship; discussion of the role of rhetorical analysis for electronic texts argued for the importance of rhetoric in New Media; and a genre analysis of a sample of corporate blogs, podcasts, and online video established the distinct audience relationship each of these texts create.
This thesis was intended as a reference and resource for Professional Writing scholars and academics, to persuade them that the role these genres play in corporate Professional Writing environments is expanding, and therefore deserves increased scholarly attention. Since the completion of this thesis, increased attention to New Media in both Professional Writing scholarship and textbooks as increased substantially, and therefore now functions as a snapshot of the past development of scholarly interest in this subject area.
Abstract: Environmental sustainability demands civic action through both changes in individual and community behaviors in addition to national and international agreements and cooperation. In moral appeals to the environment, individuals are often called upon to behave in ‘‘good’’ ways—to reduce, reuse, recycle—to ‘‘save the planet.’’ Behavior, and our attitudes about it, is therefore an important component to ongoing sustainability efforts.
This pilot study, conducted in Fall 2009, brings together research methods in sociolinguistics and rhetorical studies to examine the discourses that students produce when describing issues and practices concerning sustainability. In interviews with 15 students in an earth sustainability general education core, our study found that students were knowledgeable about environmental issues and expressed intentions to engage in sustainable behaviors. Yet, students produced accommodating discourses when addressing competing demands on their time and resources. The sociolinguistic analysis of interview data shows a disassociation from environmental issues at the symbolic level of language use. The rhetorical analysis shows that this disassociation manifests as guilt, largely because when choosing between various moral appeals in their social context, students are left without tangible direction for engaging in new sustainable behaviors.
“Emerging Genres in Professional Writing: Corporate Rhetoric and New Media.” May 2007. Link to paper.
My master’s thesis, completed in May 2007, describes the current position and use of New Media texts by corporations, focusing on the use of blogs, podcasts, and online video as a means for engaging audience and attracting consumers. By reconceptualizing these texts as genres and viewing them rhetorically, this thesis argues that increased attention and study within the academic field of Professional Writing could highlight opportunities for Professional Writers to improve these workplace texts and could lead to better preparation for New Media communications in the teaching of professional writers.
A review of existing literature in prominent Professional Writing journals [Journal of Business and Technical Communication (JBTC), Technical Communication Quarterly (TCQ)] revealed the absence of New Media genres in present Professional Writing scholarship; discussion of the role of rhetorical analysis for electronic texts argued for the importance of rhetoric in New Media; and a genre analysis of a sample of corporate blogs, podcasts, and online video established the distinct audience relationship each of these texts create.
This thesis was intended as a reference and resource for Professional Writing scholars and academics, to persuade them that the role these genres play in corporate Professional Writing environments is expanding, and therefore deserves increased scholarly attention. Since the completion of this thesis, increased attention to New Media in both Professional Writing scholarship and textbooks as increased substantially, and therefore now functions as a snapshot of the past development of scholarly interest in this subject area.