Rhetoric in the metaverse

Abstract

During the summer of 2021, the concept of the metaverse emerged as a macro goal for Big Tech and entertainment industry leaders. The concept is a familiar one: the creation of an embodied internet facilitated by wearable virtual reality technologies (e.g. smart glasses). References to the metaverse often identify Neal Stephenson’s 1992 novel, Snow Crash, as the place where the term was first coined, although the concept itself can be traced back to Stanley G. Weinbaum’s 1935 science fiction short story, ‘Pygmalion’s Glasses’. Other media critics, like Wired’s Kevin Kelly have also used the term mirrorworld to describe immersive virtual and mixed reality worlds in the same vein as the metaverse.

The aim of this article is to offer a speculative and pragmatic reimagining of rhetorical pedagogy for the metaverse. For instance, in place of reading Plato, how might students come to understand Plato’s philosophy by walking and talking with the Socrates trope or engaging in a dialog with an AI Plato? How might students feel the affective significance and impact of Martin Luther King, Jr’s ‘I Have Dream’ speech by attending a virtual simulation of the event or sitting alongside MLK in a jail cell as the author pens ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’? The metaverse holds potential for creating these sorts of embodied learning experiences to enhance traditional pedagogical and post-pedagogical methods, as well as to foster a new level of engagement with arts and humanities curricula at a time when administrative leadership and governing bodies in higher education are exploring new options for delivering high-quality, engaging learning experiences.