02/11/2023

Miguel Ángel Violán presents his thesis at Harvard University

On 23 October the lecturer and doctor of the Faculty of Communication Sciences presented the results of his thesis at Harvard University. The research is entitled “Analysis of the rhetorical structures of TED Talks and the concept of discursive intelligence”, and addresses the most frequent rhetorical resources in TED Talks and their relationship with neuroscience

In the study, lecturer Miguel Ángel Violán presented 135 key factors for the analysis of contemporary oral discourse related to discursive intelligence. This concept, first defined by the doctor, falls within the theory of multiple intelligences of Harvard professor Howard Gardner.

Violán has studied the evolution of rhetoric from its origins in Greece and Rome to the current great speakers of the twentieth century, such as Churchill or Obama. The research focused on contemporary forms of short speeches and TED Talks. The ability to identify public intelligence and develop a good speaking strategy was analysed along with discursive intelligence.

The thesis was directed by Alfonso Méndiz, rector of UIC Barcelona, and was awarded the cum laude distinction.