Philosophy, Communication, and English have joined forces to present a new interdisciplinary minor at SOU, the Minor in Rhetoric and Reason. To modern ears, “rhetoric†might sound like overly flowery language or empty words; but in reality, rhetoric is the ancient study of the way human beings articulate written and spoken arguments to create meaning and make judgments. This panel will discuss the academic requirements for the new minor, and then present case studies of how philosophy, communication, and English use different approaches to rhetoric to engage in public deliberation on controversies from science, art, architecture, politics, and popular culture.