As many of you know, I am scheduled to teach my new course, “Rhetoric, Democracy, Advocacy,” in the upcoming (spring ‘10) semester. This will the be first time that the course is offered. Unfortunately, the course was scheduled in conflict with the only other rhetoric course in our department…as a result, several students who would have liked to take both, cannot. Worse yet, this means that my course has a low enrollment and, given the “budget crisis,” my be cancelled unless a few more students add the class. I posted quite a bit about the class a while back, but I thought I would post again in case there are any KU students out there interested in activist rhetorics and democracy.
Course Description
ENG 316: Rhetoric, Democracy, Advocacy The connection between rhetoric and democracy is an old one dating back to the origins of both concepts in Western traditions. Simply put rhetoric—the skilled use of argument and persuasive discourse—and democracy were seen as ways to replace violence as the primary means of governing and resolving conflict. This course argues that the intimate connections between rhetoric and democracy are critical to retain and reclaim for the health of democratic society and culture. American democracy has been defined not only by its institutions and Constitutional frameworks, but also by vibrant traditions of citizenship advocacy that have relentlessly stretched the boundaries of democratic freedoms, identities, and protections. A healthy democracy requires citizen advocates who are skilled in the analysis of public discourse and the rhetoric of advocacy. This course will be a sustained study of the theory and practice of advocacy rhetoric, primarily in the American context. In addition, this course will raise practical questions about what citizenship advocacy means in a context of increasing globalization and new media. 3 s.h. 3 c.h.
Course Rationale
Despite the historic connection between the rise of democracy and the rise of rhetoric in Western traditions, rarely do we study rhetoric as a “citizen discipline.” That is, while it is common to find courses training students in the “expert rhetorics” of corporations (public relations) and political campaigns, there is a general lack of courses that focus on the role of citizen advocacy as integral to the health of democratic cultures. As one of the missions of higher education is to train critical citizens capable of meeting the challenges and responsibilities of an ever changing world, this course seeks to make such training an explicit part of the English department’s curriculum.
Books for the Class
- Emergent Publics: An Essay on Social Movements and Democracy (Semaphore Series)
- The Rhetoric of Agitation and Control
- Rhetoric for Radicals: A Handbook for 21st Century Activists
- Rhetorical Democracy: Discursive Practices of Civic Engagement
- Rules for Radicals
- Activist Rhetorics and American Higher Education, 1885-1937
So, there ya have it! Come one, come all!
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