Rhetoric

Teaching faculty

Jim Herrick	Christian Spielvogel

Courses Offered

Comm 160. Analytic Skills

This course seeks to develop the analytic skills involved in effective reasoning and communication. In developing these skills, the course introduces students to various types of arguments, the tests to which each is susceptible and the characteristics of a reasonable argument: validity, evidence, and linguistic consistency. Analysis of sample arguments is stressed throughout. The course also considers the ethics of advocacy, and the qualities of a reasonable person.

Four Credits, Herrick, Both Semesters

Comm 260. Rhetoric and Public Culture

This course explores the rhetorical strategies, argumentative approaches, and definitional techniques embedded in the texts of popular culture. Contrasting current theories of rhetorical analysis and cultural studies with those of the classical period, the course aims to familiarize students with the rhetorical elements in the symbolic world we inhabit, and to sharpen their critical skills as consumers of persuasive messages. The course will also introduce students to some of the basic qualitative research approaches commonly employed in the field of communication studies, including Burkean analysis, culture-centered criticism, and narrative criticism.

Four Credits, Herrick, Spielvogel, Both Semesters

Comm 460. Rhetorical Theory

This course begins with a survey of rhetoric in Western culture. It then considers interpretive and social science theories of communication. Themes carried throughout the course include the nature of language, the construction of meaning, and the impact of social and cultural processes on communication. Prerequisites: Communication 101, 160, 260, and 280.

Four Credits, Herrick, Spring Semester