Fulfills COAS A & H distribution requirement

The primary goal of this course is to help students to become better
producers and consumers of arguments as they appear in the public
sphere. The course will be conducted in a lecture/discussion
format.  On Monday and Wednesdays students will attend lectures on
the theory and principles of public argumentation and advocacy.  On
Fridays students will attend small discussion sections
(approximately 25 students) where they will work on a variety of
critical and practical exercises designed to develop skills in the
use of public argumentation.

The course will introduce students to the practical forms and
functions of public argumentation and advocacy.  Topics to be
emphasized will include how to identify, employ, and critique
different modes of reasoning (including so-called "fallacies of
argumentation") and the usage of evidence. Further topics will
include the differences in form and function of propositions of
fact, value, and policy; the role of advocacy in public debate
(focusing on social change, legal advocacy, and public policy
decision-making); and the fundamentals of directed research using
both the library (including the use of government documents and
legal resources) and the World Wide Web.

Course assignments will include three or four short argumentative
papers  (4-6 pp. in length) plus a mid-term and final examination.
Papers will emphasize the ability to employ the skills of
argumentation, while exams will emphasize the ability to analyze and
critique the usage of
arguments by others.  Class attendance is required.

Readings will include a textbook on argumentation such as Andrea
Lunsford's Everything's An Argument, Boston: Bedford, 2004.  A
variety of additional readings (speeches, editorials,
advertisements, legal decisions, etc.) will be placed on e-reserves.