Communication and Social Conflict examines the relationship between
"rhetoric" and "conflict" in contemporary "America" -- an increasingly
fragmented, multi-cultural social and political entity.  By "rhetoric" we
have reference to the sociality of language (the capacity of
language-in-action to constitute social being or identity) and to the
potential uses of the catalog of symbolic resources available in
contemporary America for enacting sociality, including argumentation,
visual and verbal imagery, metaphors, narratives, myths, ideographs, etc.
By "conflict" we have reference to the range of ways in which the members
of a particular community constitute or stylize cultural, social and
political differences in an economy of relationships of power, including
antagonisms, competitions, debates, disputes, wars, etc.  The goal of the
course is to help students to develop a sophisticated understanding of the
role(s) that rhetoric plays in constituting social, political, and
cultural conflict at a variety of different sites of interaction ranging
from the nation-state to the legislature and the courtroom, and from the
classroom to the boardroom.  Particular attention will be given to the
relationship between rhetoric and conflict as it is manifested in
contemporary, mass mediated representations of American society. By the
end of the semester students should develop the ability not only to
identify, analyze, and interpret the relationship between rhetoric and
conflict in a particular case, but also the capacity to act upon or
transform such conflicts in socially, politically, and culturally useful
or productive ways.  Coursework will include keeping a weekly journal of
readings, a research project on an instance of contemporary social or
political conflict, and mid-term and final examinations. This course
satisfies the "Thoughts and Ideas" distribution requirement for Arts and
Humanities (AHTI).