Some courses approach politics as a “science,” but we shall approach
it as an art.  Specifically, we will examine the way that persuasive
communicative artistry has effected social change in America.  How do
metaphor, myth, identification, sacrifice, and scapegoating
accomplish political work?  How do these strategies shift and cohere
across multiple media?  What sorts of political work are hindered,
and in what ways, by these communicative practices?  How might
individuals become careful critics of, and fluent participants in,
American public culture?

We will examine public discourse — oratory, films, television — with
an eye toward the ways that such discourse both forms, and calls
upon, our political selves.  In other words, we will study the ways
that such discourse forms us, as well as the ways that such discourse
is formed by American political culture.

Examples and case studies will be drawn both from the distant and the
recent past, and may include:  presidential oratory, war rhetoric,
the rhetoric of popular film, black nationalism, and women’s rights.
Our focus will be developing strategies for analyzing this discourse,
and then on using what we learn through our analysis as a way to
understand contemporary American political communication.

Coursework will include several short written assignments which will
culminate in a combined oral/written final project.  For this
project, students are required to make use of course material in the
analysis of contemporary public discourse.  Some examples of past
projects include:  local political campaigns, television dramas and
documentaries, rock music albums, and campus politics.




On-line course materials and instructor contact information are
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