“They’re all talk, no action.” What does it mean to be “all talk”? What kinds of action happens without it? This course presumes that language acts, that discourse acts powerfully and constitutively, often conservatively but sometimes quite radically. How do we think critically about language and power, language as power, the politics of discourse and discursive politics? Rhetorical studies offers us theoretical tools, frames, and heuristics to engage discursive power, to talk about the talk. We’ll begin our inquiry with Aristotle’s classic On Rhetoric, and then we’ll move quickly into contemporary rhetorical theory, focusing on but not limiting our attention to notions of identification, constitutive rhetoric, and postmodern theories of discourse. Readings include texts by self-identified rhetorical critics and theorists as well as by literary critics, political scientists, historians, and others whose work engages or is fundamentally driven by rhetorical theories.

This course also presumes as a distinction between rhetoric and philosophy: the premise that rhetoric is contingent, about the possible and probable rather than the universal or the True. Rhetoric is situational, and so to dissociate theory from praxis would make a course in rhetorical studies less relevant, less engaging, less provocative, less fun. To that end, we’ll always have on the table discourses of social change.

In addition to regular and active participation in the class and lots of reading, you’ll have four other assignments for the course. The main assignment is a paper, due on the morning of April 27. You’ll bring a draft of that paper to class for a writing workshop on April 20. On April 13, you’ll do a short presentation on your plans for the paper, its topic and basic argument, and the like. Besides those three linked assignments, you’ll do a short presentation on a primary text of your choosing. The text (or texts, if they are short and connected—such as ads or a poster campaign) must be from a sociopolitical movement, and you need to make it available to your classmates one week before your presentation. The presentation should be theoretically informed by one or more of the texts due on the day of your presentation. We’ll talk more about each of these assignments in class.

I’m happy to make accommodations for disabilities as necessary. Please talk with me about these needs during the first couple of weeks of the semester. I’m also happy to meet with you during the semester about this class or your graduate work more broadly. Office hours will be on Tuesday mornings from 10–11:30 and I’ll be available for appointments on most Tuesdays and Thursdays. Best way to contact me is by email, and I’m typically good about responding quickly.