CAS 138TRhetoric and Civic Life II

3 credits · Communication Arts and Sciences · Penn State

This course builds rhetorical skills in oral, written, visual, and digital contexts and introduces deliberation and advocacy in civic and disciplinary spheres. CAS (ENGL) 138T Rhetoric and Civic Life II (3) (GWS)ENGL/ CAS 138T , Rhetoric and Civic Life II, expands knowledge and aptitudes built in ENGL/ CAS 137H by asking students to use rhetorical skills and principles to develop strategies for persuasion and advocacy in the context of civic issues. The course continues the multimodal emphasis-the focus on oral, written, visual, and digital communication-used in 137H and adds new components as well. Students will develop a repertoire of communication skills through hands-on practice at composing and delivering speeches and essays, and they will work with digital media to create multimedia texts, podcasts, and websites. Students will reflect on these different modes as themselves rhetorical choices. The course's civic and ethical components take center stage as students learn how to deliberate important public issues thoughtfully and with civility and respect. They will learn the difference between persuasion and advocacy and develop strategies for both in the context of pertinent local, national, and global issues. They will participate in a public deliberation forum on topics they generate and vote on. The forum will be organized to allow small deliberative action groups as well as large forum-style meetings. The course focuses on ethics in many contexts, e.g., community action and public deliberation; ethics of persuasion; ethical controversies in the disciplines. Students will be encouraged to explore percolating disciplinary interests and to share knowledge in online disciplinary communities. Students will work throughout the semester to design and build a final electronic portfolio that represents their academic work with an eye to their imagined professional futures. The portfolio assignment offers students an opportunity to reflect on their work, assessing the merits and themes of inquiries, and to curate and present their work to both targeted and broad online audiences.