D-Theory/Rhetoric
Theory/Rhetoric courses teach media theory, the major modes and schools of criticism and theory, and theories and techniques of reasoning, rational discourse, and argumentation.
Comics and graphic narratives are uniquely suited to exploring cultural location because they transform the storytelling unit of the page into a space of representation. The comics page graphically negotiates dynamics of home and away, self and other, as well as race and culture. In this course... (read more)
Community Literacy In The Virtual World
ENG 413: Theories of Literacy explores the history of and current ways in which reading and writing work in our global, digital world and what that means for diverse stakeholders in local communities. In the university, we tend to privilege academic... (read more)
This course satisfies an Arts and Letters Group requirement. It is designed to provide students with an understanding of the rhetorical principles that underlie the invention of arguments, i.e. the process that leads to the selection of premises and appeals that become the basis for reasoned... (read more)
In this course, you will explore important concepts in rhetoric and in argumentation theory, and you will practice reasoning, speaking, and writing as ways to develop fruitful and constructive questions and build fitting and convincing arguments. You will gain higher skills in discovering the... (read more)
This course will examine feminist film criticism from multiple theoretical perspectives and diverse geo-political contexts. We will study how feminists have not only critiqued media and its representations of gender but also how the institution of cinema and media itself is gendered in terms of... (read more)
Bullshit, Fake News, and Argumentation
The practice of bullshitting (“speech intended to persuade without regard for truth”) is firmly sedimented into civic life in the 21st century. Examples are everywhere: fake social media accounts and highjacked elections, accusations of... (read more)
This course considers how women writers acknowledge, resist, and re-imagine their relationship to law. We will read literary works that directly engage law, as well as scholarship from legal studies to explore questions including: What is the relationship between law and literature? How do women... (read more)
In this course we will examine theories of reasoned-based argumentation in the oral mode, and then incorporate those theories into the practice of making effective speeches that advocate for particular positions on arguable issues of public concern. We will analyze and critique oral arguments as... (read more)
In this course we’ll explore graphic narratives as a mode of life writing (biography. autobiography, memoir, coming of age narratives). We’ll discuss the ways in which the graphic narrative lends itself particularly well to these kinds of stories. Themes will include: the process of life-writing... (read more)
British Romantic Writers
This course will be a sustained examination of the question: “What is Romanticism? This is a question which has no single or ultimate answer given that there seem to be as many answers as there are “askers.” There is, however, a rich and complex body of literature... (read more)
How are we persuaded? What is rhetoric? What is rhetorical criticism? What can rhetorical criticism do? How can it help us? In this course, we will explore the potential of rhetorical criticism. You will gain knowledge of rhetorical theory and rhetorical criticism, and you will gain experience... (read more)
... (read more)
... (read more)
... (read more)
In this course we will examine theories of argumentation in the oral mode, and then incorporate those theories into the practice of making... (read more)
Comics and graphic narratives are uniquely suited to exploring cultural location because they transform the storytelling unit of the page into a... (read more)
This course brings together critical animal studies and environmental studies.
- The first unit asks what would it be like to be a bat or an octopus or some other species. Imagining the perspectives of other species leads... (read more)
This course in contemporary literary theory is organized according to the four dominant paradigms of critical debate over the past century:... (read more)
Theories of Literacy is a course in Community Literacy. Together, we will read and discuss theories of literacy developed in the fields of education, anthropology, linguistics, sociology, rhetoric, and others. Individually, you will identify a site of literacy that has moved online during COVID-... (read more)
In this course, you will review and explore important concepts in rhetoric and argumentation theory, and you will gain skill in discovering the... (read more)
BS, Fake News, and Argumentation
... (read more)
What happens to literature when text moves from page to screen? This online course invites students of all majors and levels of... (read more)
This course is designed to introduce students to some important theories and practices of literary and cultural criticism. My goals for... (read more)
This course addresses the relationship between narrative and cartography. The course engages two perspectives on this topic, as... (read more)
Rhetoric has been characterized as a power to lead the soul, the universal form of communication, the art of persuasion, the way we... (read more)
This course will examine the cultural and literary discourses emerging from the locus of the U.S./Mexico border, a space of postnational political conflict that has extended deep into both... (read more)
In this course we will examine theories of argumentation in the oral mode, and then incorporate those theories into the practice of making effective speeches... (read more)
The growing acceptance of comics and graphic novels as “serious” literature owes much to the genre’s embrace as a powerful vehicle for memory, especially by... (read more)
Contemporary Literary Theory: Four Paradigms
... (read more)
Analysis and use of patterns of reasoning derived from the disciplines of rhetoric, informal logic, cognitive science, and... (read more)
One of the analytical and political goals of the field of rhetoric is to describe the power relations of the social text—to explain the rhetorical and... (read more)
What happens to literature when text moves from page to screen? This online, team-taught course invites students of all majors and... (read more)
ENG 300 offers an introduction to literary criticism. This course will acquaint you with many of the important issues and debates in literary studies and introduce you to various theoretical schools with examples of each type. We will engage two introductory texts to literary and cultural theory... (read more)
Comics and graphic narratives are uniquely suited to exploring cultural location because they transform the storytelling unit of the page into a space of representation. The comics page graphically negotiates dynamics of home and away, self and other, as well as race and culture. In this course... (read more)
In this course we will examine theories of reasoned-based argumentation in the oral mode, and then incorporate those theories into the practice of making effective speeches that advocate for particular positions on arguable issues of public concern. We will analyze and critique oral arguments as... (read more)
In this course, you will review and explore important concepts in rhetoric and argumentation theory, and you will gain skill in discovering the questions that drive controversies and the arguments that can be made on all the different sides of an issue. You will also practice speaking, writing,... (read more)
This course will be a sustained examination of the question: “What is Romanticism? This is a question which has no single or ultimate answer given that there seem to be as many answers as there are “askers.” There is, however, a rich and complex body of literature and critical commentary to... (read more)
Analysis and use of patterns of reasoning derived from the disciplines of rhetoric, informal logic, cognitive science, and the theory of argumentation.
(read more)Rhetorical criticism is the appreciation and analysis of how we are persuaded—and often includes judgment concerning the nature of the persuasion. The course will address the following questions, among others: What is criticism? What is rhetoric? What is rhetorical criticism? What are its... (read more)
Asian American Comics
The growing acceptance of comics and graphic novels as “serious” literature owes much to the genre’s embrace as a powerful vehicle for memory, especially by minority writers seeking to showcase “non-normative” accounts of American life: the experiences of being gay,... (read more)
This course qualifies to satisfy Arts and Letters Group. It is designed to provide students with appropriate tools of understanding and evaluating critically debates, speeches, and other forms of oral discourse in the public sphere, and to provide students with a performative basis for engaging... (read more)
In this course, you will review and explore important concepts in rhetoric and
argumentation theory, and you will gain skill in discovering the questions that drive
controversies and the arguments that can be made on all the different sides of an
issue. You will also practice... (read more)