COMM 250: Rhetoric, Media, and Civic Life TR 11:00-12:15 Ross-Van Brunt Media Center (RVB) 123

Instructor: Professor Casey Kelly Email: [email protected] Pronouns: he/him Office: Louise Pound Hall 316 Student Office Hours: TR 2:00-3:00pm or by appointment

Teaching Assistant: Jennifer Rome Email: [email protected] Pronouns: she/her Office: Louise Pound Hall 352 Student Office Hours: TR 9:30-10:30 or by appointment

Course Description This course examines how language and symbolic action operate in mass mediated and digital public culture. From ancient Athenian society to our contemporary mass-mediated culture, theorists have debated the social, political, and ethical implication of various rhetorical practices. Rhetoric has been theorized as an art of persuasion, a mode of public deliberation, a technique of democratic citizenship, a technology of the self, an epistemic practice, an ideological apparatus, a mode of shared identification, symbolic action, and a calling of community into being. A rhetorical approach to the study of media and civic life focuses on the ways in which particular messages, technologies, mediums, and modes of representation shape how we make meaning, enact social change, forge our identities, and build communities. Rhetorical analysis will help students explain how media culture constructs social reality, shapes perception and attitudes, constitutes identities, and moves people to ideas. This course will examine how memes, twitter hashtags, broadcast news, films, reality television, video games, political speeches, social protest, advertising, and much more shape our civic life.

Course Objectives Students in the course will a) investigate the concept of rhetoric, especially as it interacts with the history of media technology; b) explore different rhetorical theories emanating from cultures around the world; c) connect the history and theory of rhetoric to larger questions in the humanities; d) learn how rhetorical theories can be dynamically updated to create cultural change in an era of digital mediation; and e) develop a critical sensibility informed by rhetorical analysis.

Mission of the Department of Communication Studies The mission of the faculty and students of the Department of Communication Studies is to examine human symbolic activity as it shapes and is shaped by relationships, institutions, technology, and culture. This work concerns the creation, analysis, and critique of messages ranging from face-to-face to digital media contexts. The department’s research and teaching devote particular attention to scholarly initiatives aimed at understanding and explaining the role of communication in (a) facilitating civic engagement, mediating public controversies, and organizing for social change, (b) constituting individual and family health, promoting healthy behaviors, and helping persons navigate relational challenges, and (c) creating, maintaining, and challenging personal, social, and community identity in a complex and diverse world.

Required Texts Catherine Palczewski, Richard Ice, and John Fritch, Rhetoric in Civic Life, 2nd Edition (State College, PA: Strata, 2016).

*Many readings appear in articles and book chapters that are available on Canvas under “files”

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities Students with disabilities are encouraged to contact me (the instructor or teaching assistant) for a confidential discussion of their individual needs for academic accommodation. This includes students with mental health disabilities like depression and anxiety. It is the policy of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to provide individualized accommodations to students with documented disabilities that may affect their ability to fully participate in course activities or to meet course requirements. To receive accommodation services, students must be registered with the Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) office, 232 Canfield Administration, 472-3787.

Academic Dishonesty & Grade Disputes An essay or any work plagiarized in part or in full will receive an F. Plagiarized work also places a student in jeopardy of failing the course. Incidents of Academic Dishonesty can result in a student’s suspension from the University. If an instructor discovers a case of academic dishonesty, they must file a “Misconduct Referral Form” with the Office of the Dean of Students. Please consult the department policy on grade appeals and academic misconduct that includes clear steps to follow and you may refer students to it on our website http://comm.unl.edu/GradePolicy.pdf

Incompletes Incompletes are reserved for rare and extraordinary circumstance that prevent a student from completing coursework within the 16-week semester. If granted, students will be required to sign a contract with the professor that details a plan and timeline for completion. This document will be filed with the Communication Studies main office.

Attendance Attendance is required Absences in excess to 6 will result in failure of the course. Absences in excess of 2 will result in a 10-point grade deduction from the overall course grade. Excused absences are defined on the university website and require written documentation. ACE Student Learning Outcome #5 Use knowledge, historical perspectives, analysis, interpretation, critical evaluation, and the standards of evidence appropriate to the humanities to address problems and issues.

“The Sophists are credited with having inaugurated the humanistic study of communication in the West. Their advocacy of rhetoric and the virtues of a rhetorical education was scrutinized in many of Plato’s major philosophical dialogues, was a primary concern of his contemporary Isocrates, and became a matter for systematic redress by Aristotle. From the start, then, the humanistic study of communication was considered to be essential to democratic life, one of whose founding principles is the freedom and responsibility of citizens, regardless of rank or expertise, to engage publicly the perils and promises of living together.” “Communication Scholarship and the Humanities,” 2007

“One cannot live by facts alone, staples that they are. The rhetorician is in effect, or ought to be, a critic of society. To be a social critic one needs a set of values pertaining to the ends of society, the causes one may ethically advance…this kind of judgment grows out of concern for human purpose and end.”—Marie Hochmuth Nichols, “Rhetoric and Public Address,” 1963

Rhetoric is one of the oldest humanistic arts, dedicated to negotiating the inevitable problems that arise when living together. Rhetoric manages tensions that emerge in civic life, but it is also employed in other arenas of disputation. When we argue about history, literature, culture, or art, we are involved in a rhetorical struggle over definitions, interpretations, and values. Rhetoric, then, is the method we use when we engage in the analysis of other humanistic arts. The humanities continue to have value because of how they help us contemplate and address complex issues. A broad-based humanistic education empowers citizens with enhanced powers of imagination and reasoning, an appreciation for different perspectives, and the ability to make informed and ethical judgments. Familiarity with the vocabulary of rhetoric helps citizens make a case as advocates and make judgments as critics. Students will have opportunities to meet this Learning Outcome by participating in class lectures and activities as well as completing the assignments detailed below.

Email Please direct basic questions about assignments, course schedule, and the syllabus to the course teaching assistant Jennifer Rome (contact info above). Queries of an emergency or confidential matter can be directed to Dr. Kelly. Please allow for 24 hours for response to all queries. Emails will be answered during university business hours 9-5 M-F.

Assignments Grades are based on the following scale: A+ = 100%-97% A – 96-94% A- = 93%-90% B+ = 89%-87% B = 86%-84% B- = 83%-80% C+ = 79%-77 C = 76%-74% C- = 73%-70% D+ = 69%-67% D = 66%-60% F = 59%-Below

You are responsible for all assignments and dates below. All due dates are firm unless otherwise specified. Unless an absence is the result of a medical emergency or university-sanctioned activity, no late assignments will be accepted. Your grade will be based on a 500-point scale.

I. 3 Exams @ 100 points each (300 points) Exams will be multiple choice and true/false. Exams occur at the end of each unit and are not cumulative.

II. Rhetorical Analysis of Media Portfolio: 100 points Over the semester, students will be required to put together a portfolio in which they assemble a series of texts, images, and other forms of representation. Students will then outline a concept oriented analysis using course material and outside sources (see Canvas for assignment instructions).

III. Short Assignments (5 @ 10 points each) 50 points A list of 5 short assignments is available on canvas with corresponding due dates. Students are responsible keeping track of when these assignments are due. Students should upload the assignment before class starts for the day assigned (see Canvas for assignment instructions).

IV. Quizzes (50 points) Throughout the semester, I will give reading quizzes to assess how well students are keeping up with the reading. If you read, the quizzes will be very easy.

Semester Schedule (* = PDF on Canvas)

Date Topic Reading DUE Assignment DUE T 1/8 Course Introduction The Syllabus R 1/10 What is “rhetoric”? Campbell & Huxman, “A Rhetorical Perspective” T 1/15 What is “civic life”? (cont.) Palczewski et al., Chapter 1 R 1/17 What is “media”? * Croteau & Hoynes “Media & the Media Diary Social World” Unit 1: How Media Works T 1/22 Medium and Message * McCluhan, “The Medium is the Message” R 1/24 Entertainment and Civics * Postman, “The Medium is the Metaphor” T 1/29 Who Owns the Media? *Croteau & Hoynes, “Economics of Media” R 1/31 Political and Civic * McChesney, “Politics Problems, Consequences Political Solutions” T 2/5 The Warping of News & * McCall, “This is Not News” Information R 2/7 What is fake news? * “Fake News” Forum, Spectra, pp. Fake News Hunt 7-23. T 2/12 Exam #1 Unit 2: Media Culture: Old & New R 2/14 Media Ecology of Twitter * Ott, “The Age of Twitter” T 2/19 Meme Magic * Huntington, “Pepper Spray Cop” Meme Assignment R 2/21 Internet Culture Wars: Trolling, * Nagel Kill All Normies, p. 10-39 Tumbr, Reddit, and 4Chan T 2/26 Algorithms and Privacy * Pasquale, “Digital Reputation in an Era of Runaway Data” R 2/28 The Culture of Fear * Glassner, Chapter 2 T 3/5 No Class R 3/7 Reality TV * Posner, “Beautiful House” T 3/12 Media & War * Stahl, “Reality War” R 3/15 Advertising * Killborn, “We are the Product” T 3/19 No Class – Spring Break R 3/21 No Class – Spring Break T 3/26 Kids & Consumer Culture * Schor, “From Tony the Tiger” Unit 3: Rhetoric, Media, and Politics R 3/28 Exam 2 T 4/2 Language and Reality Palczewski et al., Chapter 2 R 4/4 Visual Culture Palczewski et al., Chapter 3 Visual Analysis T 4/9 Performance Politics Palczewski et al., Chapter 6 R 4/11 Audiences Palczewski et al., Chapter 5 Audience Analysis T 4/16 Argumentation Palczewski et al., Chapter 4 R 4/18 Narrative Palczewski et al., Chapter 5 T 4/23 Situations Palczewski et al., Chapter 8 R 4/25 Final Exam Review and Course Portfolios Evaluations R 5/3 Exam 3 May 2 3:30-5:30 RVB 123