SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION
CMNS 286-3

 

Gary McCarron	Summer 2003
RCB: 6151; 604-291-3860	Burnaby Day
Email: gmccarro@sfu.ca

(SPECIAL TOPICS)
COMMUNICATION AND RHETORIC

Prerequisite:

CMNS 110 and 130.

During the past thirty years, rhetoric has enjoyed something of a renaissance and found a welcome audience in several formerly hostile academics fields. History, philosophy, anthropology, and literary studies have changed their respective views of rhetoric over the course of the last several years, and have come to realize that the rhetorical enterprise – identifying, addressing and persuading audiences – is actually a central part of their intellectual heritage. In being revived, rhetoric has come to occupy a central place in a number of academic debates.

This course examines rhetoric and persuasion in the context of communication studies. We will begin by considering several classical accounts of persuasion and rhetoric in order to develop a fuller understanding of the promotional ethos of the modern age. From there we will move on to look at how different institutional modes of persuasive discourse have been shaped by a variety of research agendas and underlying theories about human nature.

Required Texts:

Marlin, Randal, Propaganda and the Ethics of Persuasion (2002). Broadview Press.
Several articles will be placed on reserve in the library during the semester.

Recommended Texts:

Dillard, James Price, and Michael Pfau, The Persuasion Handbook: Developments in
Theory and Practice (2002). SAGE Publications.
Jasinski, James, Sourcebook on Rhetoric: Key Concepts in Contemporary Rhetoric
(2001). This book is available in the library reference section (for library use
only). PN 172J37

Evaluation:

Mid-Term Exam 25%
Project/Research Paper 30%
Tutorial Participation 20%
Final Exam 25%

The School expects that the grades awarded in this course will bear some reasonable relation to established university-wide practices with respect to both levels and distribution of grades. In addition, the School will follow Policy T10.02 with respect to “Intellectual Honesty” and “Academic Discipline” (see the current Calendar, General Regulations section).