WRIT 300 - Topics in Cultural Rhetorics

Although rhetoric is typically thought of as originating in ancient Greece, persuasive writing and speaking practices are prevalent throughout a variety of cultural contexts and traditions. To address this gap in understanding, students take up recent scholarship in rhetorical studies that makes up the subfield of cultural rhetorics, an area that focuses on culturally specific persuasive practices, the resulting objects and meanings, and how power and marginalization shape the effect of both. Where is rhetorical practice inextricable from the influence of ethnicity, race, language, and/or geography, and how do these factors come into play when speaking across cultural boundaries? Students survey the evolution of cultural rhetorics and explore prominent conversations currently occurring in the field. Readings include scholarship from leading voices, such as Christina Cedillo, V. Jo Hsu, Malea Powell, and Jacqueline Royster. Writing Assignments include short reading responses, analyses of canonical rhetorical concepts, group projects, and/or research-based essays and presentations.

Credits: 1.0
Corequisite: None
Prerequisites: None
Major/Minor Restrictions: None
Class Restriction: None
Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
Core Component: None

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