Arguing Politics

This course explores key concepts in American politics through the lens of Rhetoric, paying particular attention to the ways that political actors, the media, and the public frame critical issues. Students will be encouraged to think critically about questions of civil rights, civil liberties, social welfare policy, immigration, security, foreign policy, globalization, and the war on terror by exploring different perspectives on these issues which animate contemporary American democracy. The centrality of political rhetoric in a democracy will be examined as well as the value of trust in sustaining the body politic. Analysis of texts and research on current issues will find expression in oral and written discourse.

The following image and blog reference are temporarily added for educational purposes and will be removed after the first class.

I completely wasted nearly 30 minutes today arguing with idiots on YouTube. I can't believe I got suckered into such a waste of time. The level of intellectual discourse there so approaches zero that it would not be inaccurate to say that it does not exist. Besides the typical name calling, the comments included factual allegations that were a simple Google search away from being shown as objective inaccuracies and the logical leaps that people took from given premises were utterly fallacious. Never again! Is there an internet for adults only?

Tags: politics, Simpsons, YouTub

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