Public rhetoric has become a crucial and divisive political and social arena – the very words we choose and use, our terms and forms of expression, matter now more than ever before in history. This sequence of courses examines the significance and practice of public rhetoric, as well as one of its principal applications public discourse regarding gender.
WRIT 311: There's no better time to think about public rhetorics than right now; we know the dangers of the spread of misinformation and harmful rhetoric that undermines productive activity not only in enacting policies in politics but effectively sharing risk during natural disasters. In this course, we will discuss how rhetoric emerges in public spheres while examining intersections of democracy, agency, and public rhetoric. We'll particularly pay attention to how rhetoric circulates in sometimes productive and sometimes harmful ways. In addition, we'll consider how we can build strategies for effectively sharing and circulating information to enact positive change.
WMST300: This course is designed to be an introduction to the interdisciplinary field of Women’s and Gender Studies. Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies draws on feminist ideas and scholarship to develop historical, theoretical, and cross-cultural frameworks for the comparative study of women and gender. We will examine the category of gender and the subject of women (and men) in terms of their different and changing roles and experiences throughout history and across the world. This course examines essential readings from women and men from around the world about women and their relationships with: education; equality; religion and spirituality; systems of oppression and privilege; social and individual identities, including sex, gender, race, class, ethnicity, nationality, sexuality, (dis)ability; the body and body politics; contraception, pregnancy, motherhood, fatherhood, and family; productive and reproductive labor; domestic violence, rape, and sexual assault; state, law, and public policy; global perspectives; reproductive health, rights, and justice; sexuality and intimacy; art, music, culture, and creative expression; and politics, power, and empowerment.
| Course | Credits | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| WRIT 311 - Public Rhetorics: Of Power and Protests | 3 |
Summer Session B: June 9 - August 8, 2025 |
| WMST 300 - Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies | 3 | Summer Session A: May 19 - June 6, 2025 |
