Listening and Society

Politics, power, and even a sense of self are frequently identified with having a voice. Creating such a voice, however, is not solely up to speakers. Listeners also play an important role in determining who is heard and in what ways. The same could be said for personal relationships and care. We seem to pay more attention to how we can speak and what we can say to care for someone than to specific ways we can improve our listening skills. In this class, we will consider different ways that listening shapes our relationships with other people and the broad social effects of different ways of listening. We will consider listening in a wide range of settings, including cities, deaf communities, places of suffering, legal hearings, and prisons.