The New Public Sphere

Graduate

Fall Public deliberation about issues that matter to us is at the heart of the rhetorical tradition. But is meaningful public dialogue really a live option in a divisive, media-saturated world of sound bites addressed to partisan publics? Moreover, is the process of debate, deliberation, and decision making (in which the best argument wins) really the normal (or even ideal) model? Or can people use local public spaces to develop new, more inclusive positions? How might such a process create a boundary-crossing public in which diverse groups enter intercultural deliberation around racial, social, economic or environmental issues? This course looks at critical ways people use rhetoric to take literate social action within local publics. From the debate spurred by Habermas's canonical version of the public sphere, we move to a feminist "rereading" of the Greek Sophists, to more contemporary studies of deliberation in workplaces, web forums, grassroots groups, new media, and community think tanks. Working as a rhetorical consultant into the meaning making process of a local public of your choice, you will also learn how to support your inquiry with a variety of methods, from an interactive activity analysis to a more focused probe into the social/cognitive negotiation conflict may require. Course Website: http://www.cmu.edu/hss/english/courses/courses.html