Critical Discourse Analysis

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

Critical Discourse Analysis is a well-developed interdisciplinary method for analysis specifically addressing power dynamics in social structures. The inclusive nature of discourse analysis gets at the fundamental question of power in human cognition, public sphere formation, communication, and technology development and design. This course will explore foundational analytical frameworks and apply those theories to intensive close readings of artifacts. Ultimately, the purpose of the course is for students to gain a means of analysis that is both applicable to their professional life and their critical approach to value systems and their own aesthetic frameworks and how those manifest in communications and technology. We will learn several types of critical discourse analysis, providing students an opportunity to iteratively apply those that they find most helpful. The goal of this course is for students to foster confidence to critically examine a text through systematic contextualization and evaluation. Through readings in sociology, linguistics, semiotics, and discourse studies students will establish a theoretical frame to evaluate texts using Critical Discourse methods. Through discussion, in-class exercises, weekly forum posts, short-form papers, and a long-form analysis, students will hone their knowledge and application of this method of analysis. Students will be able to evaluate for themselves the utility of CDA as an analytical method.