Discourse Analysis of Public Dialogue: Identities, Ideologies, Interactions

Undergraduate / Graduate

It has been proposed that dialogue is "the first obligation of citizenship" and a "workplace of democracy." In this course, you will learn about different forms of dialogue and arguments about its role in making democracy work. You will also learn to analyze dialogic events, think about ways to evaluate the dialogic process and its outcomes, and gain agency as a participant in public dialogue. The course will consist of three parts. We will first consider theoretical underpinnings of public dialogue as a democratic practice. We will then spend three weeks doing a close analysis of a Braver Angels debate on immigration, mapping ideological frames that underlie this debate, and tracking conversational dynamics that create openings and impediments for dialogue. Finally, we will discuss the larger organizational field of dialogue and deliberation work, the limits of free expression in such settings, and the interplay between public dialogue and civic action.