Rhetoric (RHE) Courses
RHE-101 Public Speaking
This course covers the fundamentals of rhetoric
composition and delivery. Students research,
compose, and deliver informative and persuasive
speeches, and they lead a small group of their
peers in a deliberative discussion. In addition,
students learn and employ introductory principles
of reasoning, argumentation, and rhetorical
criticism. Finally, they analyze the videotape
recordings of their speeches and learn to use
electronic media in public presentations.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Language Studies
RHE-140 Argumentation & Debate
This course applies the principles of debate
theory and practice to argumentation in the
political and legal realms. Students will learn
valid forms of reasoning and argumentation,
common fallacies, argument analysis, clash, and
rebuttal and how to apply this knowledge in the
debate format. Students also participate in
parliamentary debate and moot court simulations
as mechanisms for learning foundational skills in
oral argumentation. When possible, students will
attend a live oral argument by the Indiana Court
of Appeals or another appellate court. This
course is typically offered in the spring
semester.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Language Studies
RHE-187 Independent Study/Lang Studies
Individual research projects. The manner of study
will be determined by the student in consultation
with the instructor. Students must receive
written approval of their project proposal from a
department Chair before registering for the
course.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
Distribution: Language Studies
RHE-188 Independent Study/Lit Fine Art
Individual research projects. The manner of study
will be determined by the student in consultation
with the instructor. Students must receive
written approval of their project proposal from a
department Chair before registering for the
course.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts
RHE-190 Spec. Topics: Language Studies
Refer to the Course Descriptions document on the
Registrar's webpage for topics and descriptions of
current offerings.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
Distribution: Language Studies
RHE-201 Reasoning & Advocacy
This course focuses on the process of
constructing, analyzing, and evaluating public
arguments. This is a foundational rhetoric course
because it focuses on the development and
application of knowledge in critical thinking,
argument analysis, reasoning, and advocacy. It
emphasizes the nature and role of communication
in public discussions and decision making. The
course highlights the adaptation of logic and
reasoning to human action in a democratic
society. The class examines public argument in a
variety of forms such as political debates,
speeches, and editorials, Supreme Court
decisions, advertising, and popular culture.
Judicial argument is examined in the form of
Supreme Court decisions. Finally, social argument
is examined through an investigation of selected
examples from popular culture. The course serves
the purpose of exposing non-majors to the
fundamentals of rhetoric and communication. It
also prepares Rhetoric majors and minors for more
advanced courses such as Classical Rhetoric and
Contemporary Rhetorical Theory and Criticism.
This course is typically offered in the fall
semester.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Language Studies
RHE-220 Persuasion
Students study the theory and practice of
persuasion as part of decision making in a free
society. The focus is on the individual's role as
both persuadee and persuader with an examination
of how to be critical, observant, responsible and
ethical with regard to persuasive messages. The
course examines persuasive language, propaganda,
persuasive campaigns, and social movements.
Students critically examine a variety of
persuasive texts and participate in a campaign
simulation.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Language Studies
RHE-270 Special Topics Lit/Fine Arts
Refer to the Course Descriptions document on the
Registrar's webpage for topics and descriptions of
current offerings.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts
RHE-287 Independent Study/Lang Studies
Individual research projects. The manner of study
will be determined by the student in consultation
with the instructor. Students must receive
written approval of their project proposal from a
department Chair before registering for the
course.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
Distribution: Language Studies
RHE-288 Independent Study/Lit Fine Art
Individual research projects. The manner of study
will be determined by the student in consultation
with the instructor. Students must receive
written approval of their project proposal from a
department Chair before registering for the
course.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts
RHE-290 Spec. Topics: Language Studies
Refer to the Course Descriptions document on the
Registrar's webpage for topics and descriptions of
current offerings.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
Distribution: Language Studies
RHE-320 Classical Rhetoric
This course focuses on the origin and development
of rhetoric and rhetorical theory during the
classical period. The course begins in the pre
disciplinary stage of Homer and the Sophists and
examines such works as Homer's Iliad, Gorgias'
Encomium of Helen, and Isocrates' Antidosis. The
course then moves to Plato's Gorgias and Phaedrus
and the "disciplinizing" efforts of Aristotle (On
Rhetoric). Finally, the course examines the
efforts of Cicero (On Invention, Orator, and On
the Orator), Quintilian (Institutes of Oratory),
and Augustine (On Christian Doctrine) to reunite
philosophy and rhetoric and include ethics within
the realm of rhetoric. Students learn how
rhetorical theories are generated out of the
specific needs of particular political and social
contexts. In addition, students examine the
influence of literacy on human interaction and
the study of rhetoric in particular. Finally,
students trace the relationship between rhetoric
and philosophy from pre-Platonic unity, through
Plato's bifurcation, and finally to the attempts
at reunification by Aristotle, Cicero, and
Quintilian.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts
Equated Courses: CLA-220
RHE-350 Contemp Rhetorical Theory & Criticism
Contemporary studies in rhetoric have broadened
the conception of rhetoric beyond a narrow focus
on public address to include the study of all
symbols-verbal, audio, and visual-in diverse
media. No longer simply interested in questions
of persuasive effectiveness, contemporary
rhetorical studies examine the role symbols can
play in constructing or reflecting such elements
as ideology, motive, and gender. This
writing-intensive course highlights the growing
complexity of the field by helping students to
understand, use, and evaluate several of the most
well-known theories and methods of rhetoric. In
the process, students will learn how to interpret
artifacts in several different ways and even to
generate and apply their own rhetorical method.
Consequently, the class is a methodological
precursor to the senior project and should,
ideally, be taken during the junior year. This
course is typically offered in the fall semester.
Prerequisites: FRT-101
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts
RHE-360 Gender & Communication
As a culture, we often we take gender for
granted. Yet, we live in a culture where men and
women are molded and shaped by communicative
practices and mass-mediated representations that
generate our ideals of masculinity and
femininity. This class examines this
process-providing a platform for students to
reflect upon gender formation and develop a
theoretical vocabulary for describing this
process. By the end of the semester, class
participants will develop a more sophisticated
understanding of the manner in which gendered
messages and practices have shaped perceptions of
their symbolic universe.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts
RHE-370 Special Topics: Lit/Fine Arts
Refer to the Course Descriptions document on the
Registrar's webpage for topics and descriptions of
current offerings.
Prerequisites: FRT-101
Credits: 0.5-1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts
RHE-375 Legal Rhetoric
Legal Rhetoric examines the ways in which the
legal sphere exerts social control and power
through an exploration of the forms and function
of rhetoric in shaping the law. Working from the
belief that a legal ruling is the beginning,
rather than the end, of the social life of the
law, the course is also concerned with the social
repercussions that result from Court decisions.
Beginning with an examination of the classical
connections between rhetorical theory and the
practice of law, the course proceeds to discuss
approximately a dozen significant Supreme Court
cases and subsequent rhetorical analyses of these
decisions. Students will develop an essay and
presentation concerning the background and social
importance of one of the cases under study.
Additionally, students will engage in a
semester-long project that culminates in an
extensive rhetorical analysis on a case of their
own choosing.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts
RHE-387 Independent Study/Lang Studies
Individual research projects. The manner of study
will be determined by the student in consultation
with the instructor. Students must receive
written approval of their project proposal from a
department Chair before registering for the
course.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
Distribution: Language Studies
RHE-388 Independent Study/Lit Fine Art
Individual research projects. The manner of study
will be determined by the student in consultation
with the instructor. Students must receive
written approval of their project proposal from a
department Chair before registering for the
course.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts
RHE-390 Special Topics/Lang Studies
Refer to the Course Descriptions document on the
Registrar's webpage for topics and descriptions of
current offerings.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
Distribution: Language Studies
RHE-487 Independent Study/Lang Studies
Individual research projects. The manner of study
will be determined by the student in consultation
with the instructor. Students must receive
written approval of their project proposal from a
department Chair before registering for the
course.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
Distribution: Language Studies
RHE-488 Independent Study/Lit Fine Art
Individual research projects. The manner of study
will be determined by the student in consultation
with the instructor. Students must receive
written approval of their project proposal from a
department Chair before registering for the
course.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts
RHE-497 Senior Seminar
The Senior Seminar is a capstone course for
rhetoric majors. Rhetoric majors conduct an
original and extended research project in a
sub-area of the field. In the process, they read
and discuss relevant texts and journal articles
as a class. The course covers procedures for
conducting each of the components of the project
(i.e., discovery and refinement of a research
question, selection of appropriate materials for
study, selection of an appropriate method,
literature review of appropriate scholarship, the
analysis itself, and the preparation of the
manuscript). This course also provides senior
majors a forum for the investigation and
discussion of the ethical issues and
responsibilities they have as communicators. This
course is offered in the fall semester.
Prerequisites: Students are encouraged to take
RHE 320 and 350 prior to taking 497.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts