Face-To-Face Interaction

Catalog description

The objective of this course is to critically examine the role of face-to-face interaction in defining, maintaining and challenging power relations in society. We will first differentiate face-to-face interaction from other typologies of communication, considering especially the interactional dynamics that emerge in verbal and nonverbal behavior. Then, we will explore the various configurations that power can take in society and the role that social interactions play in this framework. How are social and power relationships created and maintained through the choices we make while we interact with one another? How do we use face-to-face interaction to establish harmony, maintain the bonds of social solidarity, and avoid or foster conflict? We will focus especially on face-to-face interactions between men and women, managers and employees, political figures and ordinary speakers, storytellers and their audience members, doctors and patients, and interviewers and interviewees. Throughout the semester, we will explore speakers' subtle communicative behaviors in face-to-face interaction, such as pauses, interruptions, vocalizations like uh huh, repetition, and laughter. We will also examine some embodied aspects of interaction, especially non-verbal behavior such as gesture, posture, and gaze. Besides becoming aware of the role that language plays in these various cultural settings, in this course you will also develop better critical thinking skills and an analytic eye on language and culture that will be useful both inside and outside the classroom. No previous knowledge of linguistics or anthropology is necessary.