Speech and Power in Political Life.

Catalog description

This course examines the role of rhetoric in shaping political action and civic life. Students will explore how speech can inspire, persuade, and manipulate, as well as the reciprocal power between speakers and audiences. Particular attention will be paid to the role of political rhetoric in the traditions stemming from classical Greece and Judeo-Christianity. Through classic texts and contemporary examples, we analyze the ethical and practical dimensions of rhetoric, the difference between statesmanship and demagoguery, and what these dynamics reveal about human nature.