The Dark Side of Communication

Catalog description

This course examines modern abuses in communication which citizens today must learn to navigate, from the epidemic of Cyberbullying to the darker form of media and political expression that impact democracy. Students will explore issues, theories, and implications of destructive communications in a variety of contexts including interpersonal relationships, identity- politics, and media explorations. Among the issues that will be explored, the course will focus on the language bullying, verbal abuse: hate groups and bigotry, cult rhetoric and manipulation: radicalization through social media; Partisan vitrol; identity politics and conspiracy theorists. An emphasis will be placed not only on building an understanding of the many manifestations of the darker side of human communication, but also forms of advocacy and counter-efforts towards confronting these issues beyond the classroom.