Courses

Introduction to the art of public speaking. Students will learn the classical canons of rhetoric: the arts of invention, disposition, style, memory, and delivery. Emphasis is placed on the design and delivery of speeches.

Unit(s):  1

Survey of theory and practice relating to one-to-one communication. Exploration of role of communication and meaning in development of self, perceptions, and relationships. Introduction to social scientific study of communication. Includes lab-based practicum.

General Education Requirement:  (FSSA)

Unit(s):  1

Introduction to theoretical study of rhetoric where we learn to think about language, speech, argument, and symbolic action at large as social forces, influencing how we perceive ourselves and others, how we understand our relationship to local and global communities, and how we address important issues in politics, law, and culture.

Unit(s):  1

Introduction to critical interpretation of rhetorical texts such as speeches, written arguments, and various media. Topics covered may include audience analysis, lines of reasoning, logical fallacies, modes of proof, evidence types, generic forms, and visual vocabularies.

Unit(s):  1

Basic theoretical frameworks and concepts in media studies. Through close analysis of a variety of texts including, but not limited to, films, music, television programs, newspapers, magazines, and websites, explores the ways in which culture is produced and consumed. Case studies and other examples will provide entry points into thinking about how culture shapes and also is informed by individual and collective identities.

General Education Requirement:  (FSSA)

Unit(s):  1

In-depth introduction to principles of public advocacy. Emphasizing both theory and skills, the course includes casewriting, presentation, analysis, refutation, cross-examination, and logical fallacies.

Unit(s):  1

Making the business presentation and giving the corporate advocacy speech. Application to workplace of skills in listening, problem solving, interviewing, conducting meetings.

Prerequisite(s):  Rhetoric and Communication Studies 101.

Unit(s):  1

These topical courses focus on theory and practice of selected research methods (e.g. rhetorical criticism, ethnography, interview and survey methods, etc.), providing students with critical understanding of published research, a grounding in research methodology, and a working knowledge of the research process. Majors are required to take two units of RHCS 295, minors one unit. May be repeated for credit when topics differ.

Unit(s):  1

Additional Information: 

RHCS 295 Interviewing Methods – Dr. Johnson
"Interviewing Methods" provides a brief overview of social scientific methods, followed by a substantive grounding in several interviewing methods, including short interviews, in-depth interviews, and focus groups. Interviews and focus groups are among the most common methods of research in business and politics today, and they have become crucial tools for exploring social problems and engaging community needs. Interviews provide remarkable opportunities to enter the stories of others and glimpse the world as they see it.  

Survey of leading human communication theories put forward in varied areas of communication behavior, including interpersonal, group, and public communication.

Prerequisite(s):  Rhetoric and Communication Studies 102.

Unit(s):  1

In-depth exploration of specific theories in area of interpersonal communications. Will focus on role of communication in creating, maintaining, repairing, and transforming individual's sense of self and other. From this foundation, students will explore essence of dialogue through works of Buber, Bakhtin, Arnett, and Baxter.

Unit(s):  1

Roots of modern rhetorical theory in writings of Greek and Roman teachers of rhetoric.

Unit(s):  1

Introduction to nature, scope, function and value of rhetorical theory in Medieval, Renaissance, and Enlightenment cultures. Key figures include St. Augustine, Boethius, Trebizond, Peter Ramus, Giambattista Vico, George Campbell, Hugh Blair, and Richard Whately.

Unit(s):  1

Survey of leading contemporary rhetorical theories/theorists.

Unit(s):  1

Understanding communication through practical oral performance, debate, oral interpretation, public address. Fifty hours of work for one quarter unit of practicum credit. Includes research and written work appropriate to the speech activity involved. Two units maximum credit. Graded pass/fail only. Does not count for rhetoric and communication studies major or minor.

Prerequisite(s):  Permission of department.

Unit(s):  .25-1

For students who have successfully applied for positions as student consultants and speech fellows at the speech center.

Unit(s):  1

Engages students in an inquiry into the rhetorical and communicative dimension of culture. Includes exploration of cultural performance ranging from popular culture in various media to the public memorials, rituals, and institutions that shape norms of culture. Also explores the rhetoric of elements of culture such as race, class, gender, and sexual orientation.

Unit(s):  1

History of professional speech writing from classical times to present. Attention to status and impact of modern political and business speech writers. Emphasis on writer/speaker relationship, audience analysis, speech structure, use of data, and writing in an oral style.

Prerequisite(s):  Rhetoric and Communication Studies 101.

Unit(s):  1

Focus on how gender is constructed and communicated in our daily lives through influences and institutions such as interpersonal relationships, the family, media, education, and religion. Theoretical work, empirical research, personal experiences, and media all will be utilized in discussions of gender and its impact on everyday interactions. Students will explore major theoretical developments concerning gender and communication from varied perspectives and disciplines.

Unit(s):  1

Analysis of American political systems from rhetorical perspective using several theoretical frameworks and applied research. Examine interpretive processes on which political arguments and ideologies are based. Study impact of language on issues, candidates, and campaigns. Develop perspective of government's role in the "ongoing conversation" of politics and evaluate rules, choices, and strategies employed in different political arenas.

Prerequisite(s):  Rhetoric and Communication Studies 101.

Unit(s):  1

Focusing on interactions between the West and the Middle East as well notions of domestic terrorism to provide primary sets of examples and case-studies, this course expands student perspectives and broadens their bases of information regarding violence, terrorism, and homeland security. What is violence? Is it avoidable? Can it ever be justified? Does terrorism operate exclusively through fear? Can speech be violent, "terroristic" or fear-inducing? How does a rhetorical perspective tie together the symbolic and the real? What is security and how can it be achieved? These and other questions will be addressed.

Prerequisite(s):  Rhetoric and Communication Studies 101.

Unit(s):  1

Critical approach to the study of advertising and consumer culture, challenging students to reconsider entrenched assumptions and ideas about advertising and consumer culture more broadly. Issues of representation, production, reception, and citizenship, considering the material advertisement as well as its relationship to individuals and larger institutional structures. Application of theoretical concepts to historical and contemporary advertisements and objects of consumer culture. Application of different methodological approaches to the study of advertising including ethnography, focus groups, and textual analysis.

Unit(s):  1

Examines various sites of memory production (i.e. films, museums, monuments) -- how they have been conceptualized and debated -- and asks students to consider memory not only as an entity used in reconstructing the past but capable of being reconstructed itself. Over the course of the semester, students may take several field trips to historical sites and museums throughout the city of Richmond to experience how memory is reproduced and to consider alternate ways of crafting narratives of the past.

Prerequisite(s):  Determined by instructor.

Unit(s):  1

Considers the ways in which mass media have impacted the trajectory of 20th century political and social movements, family life, leisure, and nationalism, among other topics. By questioning the role played by communication technologies within a recent historical context, this class will encourage students to forge connections between issues confronted over the course of the twentieth century and the present day. Through analyses of texts including, but not limited to, songs, IMs, television programs, and radio broadcasts, students will explore the transformations and continuities of the media landscape and its surrounding context.

Unit(s):  1

Inquiry into the law from rhetorical perspectives, using the history and theory of rhetoric and its long-standing association with law and justice. Examination of interpretive processes on which legal arguments and ideologies are based. Exploration of the language of legal argument, court decisions, and of the role of rhetoric and the law in shaping of public life and social justice.

Prerequisite(s):  Rhetoric and Communication Studies 101.

Unit(s):  1

A feminist/critical approach to the rhetoric surrounding the early women's rights movement beginning in the 1830s through 1920 and the women's liberation movement starting in the early 1960s through 1980 approximately. General foci include 1) treatment of women's rhetorical history and social, legal, religious, and psychological obstacles inhibiting their agency and 2) critical treatment of various strategies used by female rhetors to advance their causes. Speeches, essays, conventions, journals, newsletters, parades, and demonstrations may be considered as rhetorical forms.

Unit(s):  1

Engages students in an inquiry into the rhetorical and communicative dimension of war in the twenty-first century.

Unit(s):  1

Examination of political rhetoric of the 1960s including presidential rhetoric and the rhetoric of various social movements: civil rights, anti-war, women1s liberation, American-Indian, gay and lesbian, among others. Also explored is the role of the media as shaper and filter of events and as target for diverse audiences to court, exploit, and challenge. Speeches, essays, books, art, television, film, fashion, music, and demonstrations may be explored as rhetorical forms.

Prerequisite(s):  1

Unit(s):  1

No more than one unit of independent study may count toward the major or minor.

Prerequisite(s):  Permission of instructor.

Unit(s):  .25-1

Practical application of speech communication principles and skills in a supervised, out-of-class environment. Graded pass/fail only. No more than one unit of internship may count toward rhetoric and communication studies major. Open to majors and minors only, but does not count toward the rhetoric and communication studies minor. No more than 1.5 units of internship in any one department and 3.5 units of internship overall may be counted toward required degree units.

Prerequisite(s):  Faculty approval before beginning work.

Unit(s):  .25-1

Documentation of the work of students who receive summer fellowships to conduct research [or produce a creative arts project] in the summer. The work must take place over a minimum of 8 weeks, the student must engage in the project full-time (at least 40 hours per week) during this period, and the student must be the recipient of a fellowship through the university. Graded S/U.

Prerequisite(s):  Approval for summer Arts and Sciences fellowship by faculty mentor

Unit(s):  0

Special topics courses allow for advanced inquiry and research in Rhetoric and Communication Studies.

Unit(s):  1

Additional Information: 

Fall 2012 Topics

RHCS 412-01 + 02 Election 2012 – Dr. Barney
Election 2012 comes at a historic crossroads in American public life: a rapidly changing electorate amidst challenging wartime commitments and shifting world alliances abroad, and massive economic recoveries and stark ideological divides at home. In short, the election promises to be a dynamic referendum on the tensions surrounding America’s role in the 21st century’s globalized landscape. This course examines this crossroads specifically through the prism of communication: how do Presidential and Congressional candidates conceive of the American public, and how do they construct electoral messages about power and social change? And how are such constructs being challenged and complicated by social movements, oft-marginalized voices, and everyday voters? Students will have a unique opportunity to analyze the political communication of Election 2012 in real time, as it unfolds—as they study a host of different campaign forms (speeches, debates, broadcast advertising, social media, photography, direct mail, even maps) on Presidential, Congressional, and statewide levels. To engage with these forms, the seminar will also be founded in discussion and critique of various communication methodologies: historical/critical analysis, survey and polling analysis, and qualitative focus-group analysis. Additionally, students will participate in the planning, execution, and analysis of Debate Watches on University of Richmond’s campus, applying their analytical knowledge of national campaigns right into the local contexts of our school community. Finally, the semester will culminate in a multimedia project based on an in-depth analysis of a chosen campaign from the 2012 race. Overall, students will not only be able to understand the mediated tensions of campaign communication, but also be able to articulate a sense of how election processes and rhetorics speak to the construction, in both their inclusionary and exclusionary practices, of what it means to be an American citizen.

RHCS 412-03: Propaganda and Persuasion – Dr. Tonn
Examination of differences between propaganda and persuasion and propaganda fallacies, strategies, and propaganda and counter-propaganda campaigns throughout history in various areas such as politics, commerce, and religion.  Includes discussion of various propaganda techniques including, for example, the visual, ritualistic performative, and use of small-group interpersonal dynamics.  Emphasis on propaganda surrounding political policy, including war.

RHCS 412-04: Lady Gaga – Madison Moore
This seminar uses the field of performance studies to explore pop phenomenon Lady Gaga and the interventions she has staged in American popular culture since her meteoric rise to fame in 2008.  We approach Lady Gaga as a cultural text through which to think about a core set of issues: persona, hybridity, performance, and the currency of strangeness. Course topics will revolve around the deep analysis of her use of hype, drag, pop music, celebrity, fan culture, the Internet, marketing, and performance art. But we also consider historical precedents—other “strange” artists like Hugo Ball, the instigator of Dada, and Grace Jones as a way to illustrate how Gaga exists along a spectrum of other artists pressuring the seams of normativity. Students emerge from the course with sharpened critical thinking skills and the ability to analyze and theorize pop culture. Readings from Boorstin, Halberstam, Schechner, Kaprow, Rojek, Lessig, Royester, Frith, and Auslander. Course concludes with a creative final project. This is an interdisciplinary course in Theatre and Dance and Rhetoric and Communication Studies.

Special topics seminar for seniors only focusing on research with an oral presentation requirement. Course is required for the major.

Prerequisite(s):  Senior standing. Rhetoric and communication studies majors only.

Unit(s):  1

Advanced research and writing opportunity for departmental honors students. Requires completion and presentation of honors thesis.

Prerequisite(s):  Participation in department honors program.

Unit(s):  1

Advanced research and writing opportunity for departmental honors students. Requires completion and presentation of honors thesis.

Prerequisite(s):  Participation in department honors program.

Unit(s):  1