Rhetoric and Media

Open to all students interested in learning or polishing skills in communication and advocacy. Mock Trial, as sanctioned by the American Mock Trial Association, is a co-curricular activity intended to foster the development of undergraduate students in the areas of leadership, public speaking, rhetoric, and persuasion through a legal forum. Currently, approximately 600 teams from over 350 universities and colleges compete in AMTA sponsored tournaments. Students may repeat the course for credit each semester during their four-year course of study. Students must be active members of the competitive team or have the permission of the instructor and department chairman.

Exempt from tuition overload charges. 

Open to all students interested in learning or in polishing and employing existing skills in the fundamentals of debate. The Hillsdale College Debate Team is nationally recognized as one of the finest in the country. The course includes instruction in debate technique and style, and participation in both on- and off-campus tournaments. Students may repeat the course for credit each semester during their four-year course of study. Students must be active members of the competitive team or have the permission of the instructor and department chairman.

Exempt from tuition overload charges. 

Open to all students interested in learning the fundamentals of competitive public speaking, or in polishing and employing existing skills. The Hillsdale College Individual Events Team actively and aggressively pursues regional excellence. The course includes instruction in Individual Events techniques in the areas of informative, persuasive, extemporaneous, and impromptu speaking, as well as in the oral interpretation of prose, poetry and drama. Students participate in an active season of on- and off-campus tournaments. Students may repeat the course for credit each semester during their four-year course of study. Students must be active members of the competitive team or have the permission of the instructor and department chairman.

Exempt from tuition overload charges. 

A survey of the major developments in the theory and practice of rhetoric in Western Civilization, beginning with the Renaissance. The Belles Lettres, Enlightenment and Modern Periods in the Western Tradition are explored. This course continues to explore the relationship between rhetoric and truth, knowledge and the political order that began with the Greek and Roman traditions of public persuasion. Readings and lectures are designed to encourage students to engage rhetorical theory at the levels of theory building, philosophy, application and analysis. Students will examine the works of such figures as Erasmus, Ramus, Campbell, Whately, Blair, Burke, Vico and Richards. 

The theory and process of preparing and delivering specialized forms of public speeches. Emphasis is placed on a variety of types of persuasive and ceremonial speeches. Students are provided the opportunity to develop a personal rhetorical style appropriate for impromptu, extemporaneous and manuscript speaking. Prerequisite: RHM 201 or permission of the instructor.

A consideration of the elements necessary to effective speech writing. Through the study of rhetorical masterpieces, students learn elements of style and arrangement especially suitable for discourse written for oral communication. Emphasis is on student production of original speech manuscripts. Prerequisite: RHM 201 or permission of instructor. RHM 320 preferred.

Media ecology is the study of media environments, of how technology and techniques, modes of information and codes of communication affect human perception, understanding, feeling, and value. It is a deeply historical, meta-disciplinary, and robust qualitative approach to understanding both communication and the human condition. Some core ideas within media ecology are wrapped up in aphoristic statements such as "The medium is the message" and "Media are environments, and environments are media," and "the user is the content of any medium." This course looks closely at canonical figures within the tradition—Marshall McLuhan, Walter Ong, and Jacques Ellul—as well as its major analytic-theoretical tributaries—orality literacy studies, technology studies, and bias studies. Specific recent figures will vary.

A seminar concerned with the interrelation of rhetorical theory and practice: questions of theory, politics, philosophy and cultural history. Offered as needed, specific topics vary, and the course may be taken for credit more than once.

An extensive examination of contemporary ideas about the nature and function of rhetoric. Students will conduct in-depth readings into the works of such major figures as I.A. Richards, Jean-FranÁois Lyotard, Richard Weaver, Kenneth Burke, Jurgen Habermas, Stephen Toulmin, and Michel Foucault. Emphasis will be placed on the implications of rhetorical theory for notions of truth, ethics, knowledge, rationality, and the political order. Prerequisite: RHM 290 or permission of the instructor.

The study of speeches influential in shaping public life in America, especially within the political sphere. Primary emphasis is placed upon the textual analysis of selected speeches for the purpose of discovering the rhetorical dynamics, as well as linking each speech to its historical context. Special attention is paid to the changing nature and function of oratorical culture throughout American history.

An exploration of the major methodological approaches to the explanation of the persuasive dynamics of rhetoric. Students will learn to write analyses of specific instances of rhetoric from various theoretical bases, including neo-Aristotelian, ethical, dramatistic, ideological, and postmodern perspectives. 

Individual work on a topic or problem selected and supervised by the Rhetoric and Media staff. Prerequisites: second-semester junior standing and permission of the staff member selected to be in charge of the student's work. Enrollment in this course is limited to those who have chosen rhetoric as their field of concentration. Offered on demand.