sample+syllabus

COMM 281: Introduction to Communication Messages

The first semester of this course exposed students to eloquent speech and writing in order to develop personal composition skills. The second semester of this course is designed to reflect on the social function of personal eloquence. This class, in short, asks one overall question: what is the role of eloquence in a democratic society? Eloquence is not just a useful skill that will win you favor in college and prepare you for the job market; it is vital to democracy. Democracy, meaning self-government shaped by public argument and debate, has been a core concept in the communication discipline since its inception. Effective democratic citizenship requires participation in public debates; it requires the ability to make and assess quality arguments; it requires the ability to find, judge, and use credible evidence and sophisticated reasoning. Without these central abilities, the public is no more than a collection of individuals, and democracy is no more than a collection of people who happen to live within the same borders. This course, in a nutshell, is about what has happened to and what is happening to citizenship.

//__This course is for communication majors covered under the Fall 2011 enrollment catalog. If you have a “concentration” in your communication major, this course is not for you. If you are unsure if you should be in this course, contact your adviser.__//


 * Course Objectives:**

1. Construct and present an effective argument in both oral and written formats using clear prose and proper grammar.

2. Use appropriate reasoning and supporting materials to gain a desired response.

3. Use appropriate organizational and outlining strategies to present information and arguments.

4. Create and use appropriate visual aids including electronic presentation technology to enhance the presentation.

5. Choose and adapt an appropriate topic for a specific audience, occasion and purpose using proper tone, style and format (both oral and written).

6. Explain the role of public communication in a democratic society.

7. Use scholarly and public databases to research topics and issues.

8. Understand and demonstrate adherence to APA style guidelines.

9. Demonstrate effective nonverbal behavior in message delivery.

10. Demonstrate competence in grammar and usage.


 * Assigned Texts**:

Karyn C. Rybacki and Donald J. Rybacki, //Advocacy and Opposition: An Introduction to Argumentation//, 7th edition (Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2012)

Additional readings will be made available via Oaks. Bring all readings to class on the day they are assigned.

** Course Requirements: **
Read the following policies carefully. Ignorance of these policies will not be an acceptable excuse for violating them. The enforcement of these policies is at the discretion of the professor.

Late & Unfinished Work – **The schedule for this class is based on your ability to meet deadlines. Many of our class readings are your papers; many in-class presentations and discussions are led by you. Therefore, I cannot accept late work (except in documented emergencies). This class is a community whose success is dependent on everyone’s participation.**

Attendance and Participation - Success in this course depends on the cultivation of written and verbal skills that are practiced and honed both in and out of class over the course of a school year. Since much of that practice is done in collaboration with me and your peers, attendance in this course is required. //Missing classes will likely affect the quality of your work, and it will decrease your participation grade.// Attending class is necessary but insufficient to achieving a high participation grade (see participation grading scale below).

//Two Conditions//:
 * Since a portion of this course will be dedicated to public presentations, there must be a “public” present. Thus, attendance on “speech days” is mandatory. Failure to attend class then will result in a 10-point deduction from your presentation grade.
 * //Students may not miss more than seven classes; if a student misses more than seven classes, he or she will receive a WA for the course.// It is your responsibility to keep track of absences.

Speaking and Writing Labs - All students are encouraged to collaborate with the College of Charleston’s Speaking Lab to improve speaking ability and facility with visual aids. See: http://www.cofc.edu/studentlearningcenter/speaking/. The Writing Lab can be found on the first floor of Addlestone Library. Please feel free to use this resource when working on any element of the writing process from initial composition, to editing, to organizing evidence. See the Writing Lab website at http://www.cofc.edu/%7Ecsl/writing/writing_lab.html.

Be a Respectful Audience Member - We will be giving many speeches in this course, and it benefits all of us if we respect each speaker by paying attention to their speech. Respecting the speaker means that members of the audience should remove any and all objects (phones, computers, newspapers, speaking notes, etc.) that might distract them from their immediate area. I take this policy quite seriously. I reserve the right to reduce a disrespectful audience member’s speech grade if I observe an offense.

Speech time policy - Public speaking, in many ways, is not just about effective communication but is also about timely communication. Thus, strict time limits have been assigned for each speech. The penalty for going over/under the time limits, each fifteen second infraction will result in a 2 point deduction. For example, if your speech is 3:18 when it was supposed to be at least 4:00, then your grade will reflect a six-point deduction. The easiest way to make a grade altering mistake in this course is to neglect the time policy. The best way to avoid time problems is to buy a timer and practice your speech several times to get a clear idea about its length.

Grading - My speech grading method is to type comments, both positive and negative, on a blank MS Word document while a speech is performed. Subsequently, I review and revise these comments based on notes I have taken during the speech and based on the outline turned in immediately prior to the speech. The comments on this form cohere with established grading criteria discussed in class. My grading method for written work is to make comments/corrections throughout the paper then summarize some of the more important ideas at the end of the paper.

Turning in papers - Please turn in two copies of each paper you write in the class, one in hard-copy form in class and one electronically through the “dropbox” on Oaks. All papers must be correctly formatted (Times New Roman font, 1 inch margins, doubled spaced) and documented in APA style.

Research - If you use information from the Internet in a speech or paper, it must be reputable and credible. __Wikipedia or any other encyclopedia website like about.com and others__ **do not count toward your sources**. These are, however, often great starting points for research.

Tardiness - Come to class on time. If you must arrive late, please let me know in advance. The same goes for leaving class early.

Email – I check my email regularly during normal business hours and am usually prompt in responding to messages. When given an assignment, please anticipate problems in advance and talk to me about it in class or send me an email with some time allotted for a response. As a general rule, try to allot 24-48 hours for a response to your emails.

Grievance Procedure - Occasionally, students are dissatisfied with some dimension of a course. In such cases, students should make grade appeals on specific assignments within //one week// of the return of the assignment. After that period has expired, the grade issued is final.

Special Needs - The College of Charleston provides reasonable accommodations to students who have disabilities, including learning disabilities, which may affect their capacity to participate in course activities or to meet course requirements. If you have any such needs, please talk to me as soon as possible.

Honor Code and Academic Integrity - Lying, cheating, attempted cheating, and plagiarism are violations of our Honor Code that, when identified, are investigated. Each incident will be examined to determine the degree of deception involved. Incidents where the instructor determines the student’s actions are related more to a misunderstanding will handled by the instructor. A written intervention designed to help prevent the student from repeating the error will be given to the student. The intervention, submitted by form and signed both by the instructor and the student, will be forwarded to the Dean of Students and placed in the student’s file.

Cases of suspected academic dishonesty will be reported directly by the instructor and/or others having knowledge of the incident to the Dean of Students. A student found responsible by the Honor Board for academic dishonesty will receive a XF in the course, indicating failure of the course due to academic dishonesty. This grade will appear on the student’s transcript for two years after which the student may petition for the X to be expunged. The student may also be placed on disciplinary probation, suspended (temporary removal) or expelled (permanent removal) from the College by the Honor Board. Students should be aware that unauthorized collaboration--working together without permission-- is a form of cheating. Unless the instructor specifies that students can work together on an assignment, quiz and/or test, no collaboration during the completion of the assignment is permitted. Other forms of cheating include possessing or using an unauthorized study aid (which could include accessing information via a cell phone or computer), copying from others’ exams, fabricating data, and giving unauthorized assistance. Research conducted and/or papers written for other classes cannot be used in whole or in part for any assignment in this class without obtaining prior permission from the instructor. Students can find the complete Honor Code and all related processes in the //Student Handbook// at http://studentaffairs.cofc.edu/honor-system/studenthandbook/index.php.


 * Assignments:**
 * Final course grades are the result of an entire semester of quality work. To ensure a satisfactory course grade, students must succeed throughout the semester. Your course grade will be determined by how many points out of 1000 possible points you accumulate.


 * 1) __Bias speech__ – 100 points – Students will define the concept of bias and apply it to analyze a documentary that we watch in class. Over the course of this short paper, students should begin to explore concepts relevant to bias such as critical doubt, objectivity, and reason. **4-6 minutes, due:**


 * 1) __Enlightenment Paper__ – 200 points - The early portion of this course is devoted to exploring what we will call the “science of argumentation,” a concept developed during the Enlightenment. At the end of this introductory section of the course, students will be expected to write an Enlightenment paper with three tasks: a) synthesize the key course lessons about what makes an argument rational or irrational b) engage the course readings to build your case and c) apply these ideas to two issues where faulty research led to avoidable results: the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and over-prescribed drugs in the U.S. **6-8 pages, due:**


 * 1) __Leadership Project__ – 300 points - The bulk of the course is organized into two citizen crises. Each of these crises comprises a few weeks of class. The last week of the crisis is reserved for leadership projects. Students will select a date for which they will be responsible for distributing a //position paper// and then //teaching the class your argument and leading class discussion//. Use the readings as a __springboard__ to generate your thoughts about the topic. The position paper, a **5-7 page (with at least 4 expert sources)** paper that uses the readings in the controversy to make //any relevant argument you would like//, should be uploaded to Oaks **by 2pm the day before class** so that the class has a chance to read your work. (Since the rest of the class needs to read your paper to complete their peer review assignment, the **2pm deadline is firm**.) Use Graff and Birkenstein’s advice from //They Say/I Say// to help formulate and structure your paper. You can respond to the controversy, or to a single reading, by 1. Agreeing with a difference or 2. Disagreeing and explaining why or 3. Agreeing and disagreeing simultaneously. Most importantly, these papers should feature a __single, overall argument and use credible evidence to back it up__. //This is not a paper where you summarize a reading or detail a historical event//. Put simply, you have total freedom to make any argument relevant to the reading, but you must make an argument and support it thoroughly and carefully. I am, of course, happy to meet and discuss possible topics.

You will then teach your argument to the class and lead discussion about the concepts you are exploring for **20 minutes** (18-22 minutes technically) followed by a few minutes for questions. This is an opportunity to show public speaking and organizational skills (thesis and main points) you worked on last semester. Class leaders are expected to have a **visual aid** (on PowerPoint, or Prezi, or a different visual aid software). Class leaders are welcomed to display questions on the board and lead an organized discussion, organize short activities, show __brief__ clips, distribute handouts, etc. so long as they are clearly related to the argument you are making. (Don’t overload your presentation with video clips; make sure any clips you show are short, relevant, and pre-loaded to avoid technical difficulties. In short, __scrutinize__ whether any clip really belongs in your presentation. Any presentation in which more than 3 minutes of video clips are shown will be penalized.) Also, if you rely on discussion questions, make sure to prime the audience. Asking the audience a broad question is often not enough to get a response. Get them interested in your particular question, and transition effectively between questions to keep momentum going while moving on to explore new topics.


 * 1) __Group Debate__ – 100 points - During the last two weeks of the semester, each class will feature 2-3 in debates between two teams. Each team will be comprised of two students. In this assignment, students will engage in a policy debate in which one of the teams will affirm a proposition and a specific plan that is germane to that proposition. The other team will present a series of offensive and defensive arguments in order to demonstrate that the status quo or a different course of action is superior to supporting the plan advocated by the affirmative. We will decide the topics for these debates as a class. You should be aware of two things from the outset though. First, this assignment is both a group assignment and an individual assignment. Since these are team debates, your performance as a team will be judged. However, each team member will present a solo speech during the course of the debate and that individual effort will be evaluated as well. Second, each of these debates will cover possible policies to govern the nation. To that end, this assignment will be fairly research intensive; each side will need to consult, at a minimum, **10 expert sources about their topic**. To that end, each side will turn in an **annotated bibliography of these ten or more sources** on the day of their debate.

Peer review instructions: Following Graff and Birkenstein’s guidelines (ch. 1-5):
 * 1) __Final Exam__ – 150 points - A comprehensive final exam will be given at the end of the semester. The final will consist of essay questions that will be distributed at least one week before the final exam.
 * 2) __Peer Reviews__ – 50 points - During the leadership presentations, the class’ reading for that day will be the position papers produced by members of the class. We will have roughly two presentations per day meaning that the reading will total about 10 pages. __Students should complete short 4 paragraph summarize-and-respond essays for each paper__.
 * 3) **Turning in your peer reviews:** If we have 2 presentations on a particular day, that means you will need to do two peer reviews. Please bring **2 copies of each review to class**, one for me, and one to give to the presenter. Peer review papers will be graded //pass/fail// based on the author’s a) thoroughness and b) careful editing.
 * 1) Summarize the leadership essay in one paragraph.
 * 2) Then spend 2 or so paragraphs noting where you think the author’s argument is strong and/or weak. Justify your conclusions with clear reasons and evidence from the paper.
 * 3) This paper should include __respectful__ and __substantive__ comments, but not just compliments. These are feedback papers meant to help writers improve.
 * 4) Comment on the author’s writing style or grammar in the fourth and final paragraph.
 * 5) __Class participation__ – 100 points (50% participation during in-class debates/50% participation during lecture/discussion)

Students who do not attend class regularly will receive lower participation grades. Students who attend class without being ready to participate will receive a lower class participation grade. The highest participation grades are reserved for those students whose attendance and comments about the readings and course materials are regular. Participation grades will be taken very seriously, and I highly encourage all students to actively participate in course discussions and activities throughout the semester. Quizzes will be given if I become convinced that the readings are not directing class discussion. Students who do not attend and participate meaningfully in three in-class debates held on __2/15, 3/14, and 4/2__ will compromise up to 50% for their participation grade.

Participation grading scale
__A participation__ = Demonstrates thorough engagement with course readings and relevant media – Consistently asks challenging questions and makes informed judgments that draw distinctions between relevant concepts discussed in course readings, media, and lecture concepts – Asks questions that challenge core assumptions of readings, pundits, and course concepts in innovative ways – Is assertive about working comments and questions into discussion – Demonstrates that comments and discussion questions have been prepared in advance – Relates comments to other group’s discussion questions __B participation__ = Less frequent and challenging than A level participation - Demonstrates good grasp of lecture topics, readings, and relevant media – Comments are well-informed __C participation__ = Average demonstration of knowledge of course concepts – Sporadic participation – Comments are not well-prepared or organized in advance – Comments are of a descriptive rather than critical nature - Is present and on-time for each class __D participation__ = Very infrequent participation – Primarily descriptive comments __F participation__ = If I have a hard time remembering your name well into the course, you risk a failing participation grade.

__Grading Scale__ - Final course grades are assigned on the following scale 93-100 % = A 80-82 % = B- 67-69 % = D+ 90-92 % = A- 77-79 % = C+ 63-66 % = D 87-89 % = B+ 73-76 % = C 60-62 % = D- 83-86 = B 70-72 % = C- 59 % and below = F


 * Course Schedule**: (__To instructors adapting a 281 course: This schedule lays out the general order of concepts with appropriate readings. It maps pretty closely, but not exactly, to a Tuesday/Thursday course. Adjust the schedule as needed depending on the size of your course and the days of the week it meets.)__

The course is divided into three sections: an overview of the relationship between citizenship and the public sphere followed by two sections on different crises of modern citizenship. The course schedule may be changed according to the needs and interests of the class. As I learn more about your interests, the readings may change slightly. Thus, it is always helpful to tell me about your impressions of the readings during discussion.
 * Please read the assigned materials before coming to class. Make sure to bring readings to class as well.
 * Students will need to access Oaks to find some readings listed on this schedule. Those readings will need to be //brought to class//.


 * Arguing in a Public Sphere **

Course Overview

Enlightenment and the Rise of the Public Sphere Read – **Advocacy and Opposition**, chapters 1-3

Certainty, Reason, and Bias I Read – **Advocacy and Opposition**, chapter 4-5

Certainty, Reason, and Bias II Read – **Advocacy and Opposition**, chapter 6

Citizenship as Public Communication Read – **Walton, “Critical Doubt,” Oaks** Watch: The Real CSI (PBS) []
 * Instructors should feel free to choose another documentary about bias

Citizenship and the Evaluation of Arguments Read – **Schudson, “Conversation is not the Soul of Democracy,” Oaks** Read – **Rimmerman, “The New Citizenship” Oaks**

Citizenship and the Evaluation of Arguments II Read – **Advocacy and Opposition**, chapters 7 and 8

Present Bias speeches (2 days)


 * Citizenship Crisis #1: Our Unreasonable Age **
 * This section of the course examines the arguments of those who worry that we have become, frankly, dumb and that our public sphere, both in our politics and our entertainment, not only features anti-intellectuals but celebrates them. Are we living in a distracted age in which the only things most of us care about have much to do with our private and personal interests (buying and consuming, being entertained, getting a job, finding a spouse, etc.) and little to do with contributing to matters of public importance?

The Downfall of Public Reason
 * Read – (choose one book here like //Eloquence in an Electronic Age// or //The Assault on Reason// or something along these lines)

Are We Getting Dumber?
 * Read – (choose one book here like //Eloquence in an Electronic Age// or //The Assault on Reason// or something along these lines)
 * **ENLIGHTENMENT PAPER DUE**

The Dumbing Down of Our Politics
 * Read –(choose one book here like //Eloquence in an Electronic Age// or //The Assault on Reason// or something along these lines)

Are We Bowling Alone?
 * Read – Oaks Reading #5

Does Anyone Care?
 * Read – Oaks Reading #6 and #7

Class Debate on citizenship crisis #1
 * Remember: class debates count for 50% of your participation grade.
 * Read: **Oaks reading #4** (the other side of the argument)

//Leadership Presentations//
 * Read – **2 leadership essays uploaded to Oaks by 2pm the day before class. Remember to turn in __2 copies__** **of your peer reviews at the end of class. Come to class prepared to ask questions about the presenters’ arguments.**

//Leadership Presentations//
 * Read – **2 leadership essays uploaded to Oaks by 2pm the day before class. Remember to turn in __2 copies__** **of your peer reviews at the end of class. Come to class prepared to ask questions about the presenters’ arguments.**

//Leadership Presentations//
 * Read – **2 leadership essays uploaded to Oaks by 2pm the day before class. Remember to turn in __2 copies__** **of your peer reviews at the end of class. Come to class prepared to ask questions about the presenters’ arguments.**


 * Citizenship Crisis #2: Fighting Words **
 * This section of the course examines the fear that our public debates are so conflict oriented, toxic, and downright pugilistic that they encourage us to see fellow citizens as enemies. The ultimate concern is that our toxic public debates presage violence in political life.

Conflict as a Way of Life Read – **Oaks reading #9**

A Toxic Political Environment Read – **Oaks reading #10**

Civility I Read - **Herbst, Introduction, Oaks**

Civility II Read - **Herbst, Conclusion, Oaks**

Class debate
 * Remember: class debates count for 50% of your participation grade.
 * **Read – Oaks reading #11** (the other side of the argument)

//Leadership Presentations//
 * Read – **2 leadership essays uploaded to Oaks by 2pm the day before class. Remember to turn in __2 copies__** **of your peer reviews at the end of class. Come to class prepared to ask questions about the presenters’ arguments.**

//Leadership Presentations//
 * Read – **2 leadership essays uploaded to Oaks by 2pm the day before class. Remember to turn in __2 copies__** **of your peer reviews at the end of class. Come to class prepared to ask questions about the presenters’ arguments.**

=**Class Debates**=
 * **This section of the course teaches students how to engage in a policy debate. Policy debate topics will be chosen by the class.**

Preparing for your debate I
 * Read - **Advocacy and Opposition**, chapters 10-11

Preparing for your debate II

//Class debates// Attendance is required for class debates.

//Class debates// Attendance is required for class debates.


 * Final Exam**