BA Liberal Arts

In a world that is faced with the challenges of ‘fake news’, ‘information bubbles’, and ‘post-truth politics’, the importance of rhetoric cannot be understated. Rhetoric is the art of effective or persuasive speech and writing, and insofar as it emphasises the importance of language in shaping our perceptions of the world, it offers a useful way of thinking about the value of the arts and humanities in contemporary society.

In Ancient Greece, an understanding of rhetoric was foundational to the Liberal Arts and to the empowerment of free citizens, and the course begins by introducing students to such early philosophical and philological approaches to persuasive speech and writing. Students are then introduced to different understandings of rhetoric throughout history, before exploring its significance in the contemporary world. These ideas are delivered via a blend of face-to-face lectures as well as access to bespoke online materials from experts in various fields from the arts to statistics, politics, and psychology. Students will be able to engage with these ideas through online exercises and group activities.

In addition to understanding the role of rhetoric in shaping past, present, and future societies, students will also have the opportunity to develop and reflect on their own persuasive speech and writing by preparing for and participating in formal debates. Face-to-face workshops throughout the course will train students how to use debating rhetoric, and this will develop important skills for further academic research as well as in a range of careers including (but not limited to) politics, law, and media.

Upon successful completion of the course, students will:

• Understand what rhetoric is and why it is important in shaping past, present, and future societies (theories)
• Be familiar with a range of classical and historical approaches to rhetoric from Ancient Greece to contemporary times, including global and non-western perspectives (contexts)
• Develop a critical understanding of the uses of rhetoric in fields such as politics, advertising, and media (application/analysis)
• Rehearse persuasive speech and writing in a range of styles and contexts (skills/practices)

The course will begin by introducing students to key historical and philosophical developments and controversies in the arts of rhetoric. Workshops throughout the course will allow students to rehearse and develop their familiarity of rhetoric by practicing it in debate forms. The latter part of the course then explores the contemporary context and allows students to select modules to enrich their understanding of it.

Theories and skills

• Roots and rhetoric
• Identifying and critiquing rhetoric
• Performing rhetoric
• Debating rhetoric

Historical traditions and critiques

• Democracy and rhetoric
• Language and new rhetoric

Contemporary applications and controversies (students pick 1 topic from each bloc; blocs are released as weekly interactive lecture content on Blackboard)

A -

• Statistical rhetoric
• Science communication
• Courtroom rhetoric
• Medical ethics

B -

• Propaganda in WWII
• Rhetoric in elections
• Advertising

C -

• Artificial rhetoric
• Fake news and journalistic rhetoric

D - 

• New Religious Movements
• Conspiracy theories
• Rhetoric of climate change protests
• Post-truth and the public

Teaching will be delivered by weekly lectures, including some online lecture content featuring guest speakers from different subjects in order to highlight the interdisciplinarity of the topic of rhetoric. Weekly seminars will allow students to discuss follow-up reading and questions from the lectures, and will allow them to develop debating skills. Final seminar sessions will feature formal debate sessions that form part of the course assessment.   

• Understanding of different approaches and historical/philosophical attitudes to rhetoric
• Ability to demonstrate the significance of these different approaches for contemporary issues
• Awareness of the links between rhetoric and truth as important broad issues that affect the development and restriction of free citizens
• Integration of theory and practice by demonstrating and analysing own uses of rhetoric

• Understanding of what makes effective and persuasive speech/writing, according to different philosophical approaches to rhetoric
• Ability to critically analyse the rhetoric of different texts, including those in the public sphere
• Development of source handling skills through engagement with a wide variety of texts from ancient to contemporary cultures
• Training in reflective writing to make sense of, and develop through ongoing critique, own practices and applications of rhetoric

• Group-working skills
• Debating skills
• Independent research skills
• Persuasive and argumentative writing skills
• Reflective writing skills
• Giving, responding to, and incorporating, feedback

• Ability to critique and evaluate the successfulness of different arguments
• Critical awareness of the role of rhetoric in the contemporary world
• Application of knowledge about rhetoric to development of own writing and speech

Sources that will help students to familiarise themselves with issues raised throughout the course include:

• Sam Leith, You Talkin’ to Me? Rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama
• Sam Leith, Words Like Loaded Pistols: Rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama
• John Mitchell et al., Trivium: The Classical Liberal Arts of Grammar, Logic & Rhetoric
• Richard Toye, Rhetoric: A Very Short Introduction
• Thomas Habinek, Ancient Rhetoric: From Aristotle to Philostratus
• Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Think Again: How to Reason and Argue
• David Kelley, The Art of Reasoning: An Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking
• Gavin Faribairn and Christopher Winch, Reading, Writing and Reasoning: A Guide for Students

Students who have taken UCIL2***2 Persuading People: Uses and Abuses of Rhetoric are not eligible to take this unit (and vice versa)