Paris 2010 Study Abroad

Paris 2010

ENGLISH 306 (W,O):
ADVANCED ARGUMENTATION I

Faculty Resident Director: Dr. Darin Payne (darinp@hawaii.edu)
Location: Paris
Course Theme: "Writing in Globalization"
Credits/Hours: 3 Credits; "W" and "O" Focus Designations; 37.5 Contact Hours
Prerequisites: ENG 100 (or equivalent) plus one course from ENG 250-257, or permission from the instructor.

Course Credit Value:

This course is open to all students who have completed ENG 100 or its equivalent. As a writing course, it is either directly required or is one of a very limited set of electives that are required, by various degree programs at UH Manoa. Additionally, it will satisfy both a “W” and an "O" GenEd Focus requirement. If you are an English Major, it will also serve as credits toward the major. Finally, it is also an elective course that can be applied to the English Department’s Professional Writing Certificate.

Course Overview:

In ancient Greece and Rome, the very center of education was the study of persuasion--or rhetoric--because it was believed to be a necessary skill for citizens to obtain for participation in public deliberations. Citizenship and argumentation thus went hand in hand, and they were the backbone of democracy. Today is not so different: current scholars of rhetoric maintain that a primary goal of education in language arts is "civic discourse," the term commonly used to reference discussion, negotiation, and persuasion among citizens in a shared public forum about communal matters. The difference, however, between now and ancient times is that our public forums have radically changed, as have our notions of citizenship: discussions now happen among relative strangers in print and online, and those discussions circulate around the globe. This is certainly due to new communications technologies, but it's also a phenomenon that is integrally bound to globalization. Much of our civic discourse these days is necessarily about global issues, as environmental, cultural, political, and economic concerns often involve players and commentators from multiple countries around the planet. In short, we have become global citizens, and we engage in global conversations.

This course is designed to teach you effective strategies of persuasion common to our contemporary online landscape and common to globalization-era deliberations. Within that framework, one of the most significant means of persuasion lies in the ways in which writers position themselves in relation to others whose national and cultural identities are markedly different from their own. To be truly effective, writers must demonstrate considerable sensitivity to the opinions, knowledges, and value systems of national and cultural others. Writers in globalization must learn to tread cautiously, listen carefully, and integrate into their arguments the perspectives of such others. At the same time, writers in globalization need to work from an understanding of their own positioning in a global setting, one in which the default mode of being is not simply “American” and one in which others’ perspectives of America may be considerably different than our own.

Thus in this course you will read theories of both contemporary and classical rhetoric, analyses of global citizenship, and narratives of US citizens abroad. As you do so, you will be talking regularly with residents of and visitors to Paris, experiencing what it means to be someone else’s national and cultural other. And finally, you will write occasionally about the readings, about your experiences in Paris, and about global social issues from your perspective as an American and as a citizen of the globe. (Note: some of these writings will be public: you will actively write and publish short pieces as freelance commentators on a webzine that we will collectively develop; you may also have the option of submitting your writings to established online venues. If desired, you may choose to use a pseudonym or write anonymously.)

Course Work (Assignments):

Daily Journals (20/100) On a daily basis, you will be required to keep a journal. This is individual, private writing that you will utilize as a means of recording and reflecting on the global news you are following and on your interactions with others in public spaces. You will be asked to verbally report on these on a regular basis, and the points you earn will go toward the Oral Performance grade for the course.

Short Essays (25/100) Once per week you will be required to write a short, semi-formal essay that you will post to a class blog. You will write approximately 5 of these during the term of the course. The essays will be about 500 words each, and they will be written in response to a question about the week's readings. For more details, see the Short Essay Guidelines.

Written Public Arguments--Blogs (30/100) You will produce three substantive commentary essays (10 points each) as a blogger on social issues that you are following as a US citizen abroad. These will be issues that garner attention in Paris, and they will be issues that you will discuss with local residents and visitors to Paris. Such discussions will explicitly inform your writing, serving as material that you draw from, reference, and respond to in your public commentaries. One of them will serve as the basis for a formal oral presentation you make in class; see the next assignment:

Spoken Public Argument--20/100) You will present one of your blog entries (see above) as a formal declamation to the class. The points you earn will go toward the Oral Performance grade for the course.

Reflection Essay (5/100) This is a formal essay that you will write near or at the completion of your time abroad. As research for this essay, you will rely on our course's readings, on the writings you posted to the class blog, and on the commentaries you produced for a public audience. Your focus will be on your experience as a "global citizen," and what you write will ultimately be a contribution to the teacher-research project that the Faculty Resident Director will be conducting.

Course Readings:

Hertsgaard, Mark. The Eagle's Shadow: Why America Fascinates and Infuriates the World. 2007.

Daily online readings on global social issues from English language sources in Paris and the US.

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