Classical Rhetorical Theory and Practice – Classical Rhetorical Theory and Practice: History and Theory of Rhetoric

This seminar offers an introduction to classical rhetorical theory and practice from Homer to Augustine. Secondary readings will be drawn from scholarship in Classics (e.g., Vernant, Loraux, A. A. Long) and from modern philosophy and critical theory (Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Adorno, S. Weil, Arendt, Foucault, Rancière, A. Carson, and Latour, among others). Topics will include speech and writing; rhetoric and philosophy; language and reality; persuasion, seduction, and epistemological critique; literal and figurative meaning; agency and responsibility; aesthetics, politics, and religion.

More details will be made available on bCourses. The final syllabus will be determined at the first session to reflect student preferences.

No prerequisites.

Open to graduate students from all departments including Critical Theory DE students for whom this class counts as a CT elective (CT 290). Classics students are encouraged to read texts in the original.

Requirements: bi-weekly blog post responses; in-class presentations; a short final research paper geared towards participants’ research fields.