SPCM 479
Rhetoric of Social Movements
Syllabus developed as a course assignment in SPCM 601 History and Theory of Rhetoric, Fall 2021
An assembly of people holding signs that say #BlackLivesMatter
The capstone is restricted to seniors completing their major in Communication Studies. This course focuses on rhetoric of social movements and seeks to answer key questions such as:
What is the role of rhetoric in a social movement?
What makes social movement rhetoric “successful,” and how is that success defined?
How do movements operate differently than and/or in conjunction with organizations?
In exploring a range of scholarly answers to these questions, we will first begin with a selection of theoretical writings that emerged in the 1960s in the context of the Black Power, New Left, and Vietnam anti-war movements. In the second half of the course, we will survey a series of case studies that investigate and illuminate a range of tactical approaches among movements around #BlackLivesMatter, Chicanoism, indigenous political activism, abortion rights, women’s movements, queer liberation, and the environment. As your senior seminar, this course is fast-paced and will require your careful attention to lectures, a heavy weekly reading schedule, regular critical writing responses, engaged class discussion, and the development of your own original analysis of a movement of your choice. The course will culminate in presentations of your final seminar papers.
ASSIGNMENTS
Meeting deadlines is an important academic and professional skill. I expect you to either meet these due dates or to work with me to arrange for an extension in advance. You are always welcome to submit work early.
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Classes are in a discussion/workshop format and depend on your active engagement with your peers. Therefore, regular attendance and productive, courteous contributions are important.
Community Agreements:
During the first week of class, we will take some time to collaboratively establish community agreements (some might call these “ground rules”) for our classroom discussions. For example, one of my personal favorite agreements is “take space, make space.” This means if you’re a person who naturally feels comfortable speaking, remind yourself to “make space” for other voices. If you are more inclined to quietly listen and observe, push yourself to “take space.”
Tips for “taking space” in an academic conversation:
• Jot down ideas as you are reading and come to class with some comments prepared.
• Try to say something early in the conversation (sometimes the longer we wait, the harder it gets to jump in – or someone else may say the thing you wanted to say)
• Speak up when someone asks a question you can answer or when you can give information to clarify a topic or provide new insight
• Ask a thought-provoking question or ask for clarification. It’s okay, “I really didn’t understand what the text meant by ____. Can someone else try to explain it?”
Tips for “making space” in an academic conversation:
• Practice mindful listening (as opposed to “waiting to talk”) and refrain from interrupting.
• Get comfortable with a little bit of silence to allow others to process their thoughts.
• Keep your comments short and to the point.
• “3 then me” – After you’ve spoken, wait for at least three other people to speak before you raise your hand again.
• Write your thoughts down to share later.
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Each week, you will respond to the reading through short, semi-formal writing (each 300 words +/- 5). Consider these responses to be a clean first draft of an idea. You may use these short papers to raise questions about the reading and/or to work through an understanding of a complex idea without having a fully formed thesis. However, do use these writings as an opportunity to practice precision with your language, and be sure to proof-read for clarity, grammar, spelling, etc.
You will be assessed on two primary criteria:
• Critical engagement with one or more ideas presented in the week’s readings
• Clean, organized writing free of distracting errors
If you’re struggling with how to approach this assignment, you might consider one or more of these questions as a starting point:
• How does the text contribute to and/or complicate your overall understanding of movement rhetoric?
• How is the text related to ideas/concerns/other texts we discuss throughout the semester?
• What ideas did you find unclear or confusing in the text?
• Did the text elicit any sort of emotional response within you, and can you identify what/why that is? (Make sure you’re analyzing more critically than “I did/didn’t like this.”)
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For your final project, you will choose a social movement to research in more depth and analyze in a 15–20-page seminar paper. Though much of our course material is U.S.-centric, many of these movements have global implications, and you do not have to focus your own research on a U.S. movement.
You will be assessed on three primary criteria:
• Your presentation of a clear, insightful, original analysis/argument of a social movement.
• Your carefully researched selection, integration, and documentation (MLA or APA style) of primary and secondary sources to contextualize and support your analysis.
• Your quality of writing, organization, and overall scholarly presentation of your ideas.
I encourage you to be thinking about potential research topics early. We will start to discuss the capstone paper regularly in class around midterm (week 7), and we will also hold some in-class workshops dedicated to synthesizing ideas and workshopping your paper with your peers. These collaborative exercises are intended to help you make progress on your final paper throughout the semester. You can also come to office hours to discuss your project at any time during the semester to talk through an idea, review an outline, or get my feedback on a draft.
Capstone Presentation
During the last week of class, you will present your final paper to your peers. You will have 10 minutes to present your analysis, and 5 minutes to answer questions. (Note: I expect you will still be working on your paper when you give your presentation; this is OK.) You will be assessed based on your overall preparation and delivery. Tips for success:
Do:
• Come prepared to present your overall thesis and main supporting points.
• Write notes or an outline for yourself.
• Rehearse your presentation for a smooth, organized delivery lasting 8-10 minutes.
Don’t:
• Read your paper verbatim or try to memorize your entire paper.
• “Wing it” without having substantially started your paper.
• Stress out! This is an opportunity to practice presenting your scholarly work in a relaxed environment of peers.
Optional:
• If there are relevant visuals that will help your audience understand your argument (e.g., photographs of a demonstration you are analyzing), you may prepare a PowerPoint to accompany your presentation. This is not a requirement.
COURSE SCHEDULE
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Week 1 : Introductions
Leland Griffin, “The Rhetoric of Historical Movements” (1952)
Leland Griffin, “The Rhetorical Structure of the ‘New Left’ Movement: Part I” (1964)
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Week 2: Confrontations, New Left
Robert Scott and Donald Smith, “The Rhetoric of Confrontation” (1969)
Excerpts from Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals (1971)
• “Prologue”
• Chapter 7, “Tactics”
Response #1 due
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Week 3: Red Power & Black Power Tactics
Donna Hightower-Langston, “American Indian Women’s Activism in the 1960s and 1970s” (2003)
Ahmad Greene-Hayes and Joy James, “Cracking the Codes of Black Power Struggles: Hacking, Hacked, and Black Lives Matter” (2017)
Response #2 due
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Week 4: Functionalist Approaches
Herbert Simons, “Requirements, Problems, and Strategies: A Theory of Persuasion for Social Movements” (1970)
Charles Stewart, “A Functional Approach to the Rhetoric of Social Movements” (1980)
Richard Gregg, “The Ego-Function of the Rhetoric of Protest” (1971)
Response #3 due
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Week 5: Meaning-Centered Approaches
Robert Cathcart, “New Approaches to the Study of Movements: Defining Movements” (1972)
Michael McGee, “Social Movement: Phenomenon or Meaning?” (1975)
Response #4 due
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Week 6: Invitational Rhetoric, Rhetorical Listening
Sonja Foss and Cindy Griffin, “Beyond Persuasion: A Proposal for an Invitational Rhetoric” (1995)
“Rhetorical Listening: A Trope for Interpretive Invention and a ‘Code of Cross-Cultural Conduct’” by Krista Ratcliffe (1999)
Response #5 due
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Week 7: Synthesis
Nathan Crick, “From Cosmopolis to Cosmopolitics: The Rhetorical Study of Social Movements” (2020)
Response #6 due
Come prepared to discuss your thoughts on “movement rhetoric,” synthesizing the last several weeks of conversation. What conclusions have you drawn? What questions linger?
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Week 8: Genre, Epistemology
“The Rhetoric of Women’s Liberation: An Oxymoron” by Karlyn Kohrs Campbell (1973)
Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, “’The Rhetoric of Women’s Liberation: An Oxymoron’ Revisited” (1999)
Selections from Gloria Anzaldua, Borderlands/ La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1999)
• Ch. 5, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”
• Ch. 7, “La consciencia de la mestiza: Towards a New Consciousness”
Response #7 due
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Week 9: Memory, Performance
Elizabeth Armstrong and Suzanna Crage, “Movements and Memory: The Making of the Stonewall Myth” (2003)
Rachel V. Kutz-Flamenbaum, “Code Pink, Raging Grannies, and the Missile Dick Chicks: Feminist Performance Activism in the Contemporary Anti-War Movement” (2007)
Response #8 due
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Week 10: Framing
Richard L. Hughes, “The Civil Rights Movement of the 1990s? The Anti-Abortion Movement and the Struggle for Racial Justice” (2006)
Carolette Norwood, “Misrepresenting Reproductive Justice: A Black Feminist Critique of ‘Protecting Black Life’” (2021)
Response #9 due
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Week 11: Geographies, Enclaves
Tabitha James Mary Chester, “Movement for Black Love: The Building of Critical Communities Through the Relational Geography of Movement Spaces” by (2018)
Karma Chavez, “Counter-Public Enclaves and the Understanding the Function of Rhetoric in Social Movement Coalition-Building” (2011)
Response #10 due
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Week 12: Digital Tactics
Denise J. Wilkins, Andrew G. Livingstone, and Mark Levine, “Whose Tweets? The Rhetorical Functions of Social Media Use in Developing the Black Lives Matter Movement” (2019)
Christina Foust and Craig Weathers, “Memes in Social Movement 2.0: #JeffCoSchoolBoard History and the Ouster of Conservative Education ‘Reformers’ in Colorado”
Response #11 due
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Week 13: Confrontation
Andre E. Johnson, “Confrontational and Intersectional Rhetoric: Black Lives Matter and the Shutdown of the Hernando de Soto (1-40) Bridge” (2020)
Cortney Smith, “Ironic Confrontation as a Mode of Resistance: The Homeland Security T-Shirt at the Dakota Access Pipeline Protests” (2019)
Response #12 due
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Week 14: Storytelling, Synthesis
Linda Martín Alcoff, “To Possess the Power to Speak” (2021)
Come prepared to discuss your thoughts on “movement rhetoric,” synthesizing the last several weeks of conversation. What conclusions have you drawn? What questions linger?
Peer workshop draft due
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Week 15: Workshop, Presentations
Capstone Paper Writing Workshop
Come prepared having read and prepared written feedback/marginalia on your peers’ drafts. Each writer will have 20 minutes to discuss their paper, talk through feedback, and ask questions.
Seminar presentations of capstone papers
• 10 min. to present, 5 min. for questions
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Week 16: Presentations
Seminar presentations of capstone papers
• 10 min. to present, 5 min. for questions
Capstone Paper due