A primary goal of this course is to acquaint students with the 
history of public discourse, especially, but not exclusively, 
in western civilization.  The course will survey the oratory of 
Pericles, Demosthenes, Cicero, Augustine, Elizabeth I, Burke, 
Webster, Lincoln, A. Grimke, C. Stanton, Roosevelt, Churchill, 
M. L. King, Kennedy, Reagan, as well as the discourses of 
various contemporary figures. As they study the texts of such 
messages, students will examine various ideas about the nature 
of public communication that have informed rhetoric in the 
periods examined. The primary teaching strategy of the course 
is to acquaint students with such techniques of rhetoric as 
invention, disposition, persuasive proof, and audience analysis 
that are reflected in the history of this art.  Special 
attention will be paid to building understanding of the many 
ways in which rhetoric shapes the values, purposes, attitudes, 
and beliefs of human communities. Students will complete 
research assignments which will involve computer-based research 
and paper preparation. Students will consider the moral and 
ethical implications of a variety of communication situations.

I.  The emergence and role of the rhetoric in classical 
antiquity.

II.  Democracy, citizenship, and the role of speech.

III.  The rhetoric of leadership, politics, and the presidency.

IV.  Resistance and social change: public communication in 
movements.

“Academic honesty is – defined broadly and simply – the 
performance of all academic work without cheating, lying, 
stealing, or receiving assistance from any other person
or using any source of information not appropriately authorized 
or attributed” (From the Preamble to “A Culture of Honesty”). 
The University, the Department of Communication Studies, and I 
personally take academic honesty very seriously. Every student
at the University of Georgia should be familiar with the 
booklet, “A Culture of Honesty: Policies and Procedures on 
Academic Dishonesty.” If you are not, please obtain one of 
these booklets and read it carefully. This document has a 
thorough presentation of four types of academic dishonesty 
including plagiarism, unauthorized assistance, lying/tampering, 
and theft, as well as the procedures that are in place
to adjudicate alleged incidents of academic dishonesty. The 
policies and procedures described in “A Culture of Honesty” 
will be strictly followed.