Syllabus.

COM 396A: Political Communication

Pace University
Department of Speech Communication Studies
Fall 1998

Instructor: Barry Morris

• Room 513 41 Park Row
• Office Phone 212-346-1204
• Email: bmorris@pace.edu

"Those who dominate the party . . . find, in the freedom they gain through their monopoly of the production and imposition of instituted political interests , the possibility of imposing their own interests as the interests of those whom they represent."

--Pierre Bourdieu

In simpler terms: Play or get played. The question is no longer whether Americans will participate in the political system, but rather whether we will participate as its masters or its victims. The sidelines have been extended to cover the stands, and like it or not you are in the game. The purpose of COM 396A: Political Communication is to provide a foundation of understanding using which the student can come to interpret how the game is played. We will discuss the myths and "realities" inherent in and attendant to our political system--with a special emphasis on how language creates and manages political meanings.

The means to that end is immersion in, discussion of and responses to scholarly and popular texts on political ideas, issues, events and people. The attached virtual text, "Fat Birds on a Clean Road" will provide a guide for students through the semester. Students should become comfortable with accessing and interacting with that site.

Attendance

Attendance constitutes not just showing up but adequate preparation of the day's material to be a useful conversant. Absence from more than four course sessions will constitute a "punishable" breach of attendance policy.

All assignments must be completed by the scheduled date. Allowances will be made only in extreme circumstances. Failure to comply with the schedule will result in a grade penalty.

A word about media

While one lecture does specifically speak to the influence of media on our reception of and participation in political talk, please recognize that we cannot say much at all about modern political communication without discussing the relation of media to it. That subject will permeate our entire semester's discussion.

Course Calendar

Material Subject to Change at the Instructor's discretion.

 

Assignments:

Midterm Exam = 20%

A multiple Choice Exam covering the lecture and reading from all class session preceding.

Final Exam = 20%

Multiple Response (T/F, short essay, etc.) In-Class comprehensive exam.

International Compare and Contrast = 10%

Student will prepare a five page paper describing the political system of another country in comparison and contrast to ours. Paper must be heavily documented with no more than three sources coming from the WWW.

Stump Speech = 20%

Student will write and deliver a Stump Speech representing himself or herself as the Presidential Candidate of a 3rd Party of his/her own designation. The speech should last between 7 and 9 minutes and should incorporate information from the "mobilizing ideas" lectures. No audio-visual aids should be employed.

Reality Check = 10%

Students will write position papers on subjects drawn from the "Reality Check" annotations in the web page. Four Pages.

Final Paper = 20%

10-12 page research paper on a political event, campaign or other approved phenomenon. Should be lucidly written and well-documented. Sources should be fresh, recent and no more than 3 can come from the WWW.