Download Syllabus for the course

COHI 175: Consequential Communications: More than sticks and stones – how words can
really hurt you
Greg Thompson (email: [email protected])
Spring 2012 – Monday/Wednesday 5:00-6:20 – CSB 005
Most people raised in English speaking countries will have encountered some variant of the
saying “Sticks and Stones may break your bones but words will never hurt you.” And yet the
need for such a saying suggests that we often experience the opposite as being true and that
words can, in fact, hurt us – and possibly do much more to us. This course considers: how do
words hurt, soothe, heal, touch, move, or otherwise change us? In this course we will explore
communication across a number of different practices including: educational, psychotherapeutic,
interactional, political, ritualistic, and mass mediated practices. Starting with the General
Semantics perspective on language and meaning, we then build out a theory of meaning that
seeks to account for the power of communication in practice.
The central questions for the course include:
What are words (& language)? How do they mean? Do words matter? If so, how? Can words
deceive? How do words hurt? How/why are we irritated, annoyed, or pissed off by words? How
do words “stir our souls”? How do they transform us, “touch” us, or “move” us?
The approach taken will be one that brings theory to practice. The readings will provide the
theory and the in-class discussions and the case-study assignments will apply this to real world
examples of meaning-making in action.
The course is divided into five units. The first unit involves laying the groundwork for
understanding communication and for understanding words. The three middle units to
interdisciplinary intersections with Anthropology, Psychology, and Sociology. In the final unit,
we take on two in-class case studies (hypnosis and offensive language) in order to apply our
methods for understanding the power of words.
Assignments
15% Class participation. Please turn off mobile devices (unless we decide otherwise) – we only
have 3 hours together each week, so let’s make the most of it. 10% of this grade will consist of
very simple in-class quizzes that cover the readings for that day. The other 5% will be based on
participation in discussion.
15% Weekly posts. Each week you will be given an assignment for a post that connects the
readings to your everyday experience. Posts should be made by midnight on Sunday night.
20% Class-wide Case Study and write-up. This project will involve an intensive study of an
example of the powerful use of words/language. This project will focus on an “explosive” event
in which words and language use played a central role, namely, the Compton Cookout. The
project will involve data collection and analysis and will address the following questions: What
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was the nature of the event itself as described by participants? (e.g., was it “fun”?) What gave the
event this feeling? How was the event understood after the fact? In what ways did words matter
in the up-take of the event after the fact?
15% One small individual case-study write-up (roughly 4 pages). The purpose of this paper is to
analyze some event in which the power of words/language can be seen. I will work with you to
make every effort to make this project one that will be of benefit to your undergraduate and/or
professional career so start by thinking about what will be of most interest/relevance for you. For
any interested students, I encourage and will help students to submit their final papers for
publication.
35% Major case-study write-up based on your interests (maximum of 12 pages). You will
develop your small case study into a longer and more substantial paper that uses the tools put
forward in the course to describe what was happening in this event.
OUTLINE OF THE COURSE (note: this syllabus will likely be revised as the course proceeds)
Communication & Word Magic
April 4 –
Reiser, Oliver. Modern Science and Non-Aristotelian Logic.
Korzybski, Alfred. The role of language in the Perceptual Process
Youtube video of Korzybski and the structural differential.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE1iOM9FqBg&feature=related
Steve Stockdale’s website with the structural differential:
April 9 –
Lee, Irving. Ch. 2 & 8. (On the useful uses of words & The Spell of Words)
April 11 –
Chase, Stuart. Tyranny of Words. Chapter XI: The Semantic Discipline
April 16 –
Johnson, Wendell – Ch. 1&2 (Verbal Cocoons and Never the Same River Twice)
Making Magic with Words: Communication/Anthropology redux
April 18 –
Levi-Strauss, Claude. The Efficacy of Symbols.
April 23 –
Durkheim, Emile. Selections from The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, (esp.
on Collective Effervescence).
April 25 –
Collins, Randall. Emotional Energy.
April 30 –
Silverstein. From Abe to W.
Magic in the Mind: Communication/Psychology redux
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May 2 –
Freud, Sigmund – on the parapraxes
Fanon, Franz. Selection from Black Skins/ White Masks.
DUE MAY 4 – ELECTRONICALLY SUBMIT GROUP CASE STUDY PAPER
May 7 –
Haidt, Jon – social psychology and politics “the sacred”
Implicit Attitudes Test.
May 9 –
Freud, Sigmund. The Case of Elizabeth Von R.
Magic in social contacts/contexts: Commnication/Sociology redux
May 14 –
Goffman, Erving. Alienation from Interaction.
Goffman, Erving. On Face-work.
May 16 –
Goffman, Erving. Introduction to Frame Analysis
DUE MAY 18 – ELECTRONICALLY SUBMIT FIRST CASE STUDY PAPER
May 21 –
Thompson, Greg & Hacohen, Dori. Framing Selves in Interactional Practice
Powerful Words: Communication
May 23 –
Videos from Steve Stockdale’s website about the “n-word” and the “f-word” (or
an alternative of your choice
May 30 –
Valsiner, Jan. Hypnosis
June 4 -
Hypnosis videos from Dr. Berman’s page
Hypnosis training videos from Youtube
DUE JUNE 13 – LONG CASE STUDY DUE
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