In this class, we will examine classical rhetorical concepts (such as phronesis/practical wisdom, aretê/virtue, and eunoia/goodwill) against broader formations and understandings of digital rhetoric — and with it, rhetorics of health, disability, and medicine — as a field. Our conversations will work to unpack and dismantle rhetorical studies's historical and contemporary representations of suasive discourse, technologization, and embodiment. In particular, our discussions will explore technical entanglements with pathologization, as well as the ways in which crip, trans, and decolonial theories of the body work in service of subverting stock notions of the digital rhetorical.

In addition to its theoretical/critical focus, this class will also involve low-threshold digital production and play, with specific attention paid to accessibility. No experience with production is required to take this course!