This course takes a rhetorical approach to examining American civil rights rhetoric across the 19th and 20th century. We will study the arguments, appeals, and strategies that form a foundational American rhetorical tradition inspired by the Declaration of Independence that privileges freedom, equality, and human dignity. In this course we will examine how the antislavery and women’s movements created a variety of rhetorical strategies that were adapted and used across the American Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century. Readings include Maria Stewart, Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Sarah Grimké, Margaret Fuller, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X.

This course satisfies the following CURRENT English major/minor requirements: American Literature + Identity/Difference

This course satisfies the following NEW English major/minor requirements: Foundations & Methods (300/400-level), Regions (Americas, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland)

Course Requirements:

This course requires regular attendance and participation in lectures and discussion. Students will complete a series of three short papers (2-3 pages) and develop a final project and presentation on a social movement of their choice. There are no exams in this course.

Intended Audience:

This course is accessible to all undergraduate students at all levels.