Instructor
Information:
Dr. Catherine E. Waggoner
Office: Hollenbeck 323
Phone: 327-7436
Office hours:
Mon/Wed 10:00-11:00 am, 1:00-2:00 pm,
Tues/Thurs 2:00-3:00 pm, and by appointment
Email the professor, Dr. Catherine Waggoner.
What is
Comm 280: Reasoning and Communication about?
In your years of interacting
with others, you likely have been involved in many arguments over
controversial issues. Some of those encounters probably have been
very stimulating and constructive; indeed, many people feel that engaging
in controversial discussions is one of the most rewarding types of
human interactions. Others, however, have had primarily negative
experiences with argumentative discussions, those that resulted in
hurt feelings, frustration, confusion, embarrassment, broken relationships,
and even physical violence. Such experiences may have led you to view
argument as a destructive form of communication that is to be avoided.
In fact, you may be someone who goes to great lengths to avoid potential
argumentative situations, hiding your true feelings and best interests
in order to “keep peace.”
Engaging in arguments ethically
and effectively is a fundamental communication skill necessary
for success in your personal and professional lives--especially
now, as our world becomes increasingly more global and interdependent.
Our capacity to resolve our differences and to reason effectively
and responsibly profoundly affects the quality of our lives and those
around us. This course, required for all communication majors, provides
an opportunity to cultivate the skills and qualities necessary for ethical
and effective deliberation across differences: critical thinking,
information literacy, ethical and effective cross-cultural awareness,
empathic communication skills, cooperative problem solving, and conflict
resolution abilities. More specifically, you will learn fundamental
communication and reflection processes of critical thinking, dialogue,
and cooperative argumentation. Through an in-depth examination of the
principles, methods, and strategies of argumentative process, you will
be able to both prepare ethical and effective arguments and critically
evaluate those of others. Through an exploration of principles of
dialogue and cooperative argumentation, you will learn to manage human
relations both ethically and effectively in argumentative situations.
What will I learn in this course?
In short, this course will help
you
- understand at a substantive level the role of communication
in shaping community, relationships, deliberation, and problem-solving.
- demonstrate reading, writing, speaking, and listening
skills that enable empathic and critical communication and advocacy.
- demonstrate an understanding of what constitutes
reasonableness, including elements of and patterns of reasoning.
- use cooperative argumentative and nondefensive
communication as an ethical and effective means of responding to
conflict.
- use sound reasoning that is void of fallacies of
language and argument.
- use adequate support in drawing reasonable inferences,
including the consideration of alternative perspectives.