SoC First Year Seminar: Interdisciplinary Topics in Communication Arts & Sciences (101-0-4)

Topic

Future Tense: Rhetoric and Speculative Media

Instructors

Rick Incorvati

Chris Lombardo

Meeting Info

Kresge Centennial Hall 4-410: Tues, Thurs 11:00AM - 12:20PM

Overview of class

In her introduction to The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), Ursula K. Le Guin writes: "The future, in fiction, is a metaphor. A metaphor for what?" This first-year seminar will explore the ways in which rhetoric and speculative media, films, and video games deploy imagined futures: as visions of possibility, as tools of re-making our shared reality, and as ways of locating ourselves within the present moment. Together we will investigate what it means to both speculate on futures that may never exist and attempt to construct ones that will.

Registration Requirements

This course is open to School of Communication first-year students who were assigned to take CMN 101 in the Spring quarter.

Learning Objectives

Learning Goal: Engage critical thinking skills while exploring the breadth of School of Communication creative and research endeavors.

Learning Outcome: Students will identify key factors relevant to the course topic, differentiate between multiple perspectives and interpretations, and explain how at least two School of Communication disciplines might approach a given topic.

Learning Goal: Experiment with research and communication conventions associated with School of Communication disciplines.

Learning Outcome: Students will demonstrate their ability to communicate ideas and/or experiences compellingly by using appropriate research tools, soliciting feedback, employing disciplinary conventions, and addressing audience expectations.

Learning Goal: Collaborate with peers from different SoC majors to highlight the benefits of interdisciplinary inquiry.

Learning Outcome: Students will collaborate with peers across different majors to successfully complete at least one group project and reflect upon the skills employed to accomplish that task.

Class Materials (Required)

Required materials include the following films: THE HUNGER GAMES; MINORITY REPORT; CHILDREN OF MEN; V FOR VENDETTA; and ANIARA; and games: FORTNITE; PAPERS, PLEASE; TERRA NIL, and ICARUS. Possible methods of access will be outlined in the syllabus.

Class Attributes

SOC First-Year Seminar

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: REASON: Pre-registration is not allowed for this class. Please try again during regular registration.
Drop Consent: Department Consent Required