Introduction
Welcome to ENG 446/500, Topics in Rhetoric: Posthuman Rhetorics. Through an immersion in a variety of “texts” and discourses—critical theory, literature, cinema and television, and even video games—this course will interrogate the rhetoric (re)examining and (re)inventing human and nonhuman being.
As we become increasing aware of our networked selves, of our interconnections not just with material and virtual human beings, but non-human beings as well, we can no longer blindly proclaim a belief in human exceptionalism. Scholars across disciplines are arguing and demonstrating that that those features previously thought as distinguishing what it means to “human”–logical intelligence, emotion, agency–are capabilities expressed in animals, machines, ecosystems, and social and digital networks. What happens when we remove the human from the pedestal of dominant privilege? Who are we in complex system of our world?
Studying these posthuman questions in the context of rhetoric provides a unique opportunity to understand how we construct our identities and realities through the juxtaposition with non-human beings, and more importantly how we might positively change these rhetorical constructions of reality in order to create a sustainable and ethical place for humans in this world (and beyond!).
Syllabus
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Class Blogs
Select the link above to access the links to your classmates’ blogs.