What is the purpose of civil discourse in democracy?

Sue Wasiolek, Adjunct Associate Professor, Education 

'Finding (and Creating) Your Voice' in the legal system involves being able to not only recognize all sides of an issue, but ultimately, to also articulate a position/argument that is persuasive. This voice might also be one that involves the ability to mediate and/or negotiate an outcome. These skills require an understanding of how the law deals with speech and how telling a compelling story is at the heart of 'practicing' within the legal system. In addition, one's effectiveness in finding and creating a voice is also directly connected to one's overall self-awareness, resilience, courage, curiosity, creativity, capacity to listen and leadership style, among other factors. In this course, students will have the opportunity to gain a better understanding of how the law handles speech, with a focus on the 1st Amendment to the US Constitution. This understanding will be undergirded by a consideration of (and ultimately a greater appreciation for) the difference between what can legally be said versus what 'should' be said in a particular situation. Students will be invited to practice how to civilly and compassionately disagree with someone, particularly a peer, while identifying and exploring their personal values, reconciling these values with how they find, create and use their voice at Duke and beyond.

Philip M. Napoli, Professor, Sanford School for Public Policy 

This course will explore the concept of the “public sphere” and the role that the public sphere plays – and is supposed to play – in the democratic process. This class will explore historical and modern versions of the public sphere, as means of understanding how the venues for civil (and uncivil) discourse have evolved over time. In exploring these topics this course will also explore related concepts such as public opinion, the public forum, and the marketplace of ideas. We will look at how these concepts have been defined, debated, and measured over time. We will also look at how they affect – and are affected by – public policymaking. Finally, this course will spend significant time exploring the dynamics of the contemporary digital public sphere, how it has evolved, how it is structured, and its implications for civil discourse and the democratic process. The course will also consider legal and policy interventions directed at preserving and enhancing the public sphere.

Daniel Herskowitz, Associate Professor, Religious Studies 

This course examines the question of the relationship between politics and religion, as well as the roots and limits of political authority, origin of rights, foundation and aims of civil discourse, equality and inequality before the law, and others, by looking at different depictions of the figure of Moses throughout western history and thought. It approaches these questions in order to gain a historically and philosophically informed perspective on the promises and perils of contemporary democratic values and institutions, with special focus on the theoretical foundations of civil discourse.

Noah Pickus, Professor of the Practice, Sanford School for Public Policy 

This course examines the question of the relationship between politics and religion, as well as the roots and limits of political authority, origin of rights, foundation and aims of civil discourse, equality and inequality before the law, and others, by looking at different depictions of the figure of Moses throughout western history and thought. It approaches these questions in order to gain a historically and philosophically informed perspective on the promises and perils of contemporary democratic values and institutions, with special focus on the theoretical foundations of civil discourse.

Cross-list: PubPol 110CNS

TBD 

The American Experiment is just that — an experiment. Throughout its 247-year history as a nation, that experiment has seen stretches of stability as well as long seasons of profound discord (such as the Civil War). Our current era is clearly an example of the latter. The national government often appears to be in disarray. Religious institutions have ceded their moral authority. So has the news media, which is the focus of this course. The lack of trust in the news media has had a direct impact on how we talk about the issues that roil us most — healthcare, race, income inequality, international conflicts, and education, among many others. Those are among the issues we will examine in this course as we seek to answer questions such as: Should the news media drive our national conversations, or should it simply reflect them? Should journalists be advocates or simply truth-tellers? How has technology impacted how our news is delivered, and by extension, impacted civil discourse? And are there any solutions to be found? This course is part of the Duke Immerse Program: Media and Civil Discourse.

Charlotte Asmuth, Assistant Professor of the Practice, Thompson Writing Program 

What do linguists know about language, and how can this help us with our writing? How do our identities shape our language use/writing––and vice versa? How does language change, and why might some people resist such change? How might we (as readers, writers, researchers, and language users ourselves) respond to language difference? 

These are some of the questions we’ll explore in this section of Writing 120––questions that are part of debates students are not normally invited into. Historically, language use marked as “different” in some way has been treated by politicians, educators, and the general public as a problem to be fixed or eradicated. Our course operates with two assumptions, both of which make studying language in a college writing course interesting and useful: (1) the ability to communicate in multiple languages and/or use varieties of English is an increasingly common asset in today’s world; (2) given that you will need to write for a variety of contexts in college and beyond, it’s more useful to explore language patterns and options for what people can and do in their writing rather than for someone to tell you what you can’t or shouldn’t do in your writing. After all, any proscriptions about writing (e.g., “don’t use I,” “avoid contractions”) are not generalizable to all writing contexts! 

In addition to regular weekly writing assignments, the course involves two major writing projects, both of which will be reviewed by peers and the professor: 

• Slang analysis (~1,200 - 2,000 words). For this project, you’ll explore a slang word or phrase that interests you by studying use of the expression by family and friends, in current dictionaries, and in a global corpus of web-based English.
• Research project (~2,500 - 3,500 words). You’ll get the chance to further explore language and writing through small-scale primary research (e.g., interviews, surveys) that relates to your own interests. The project will be divided into manageable stages over the second half of the semester.

Jess Corey, Assistant Professor of the Practice, Thompson Writing Program 
 

Description forthcoming.