Communication Studies The University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Search

36:014 Elements of Debate

Curriculum Fit:

This is a Communication Studies practice course. Students taking this course would be assumed to have completed at least part of their Rhetoric Department requirements and the Communications Studies core course. Some may have completed the basic course in Business and Professional Communication. It would be expected that after this course, majors interested in public communication would enroll in a course sequence that would look something like this: Rhetoric and Politics, American Public Address, Public Argument, Contemporary Political Rhetoric, Introduction to Rhetorical Criticism, and Studies in Argument as well as cognate courses in media studies and interpersonal and group communication. Students who use the course as part of a elementary or secondary education certification procedure might not enroll in other Departmental courses.

Objectives:

Two practices in particular are typically emphasized in this course: practicing argument construction in advocacy settings, and practicing the persuasive delivery of arguments and skills of refutation in time-constrained debate settings. Students are asked at a minimum to prepare and deliver speeches and to write arguments. Instructors have also added audience participation in public debates as a component of the course.

Textbooks:

The most commonly used text in our Department has been

Rybacki, Karyn and Rybacki, Donald. Advocacy and Opposition: An Introduction to Argumentation. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn Bacon. 4th Ed. 2000

Freeley, Austin J. Argumentation and Debate. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Ziegelmueller, George W. and Dause, Charles A. Argumentation: Inquiry and Advocacy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice.

Students are often required to purchase and read a daily newspaper, such as The New York Times.

Assignments and Readings:

As a practice course, the curriculum in this class should be fairly evenly divided between lecture/discussion sessions and practice sessions. The reading load should be moderate, and oriented toward reinforcing lecture content and preparing students for in-class and homework exercises. Attached to this sheet is a sample tentative schedule.

Grading Policy:

Students in this practice course will be evaluated primarily on their oral and written performances. Attached to this sheet is a sample grading scale for the assignments and readings schedule.