Sections offered Spring 2021:
#30844 |
ROBERT TERRILL |
TR 1:10-2:25pm |
WEB |
CLASS NOTES: IUB GenEd A&H credit; COLL (CASE) A&H Breadth of Inquiry credit; COLL Intensive Writing section
Above class meets 100% Online with a combination of Synchronous and Asynchronous instruction. For more information visit https://fall2020.iu.edu/learning-modes/
We often associate “duplicity” with deception. People are duplicitous, for example, when they say one thing and mean another, when they are double-dealing, when they are talking out of both sides of their mouth or speaking with a forked tongue, and so on. These generally are understood as negative ways of communicating, especially in a democracy. When, at least in theory, we all share equally in political power, we need to be able to trust that we’re all saying exactly what we mean. At least, that’s what we tell ourselves.
But what if it is more complicated than that? When we all hold power together, are there some situations in which working for the common good requires us to be at least somewhat duplicitous? Are there some instances in which we have to take action based on a point of view that isn’t our own? Do democratic leaders sometimes have to say something that they don’t believe, because it is the best that can be said at the time? Is the ability to say different things in different circumstances an important way that we keep our democratic culture vibrant and evolving?
In this course we will explore these questions, and others. We’ll read literature on duality, duplicity, honesty, role-playing, and authenticity, ranging from the ancient Greeks to contemporary theorists, and we’ll examine case studies in which democratic citizens appear to be deploying duplicity, for good and for ill. We’ll focus especially on their verbal strategies, and on the effects and implications of those strategies.
Students will explore these issues in three writing exercises that then are revised and brought together into a longer essay. Students also will share their work with the rest of the class, both in the form of written drafts on writing workshop days and at the end of the semester in the form of a brief oral presentation.