COM5405
Persuasion
The course presents the major theories of persuasion and helps students apply them. Key topic areas include credibility, motivation, social campaigns, manipulation, and audience analysis, and adaptation.
CAVEAT: No graduate credit will be awarded if COM4405 has been successfully completed.
UPON COMPLETION OF THE COURSE, THE STUDENT WILL BE COMPETENT IN:
- Comparing and contrasting persuasive theories.
- Describing the different kinds of fallacies.
- Identifying, describing, and analyzing fallacious arguments in the media.
- Writing credibility arguments to persuade an audience, improving interpersonal relationships.
- Hypothesizing how emotions can be used to influence audiences.
- Using logic to support a position on a controversial topic.
- Using information literacy skills to support credibility, emotional, and logic arguments.
- Discussing methods of audience analysis and adaptation.
- Analyzing and evaluating persuasive nonverbal behaviors.
- Examining persuasive messages and speeches in politics, in organizations, and business.
- Applying the theory of the stages of a social campaign to a movement that affects business.
- Discussing and analyzing the rhetoric of a campaign.
- Analyzing the process of manipulation—the unethical side of persuasion.
- Assessing the characteristics of unethical manipulators.
- Determining how a manipulator gains control over an audience.
- Applying information literacy skills to research unethical persuasion.
- Utilizing effective argumentation skills and techniques to persuade and influence an audience.
- Developing a personal code of ethics for the persuasion.