Alright, I’ve been in school for the better part of my life… the last 15 years or so. I’ve been in so many classrooms that I’ve lost count. Some of my favorite classes were courses on humor, social psychology, and creative writing. Whenever I would begin a new class, my teacher would always set a syllabus in front of me. With each new syllabus, I knew exactly what I would be learning that semester, the assignments I would be expected to complete, and how my grade would be calculated. From a student’s perspective, that syllabus immediately colors how I view the course. Now, to be totally honest with you, I’ve never thought about how much work actually goes into preparing a syllabus. I guess I assumed that syllabi just sprung into being. Maybe there was some nerdy Academic Fairy that secretly slipped them underneath my professors’ pillows while they slept.

Oh, how very mistaken I was. There is no Academic Fairy. Only teachers who spend loads of hours writing their syllabus… and the (naïve) intern that volunteers to help. That was my internship this summer. My task was to help revise the Public Speaking 101 course. Now, you may be thinking to yourself, “Public Speaking is a fundamental course. Why would you want to change it?”

Well, my friend, many people use public speaking as a tool to promote their own ideas. That is, to the extent they defeat their opponents, skilled rhetors use the power of public speaking to promote their own values and policies. In other words, the common public speaking course teaches their students to win. When the media presents “both sides of the debate,” the student who has taken Wabash’s Public Speaking 101 should win.

The traditional method of teaching public speaking can potentially be dysfunctional, as an individual’s personal values and policies may not be what’s best for the community as a whole. Learning public speaking in this manner can open some unethical doors. Individuals may use their skills to manipulate others and accomplish some self-serving end.

The Rhetoric Department is re-designing the course to focus on civic engagement and deliberation. Public speaking was always intended to teach students skills to aid their community; now, our rhetoric department is placing a greater emphasis on that. The new course emphasizes that there are more than two sides to an argument; the argument can be approached from multiple perspectives. And it is the responsible citizen’s duty to present his/her approach to the argument, and listen to what others have to say within their community. Only then can the community find a mutual consensus that serves everyone, not just an individual.

It was my job to locate potentially appropriate class readings. My job was to read through text books and articles. As well, I searched for videos that may be used for class examples. Also, after Dr. Abbott wrote several assignments, I gave her feedback from the student perspective. In other words, I was a Teacher’s Assistant. I learned the ins-and-outs of writing a course.

With everything I learned this summer, I may become a professor and write my own course now… who knows?