DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
Master's Degree in Global Politics and Euro-Mediterranean Relations
Academic Year 2016/2017 - 1° Year

ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Teaching Staff

Learning Objectives

• THE LANGUAGE OF POLITICS, DIPLOMACY AND ECONOMICS
  
  - A basic knowledge of the elements of traditional political rhetorical theory - A basic knowledge of some of the tools of modern critical discourse analysis - To improve students’ awareness of how linguistic features such as metaphor can affect audiences, and how skillful speakers construct their messages
• REPORT WRITING
  
  - To improve students’ knowledge of some of the key social issues of the 20th and 21st centuries, such as the Second World War, the ecological crisis, the civil rights movement, etc. - To explore the speeches of successful politicians, in the light of critical study - To apply the tools of the previous model to the analysis of political rhetoric - To see how knowledge of the social context can assist interpretation of discourse

Detailed Course Content

• THE LANGUAGE OF POLITICS, DIPLOMACY AND ECONOMICS
  
  Aristotelian notions of rhetoric, in particular Ethos, Pathos and Logos; how these basic components of successful political discourse are still relevant today. Some basic notions of Critical Discourse Analysis - presupposition, framing, pronoun reference. Manipulation of audiences by successful political speakers.
• REPORT WRITING
  
  Some speeches by prominent 20th/21st century politicians: Tony Benn, Martin Luther King, Barack Obama, William Hague and Winston Churchill. Studies of the social context of the various speeches and application of the critical methodology to their elucidation.