Course Description:  This course is designed to meet the general education requirements of oral communication and critical thinking.  Thus, this course focuses on improving students’ critical thinking skills through practice in developing and refuting arguments, identifying fallacies in reasoning, employing tests of evidence, and arguing about controversial public issues.   

Prerequisite:  Satisfactory completion of the English Placement Process or English 52 or equivalent with a grade of Credit or “C” or higher.

Course Goals: Students will receive an introduction to argumentation theory, critical thinking, and advocacy.  At the completion of the course, students should...
    1. understand the role of argumentation in decision making in our society;
    2. determine the basic issues of a topic of controversy;
    3. identify and explain parts of an argument;
    4. construct and present logical arguments for or against a topic of
        controversy;
    5. identify fallacies in arguments;
    6. refute opposing arguments;
    7. critically analyze messages presented by others.

Experiential Learning: This is a skills-based, experiential course.  Experiential learning requires active participation in the class.  To a large extent, you will get out of the class what you put into it.