Syllabus

CAS 375, Rhetoric and Public Controversy, provides students at Penn State an opportunity to learn about the ways in which people communicate to create, spread, talk about, debate, and resolve public controversies. CAS 375 is an exciting course because it allows an instructor to guide student learning on a specific public controversy he or she finds to be interesting and educational. For example, past versions of CAS 375 have focused on topics such as criminal justice reform, healthcare, and controversies taking place only in the state of Pennsylvania. This version of CAS 375 is unique in that it centers on a singularly controversial event in American history: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

President Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 while riding in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. As the youngest person ever elected to that office his tragic and premature death endures as a defining moment of the 20th century. It also provides an excellent framework for learning about public controversies. This course explores major events surrounding President Kennedy’s political ascent, his assassination, official investigations into the crime, and controversial conspiracy theories having grown from this historically significant occurence. Each of these items provides insight not only into the crime of the century but also how public controversies expand over time.

This course does not require the student to have any previous knowledge of President Kennedy, the assassination, or conspiracy theories. We will start learning from the ground up in this class.

This course does not carry any prerequisites.

• Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy (2007) by Vincent Bugliosi

ISBN-10 : 0393045250

ISBN-13 : 978-0393045253

* Please note that reading assignments in this course are listed by page numbers as well as chapter titles and sections from the textbook. Page numbers listed in course modules only apply to students using a hardcopy of the course text. This is because many students opt to purchase an electronic version of Reclaiming History through Google Books or a similar platform. The page numbering of electronic books can change when readers set personal preferences for line spacing, text size, and font. Unless otherwise noted all readings listed on the course syllabus are located in Reclaiming History.

Students are not responsible for reading endnotes and footnotes in Reclaiming History. While you may occasionally wish to read an endnote or footnote because something has piqued your interest, information from endnotes and footnotes are not on course quizzes.

• Throughout this course students will view documentaries and films covering aspects of President Kennedy’s life and assassination. We will be exploring the assassination from several angles. All of these documentaries and films are made available to students through the course website for the duration of the course. It is important for students to adhere to policies listed under the TEACH Act portion of this syllabus.

During each week in this class students will complete three activities:

• Read a portion of Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy;

• View a film(s) related to that week’s selected reading, and;

• Complete a graded assignment(s) related to that week’s reading and film viewing.

This course is instructed asynchronously. This means students are not required to be logged into the course at any specific time(s) during a given week. Instead, students may complete readings, viewings, and assignments for a given week on a schedule working best for themselves. Because this class is delivered online and without regularly scheduled class meetings, students may expect to spend approximately nine (9) hours per week on coursework. Be sure to work ahead and not wait until the day assignments are due to begin a week’s reading and viewing(s). All assignments carry specific due dates and times which are noted in each week’s lesson and on the syllabus. Students should have a working knowledge of our school’s online learning platform as well as access to a current version of the Google Chrome browser. You don’t need to have a Gmail account (although I’m guessing many of you already do), just access to the browser.

Although this course is offered in an online asynchronous learning environment I am regularly available to communicate with students. I will respond to student emails within 48 hours. Depending on the depth and type of a student’s email inquiry I may ask that we speak on the phone or via Zoom. Some questions can be answered quickly through email while others may be better addressed by speaking to one another. Emails should be sent through the course site.

All assignments should be submitted through the course’s website. Assignments should not be submitted through email or any other means. Assignments not submitted in the appropriate area on the course site may be considered as missing.

An integral part of this course involves students viewing specific films covering various aspects of the Kennedy assassination. These films are available for students to view through the course site under fair use. Students may view these films as required by assignments and as they deem necessary for completion of the course. Students should not share, download, or save these films in any format for personal use beyond that necessary for completion of the course. Failure to adhere to this policy may result in a failing grade, disciplinary action by a student’s institution, and/or legal prosecution.