SPE 22210 Diversity in American Speech and Language

Angela Carter said, “Language is power, life and the instrument of culture, the instrument of domination and liberation.” How is it a form of power? How are language and communication strategies influenced by racial, religious, ethnic, sexual, and other identities such as Black, Deaf, Jewish, Latinx, and lesbian identity? How has language functioned as a tool of oppression and liberation? We will attempt to answer these social justice questions via sociolinguistic and ethnographic methods as well as historical and rhetorical analyses. No speeches required.

Hours

3 Credits, 3 Hours