Writing & Rhetoric 2: 'Don't Stand so Close to Me' : Cross-cultural Communication

Prerequisite: PWR 1. Despite universal attributes such as facial expressions and emotions, humans also have culturally based assumptions, values, and beliefs - from the shared assumptions and collectivist views of high-context cultures to the explicit and highly articulated rhetoric of more individualistic and low-context groups. Our course will explore rhetorical challenges in verbal and nonverbal communication across cultures. We'll consider not only language and argument but also proxemics - determined spatial distance between people - as well as eye contact and gestures. For more information about PWR 2, see https://undergrad.stanford.edu/programs/pwr/courses/pwr-2. For full course descriptions, see https://vcapwr-catalog.stanford.edu. Enrollment is handled by the PWR office.