This course is an introduction to some of the major approaches to studying oral and written texts. We will examine and practice various analytic perspectives, including conversation analysis, critical discourse analysis, narrative, pragmatics/speech act theory, sociocultural theory, and interactional sociolinguistics. We will apply these approaches to a variety of (con)texts; possibilities include the mass media and popular culture, "naturally occurring" conversation, institutional settings, classroom interaction, legal and policy documents, and other texts of special interest to seminar members. We will not be able to avoid the texts produced by and in the wake of the Trump presidency. We expect students from a range of disciplinary perspectives. What unites us will not be the questions we ask (although we will systematically engage issues of power) so much as where and how we look to answer them: in discourse and its analysis. Our goals are threefold:

1. to acquaint students with approaches to and research in discourse analysis;
2. to provide a forum for evaluating this work;
3. to provide students opportunities to engage discourse analytic methods in relation to those texts/sites/questions of consequence to them.

Each of us will bring different strengths and backgrounds to this introductory seminar; your participation will be crucial to its success.