An explosion of technological advances, a renewal in ethnic tensions around the world, and the struggle to find a sense of self in the postmodern landscape - each contribute to the shaping of a question that is both ancient and strikingly new: what boundaries exist between a person and society? In many environments (interpersonal, intercultural, small group, organizational, public address, and mass media) the self is frequently described as an impenetrable substance, an essential being buffeted by social forces but ultimately free of them. In this class, however, we will consider an alternate view that posits the self as a construct of overlapping fields of force. From this perspective, the self emerges through the interaction of philosophy/ideology, demographics, mobility, and geographical location.

The process of interaction depends upon a word we often use but barely understand: communication. In this class, we will pass through many doors on the way to useful insights about your relationships with others - as they are mediated by constructs of gender, ethnicity, nationality, race, class, sexual orientation, age, ability/disability, and religion. The underlying theme of this class is the struggle to construct a diverse and equitable society given institutional biases toward inequality.

Your admission to this class assumes that you have passed the Writing Skills Test, completed the CORE GE requirements and achieved upper division standing. Even with all of that preparation, success in the class depends upon your willingness to share your real-world experiences with your colleagues and adapt theoretical concepts raised in our discussions to the challenges and opportunities you face everyday. In short, don't come to class with the intention of taking notes only; this kind of intellectual environment will demand your active involvement. Note: because this is an advanced General Education course, you will be asked to contribute a fairly substantial amount of individual writing (3000 words minimum).

Course Objectives: Successful conclusion of this course means that you can:

• Demonstrate through oral and written examination your thoughtful opinions about changing philosophical/ideological notions of self and society.

• Analyze various demographic stances from which communicative acts shape and challenge notions of self.

• Identify impacts of media and mobility upon diversity, identity, and structured inequality.

• Evaluate communicative strategies by individuals and groups seeking to fashion senses of identity in California.