Syllabus

Spring 2010 | Rhetoric 171

Altars and Alters to the Market: Rhetoric in the Neoliberal/Neoconservative Epoch

Instructor: Dale Carrico, Office Hours, 2-3pm on class days, and by appointment.

Meeting: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5.30-7pm, 79 Dwinelle

Course Site: http://altarsandalters.blogspot.com

Provisional Grade Breakdown: Att/Part 25%; Essaylet/Co-facilitations 15% + 15%; Final Essay: 45%

Provisional Schedule of Classes

Week One

January 19 -- Administrivia
January 21 -- Introductions

Week Two -- John Maynard Keynes

January 26 Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren, The End of Laissez Faire, BACKGROUND: Krugman, How Did Economists Get It So Wrong?
January 28 Open Letter to FDR, Proposal for an International Clearing Union (skip to Lord Keynes' presentation, unless you are very brave), also Speeches by FDR, First Inaugural Address, Fireside Chat of April, 1935, 1936 Acceptance Speech at the DNC, Address to the 77th Congress.

Week Three -- Hayek and Hazlitt

February 2 Henry Hazlitt, Economics in One Lesson
February 4 Friedrich Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, The Readers Digest Condensed Version, The Cartoon!, Mt. Pelerin Statement

Week Four -- Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation

February 9
February 11

Week Five -- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

February 16
February 18

Week Six -- Leonard Lewin, Report from Iron Mountain

February 23
February 25 Eisenhower's Farewell Address and Martin Luther King's A Time to Break Silence

Week Seven -- John Kenneth Galbraith, The Affluent Society

March 2
March 4 Lyndon Baines Johnson's The Great Society, Robert F. Kennedy's Remarks at the University of Kansas.

Week Eight -- Milton and Rose Friedman, Free to Choose

March 9
March 11 (Also speeches by Goldwater, Nixon, Reagan)

Week Nine -- Peter Shwartz, The Long Boom

March 16
March 18 (Also speeches by Clinton, Gore, and Howard Dean)

Week Ten | Spring Break

Week Eleven -- John Perkins, Confession of an Economic Hit Man

March 30
April 1 (Also speeches by George Bush, Sr.)

Week Twelve -- Hernando De Soto, The Mystery of Capital

April 6
April 8 (Also speeches by George W. Bush)

Week Thirteen -- Mike Davis, Planet of Slums

April 13
April 15 (Also speeches by Obama)

Week Fourteen -- Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine

April 20
April 22 (Also speeches by Grover Norquist)

Week Fifteen -- Bill McKibben, Deep Economy

April 27
April 29 (Also speeches by Obama)

Week Sixteen | R R R (Movie time!)

May 4, "The Grapes of Wrath" (screening)
May 6, "The Fountainhead" (screening)

Hand In Final Essay by Tuesday, May 11 either directly into my hands or via e-mail.