Briefly stated, this course will focus on what is sometimes called "the spatial turn": the accellerated development of spatial theory in the last 30 years (with a couple exceptions, the last 20 years). This "turn" was, unsurprisingly, born in the spatial disciplines (geography, urban planning, etc) but it has since captured the entirety of the humanities by storm. We are going to focus on this diffusion of spatial theory. In particular, I want to focus on the movements/slippages between spatial theory and two additional modes of theory: postmodern theory and rhetorical theory. Consider the slippage between spatial theory and postmodern theory: is it coincidental that a (critical) geographer (David Harvey) wrote The Condition of Postmodernity. Or is it coincidental that a number of pomo theorists (Latour, Foucault, and Lyotard come to mind) rely heavily on spatial theory? I think not.
Now add a third term: rhetorical theory. Or, if you prefer, communication theory. Spatial theory is far more than a fad in the literature of communication studies (although it is that too). Spatial theorists talk about communication relentlessly (Latour and Castells come to mind). And rhetorical theorists (even Aristotle) constantly resort to spatial theory. I'll argue that the two fields feed on each other symbiotically, that it is virtually impossible to define one without the other: to think rhetorically is to think spatially and vice-versa.
In any case, I hope to focus this course on the curious overlappings b/t these three modalities of theory: rhetorical theory, spatial theory, and postmodern theory...
For more email Dave Tell at davetell@ku.edu and/or simply enroll (COMS 930 #26541) and contact him about the readings.
Seriously, it may be life changing...
-E