This is the course site for the Student Directed Seminar, ASTU 400T 001 – The Rhetoric and Implications of the 2016 US Presidential Election. It runs from January 2018 to April 2018 at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC.
We acknowledge that this seminar and all related events are taking place on the unceded, traditional, and ancestral territory of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ speaking xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people.
The United States of America is arguably the most powerful and influential country in the world. For centuries, its values, ideals and culture have been presented and projected onto others, developing a globalized sense of attachment to American ideas and policies. As a result, the recent 2016 US Presidential election has created controversy in not only the United States, but
the entire world. This course will explore and analyze this election. Which factors were present in the contemporary pre-election period that drove such overwhelming support for Donald Trump? What did the election look like, and who did it affect? How were people spoken about, and how did people see themselves in this context? How will this election, particularly the
ascension of Donald Trump and his platform, affect various groups of people in various countries? Through the application of sociology, rhetoric, philosophy, history, and political science, this course will approach these various questions, and work to understand the complex social and political phenomena at hand.
This course focuses on theory, analysis, and praxis, and the value of interdisciplinary studies.