Course Code: CULT 2300
Academic Year: 2025-2026
In a world where words hold increasing influence, this course explores the complex connection between language, power, and profanity. Through the lens of profanity and other taboo communication, students will investigate what gives words their power and how words - including the naughty ones - can empower or disempower individuals and communities. From forbidden language to the amplified rhetoric of world and cultural leaders, students will discover how language shapes their world and is a tool used to marginalize or liberate and control or resist. Using local and global examples both past and present, students will connect concepts of language and power to examine how language has influenced their own lives and communities. Content Warning: This course explores the use of profanity and taboo language in various social, cultural, and historical contexts. Discussions and materials will contain explicit language, sensitive topics, and depictions of power dynamics, oppression, and discrimination. Though every effort will be made to explore these topics with sensitivity, respect, and intellectual honesty, some individuals may find the content uncomfortable or triggering. Students who may be offended or disturbed by such material should take this into consideration before enrolling in this class.