Going Public with Language

In a recent post to the Seminars course and within the following thread, the language of the intellectual was discussed. Folks in class were discussing the specific language, vocabulary, vernacular and jargon of, not intellectuals as a whole, but even within specific disciplines or professions. I suggested that it might be appropriate to extend language to communications, and include the mode of communications.

I think language is just another part of society and, looking at [another student’s] post regarding the common theme of “social disconnect,” would extend language to communications, that is, not only what and how something is said and who says it, but the channel through which it is conveyed. Adding to Gouldner’s observations of the vernacular or jargon of specialized groups, I would offer groups each use specific channels to communicate, which add to or distract from the message. Examples might include: journals and lectures for academics; news papers, television and magazines for the government; the internet (blogs, wikis and email) for conspiracists.

Seminar in Liberal Studies

Before formally beginning the program, all of the students in our cohort met for an orientation. The meeting was a great opportunity to get to meet some of the other students as well as hear about their interests that led them to enroll in the program. As an ice breaker, our instructor assigned us a brief reading, Mary Louise Pratt’s essay, “Arts of the Contact Zone,” and asked us each to prepare about a page and a half of written response for discussion and sharing at orientation.