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COM 201/202, Public Speaking, offered within the Department of Humanities at St. Mary’s College, is a year-long course designed to introduce students to elements and strategies for developing public speaking techniques based on understanding of classical rhetoric, and contemporary models. Beyond considering the mechanical mastery of communication, however, students now more than ever must be aware of the perilous moral and rhetorical climate in which we live. Throughout the year, discussions will take place considering serious societal issues involving issues of morality and natural law. Students will practice the effective communication of thought and emotion in public speaking through the development of skills in listening, analysis, organization, and delivery. Verbal communication underpins human interactions in an immediate and powerful way. Modern apologetics requires a proper sense of communicative mastery: in an age of ever-decreasing attention spans, one must command the attention to access the ear. An unheard truth makes no impact. The course will consider Classical Rhetoric, and the mechanics of modern oratory, what, how, and why of communication; students will learn how to overcome natural fears of public speaking, as well as choosing topics, preparation, organization, and delivery of effective presentations.
In the fall semester, all students will develop outlining and interviewing skills, deliver ceremonial speeches of introduction, and researched informational speeches. In the spring semester, students will deliver persuasive speeches, and will present a 15-20-minute public oration as a final project subject to faculty panel review.
Dr. Andrew Childs serves currently as Administrative Dean, Humanities Chair, and Professor of Music and Communications at St. Mary’s College, and an Assistant to the SSPX Director of Education for the United States District. He earned his Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of California, Irvine, and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Washington where he published his dissertation on the music of Charles Ives.