Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons^™

Engaging Students In The Basic Course By Asking Big Questions, Bryan Abendschein, Grace Giorgio, Adam D. Roth, Jennifer Bender

Basic Communication Course Annual

This paper advocates for the inclusion of big questions into the basic course curriculum. It begins by exploring the nature of big questions as those that engage pressing and perennial civic and global issues, and details their effectiveness in encouraging students and faculty to think about interpersonal responsibility and social space as dynamically interfacing and mutually reflexive, thus challenging us to negotiate the civic call of engaging in democratic processes. The basic course, whether public speaking or hybrid, offers a crucial opportunity for big questions to emerge because it brings people together to critically question and produce messages about the …