COM 100 was designed as a HUMANITIES course to introduce students to the significance of the spoken word in human civilization, as viewed from the relationship between rhetoric and society. The course is organized roughly chronologically and covers rhetorical situations from antiquity through the twentieth century.

The reading assignments for this class consist of actual speeches from history, each of which is discussed in class sessions, and the social context in which they occurred. These examples of rhetoric serve as the foundation for examining the relationship between speakers, the situations they were forced (or chose) to confront, and the way(s) in which they used the spoken word to control or alter society. Thus, rather than just studying the speeches themselves, COM 100 aims to develop a critical understanding of how rhetorical action has used language to influence the development of human civilization.

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Each of the sentiments below is a testament to the power and importance of oratory--public speaking--in the history of human civilization. As long as men and women have gathered into societies, they have communicated; and the primary and dominant mode of communication, as true in the fifth century B.C.E. as it is today, has always been the spoken word.