The discipline of rhetoric is expanding in response to the many ecological crises that we face today, and one of the ways that it seeks to transform itself is in including “nonhuman” animals, e.g., by considering other creatures’ ways of communicating and the ways in which we, humans, are shaped by our relationships with them. In this course, you will be introduced to key concepts and practices in rhetoric and, then, use them to examine representations of other animals in texts, as well as explore how other species participate in rhetorical practices (e.g., what your cat’s meow might mean and how s/he has adapted that sound to appeal to you). You will get the chance to do some thinking (reading, observing, writing and discussing) about how other creatures communicate and how they do so in ways that influence the behaviors of others, how they are agents in relationships with others — and how we (as humans) might learn to listen and respond differently, co-creating a multispecies rhetoric. You’ll be invited to conduct research on species of your choosing. We’ll be working with a range of texts — visual and alphabetic — and you’ll have some room to produce a range of media as we strive to meet the 4000-word requirement for all Writing Intensive courses (e.g., videos, podcasts, scripts, etc.).