“Why speak from the White House to commemorate and remember the soldiers who fought and died in the Battle of Gettysburg when I can stand on the very ground they fought on to deliver this speech?”
With this quote by Abraham Lincoln in mind, the students from the 400-level “Reading Democracy” Communication class taught by Dr. Kurtz traveled to Gettysburg over Fall Break to experience the battlefield where Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address. “Reading Democracy” is a course that analyzes the rhetorical aspects of speeches given by Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr., and focuses on the concepts of morality, courage, and democracy in the U.S. The class took a 36 hour “whirlwind tour” given by Bill Arrington of Gettysburg National Military Park and the Gettysburg area, where they walked the battlegrounds and saw the site where Lincoln delivered his famous address. Kate Ellicott ’ 15 described the importance of visiting Gettysburg at this point in the semester: “Going to Gettysburg made the texts that we read in class, a reality. It truly spoke to the discussions we've had in the way it exhibited individual moral courage … and also the great faith that Lincoln had in his country and the vision he had for the future.” After Fall Break, Dr. Kurtz’s class concluded conversations about Martin Luther King Jr. and turned to discussions about Abraham Lincoln and his rhetorical significance. The trip also acted as a smooth transition between the analyses of the two great men.
Whitney Powel ’15 shared that visiting this site was her favorite part of the trip, and it was a “humble yet all-important place [that] evoked a lot of emotion,” especially when they read aloud the address at the site. For Kate Ellicott ’15, a self-proclaimed history nerd, her favorite part of the trip was learning about the details of the events that transpired on the battle grounds, as well as the implications that battle has on personal decision and moral courage. In addition to the 14 students in the class and Dr. Kurtz, Denison class of 2013 Alumni Alicia Blake accompanied the class and helped facilitate and contribute to class discussion in the trip. As mentioned by several students and Dr. Kurtz, Alicia Blake’s presence on the trip was a wonderful addition, as she was able to create good connections between students and provide a resource for thoughts from outside of the Denison community. As for the takeaway from the trip, both Whitney Powel ’15 and Kate Ellicott ’15 will by applying the experiences and conversations they had on the trip to their final papers in the class, which applies the concepts talked about in class to an issue in today’s society. As Ellicott ’15 said: “They [soldiers] put their lives on the line for the betterment of someone else and that to me is true moral courage. I have taken this notion and applied it to my own final research project as I look into moral courage in today's society within anti-bullying campaigns.” As a whole, the class was able to better connect with each other, create meaningful conversation, and take away a deeper understanding of the qualities for which these great men were fighting.