This course advances the goals of the department by adding a capstone course in replacement of the absence of a tenure stream member to the dean's office. It was taught once in SP20 and will be taught again in SP22. In addition, the course objectives continue the department's mission of exploring how we use discourse and messages to construct meaning and coordinate action in various domains, in this case, in the ever present moment of political and social changes evoking increasing violence around the world. That includes the processes of persuasion, advocacy, and resistance throughout civic life, the implications of media on belief and behavior, the power of images to frame reality, and the development of racial and religious identities as we increasingly understand how violence is wrought by, and against, some people in our democracies in different ways than others.