No liberal arts education would be complete without an emphasis on communication. Often we focus on verbal communication, most notably writing. In this project we will look at the other side of the coin: nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication consists of the ways we communicate that don't have anything to do with words. A smile, a nod, a wink--all of these are obvious ways that we convey meaning without words, but there are many more subtle examples of nonverbal communication that we will study.

Through readings, social experiments, classroom discussions, and observations of others, students will learn to decipher the nonverbal communication of others and also to become more aware of their own body language. Each student will also choose a particular profession that relies on nonverbal communication and prepare a presentation on how a person of that profession effectively uses body language.

Our primary text will be The Definitive Book of Body Language by Allan and Barbara Pease. You can find out more about it at Amazon.