Dr. Jordana Garbati proposed, designed, and led University of Toronto’s first course focused solely on emoji rhetoric. The second-year course is housed in the Institute for the Study of University Pedagogy at the University of Toronto Mississauga.
ISP250: Emoji Rhetoric: A New Paradigm in Communications
Course description: In this course, students will critically examine the development and use of emoji in digital written communication. The course will begin with a historical view of emoji. Students will then explore how and why emoji are used in diverse digital writing genres (e.g., discipline-specific uses, mass communication), can communicate emotions, can lead to miscommunication, and can be used in persuasive communication. Students will also examine the impact of gender, age, and culture on emoji use. Students will explore the semantics of emoji and question whether emoji is a language in and of itself. The course will draw on rhetoric, theories of intercultural communication, as well as symbolic interactionism, positive, and politeness theories to inform students’ exploration of emoji. Finally, this course will push students to consider the future uses and contributions of emoji in writing.
Syllabus
Date: course first offered in Winter 2025