Who are we when we speak, argue, or persuade? What shapes the voice we bring to discourse—not just our reasoning, but our sense of self? This seminar invites you to explore the ways character, identity, and self-awareness inform the practice of persuasion and deliberation.

Persuasion is not a contest of logic alone. It depends upon ethos – a genuine expression of the person behind the words. Through writing, dialogue, and AI-assisted reflection, we will learn to see our own reasoning more clearly, to trace the origins of our convictions, and to understand how our personal history, social context, and internalized narratives shape the arguments we make—and the ones we resist. When we understand our character in its fullness, we will be better able to present it to others.

This is a course in becoming more fully oneself as a speaker and advocate. Inhabiting one’s identity is a creative act. Self-trust, humility, and curiosity are foundations for persuasive argument. Legal advocacy– the skill of persuasion – requires the art of presence.

We will read philosophy, literature, psychology, and law, including but not limited to Hannah Arendt, John Stuart Mill, Toni Morrison, Daniel Kahneman, and Amartya Sen– and we will write about these authors and about ourselves. Throughout the seminar, we will use interactive AI as a mirror and a dialogue partner to track our patterns of thinking, explore new perspectives, and strengthen our rhetorical agility. But, primarily, we will engage in discourse with each other.

Assignments include:

1. Mapping the Self: Personal narratives that explore moments of certainty and their deeper origins
2. The Deliberative Mirror: Essays engaging with AI-generated counterarguments to test the resilience of one’s convictions
3. Voice in the World: A final project integrating our character and identity into a persuasive argument

This course is designed for law students who are ready to challenge their habits of thought, identify and overcome their fears and biases and discover their inner strengths as a means to becoming a powerful and persuasive advocate.