Communication (COMM)

COMM 220     Intro to Media & Culture     3 Credit Hours

Full Course Title: Introduction to Media and Culture: Course focuses on the role of media as cultural institutions that both maintain and challenge power structures. Includes critical analyses of media such as television, music, film, internet, and print publications, as well as emerging technologies. Course examines media as being shaped by but also shaping cultural, economic, legal, political and other aspects of society. Considers the role of media in a democracy, as crucial forums for the deliberation of pressing issues, and as key sites for the creation of meaning.

Prerequisite(s): COMP 106 or Composition Placement Score with a score of 40 or Composition Placement Score with a score of 107 or COMP 220 or COMP 270 or COMP 280

COMM 260     Public Relations Principles     4 Credit Hours

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the field of public relations, including the theories, principles, and process of public relations. Students will explore currents trends as well as significant events in the development of the field. Areas of emphasis include history, organizational relations, strategic planning, media relations, ethics, and best practices. Students will apply what they learn via PR deliverables, including a profile of a practitioner, a press release, and an email pitch. (YR).

COMM 300     Communication Research Methods     4 Credit Hours

An introduction to the most prominent methods used in research that examines human communication. Students will learn how to evaluate and integrate into their own writing and research project proposals elements from existing communication studies that use surveys, experiments, naturalistic research (i.e., interviews, focus groups, ethnography), content analysis, and rhetorical analysis. This class provides the skills necessary for designing original research projects and for interpreting and critically evaluating existing research. (F, W).

Prerequisite(s): COMP 106 or COMP 220 or COMP 270 or COMP 280 or Composition Placement Score with a score of 40 or Composition Placement Score with a score of 107

COMM 306     Comparat. American Identities     3 Credit Hours

This course will confront and complicate the following key questions: what does it mean to be an American? What is American culture? Participants in this course will respond to the questions central to the American Studies field by reading and discussing historical, sociological, literary, artistic, material culture, political, economic, and other sources. Students will use this interdisciplinary study to examine the multiple identities of Americans - as determined by factors such as gender, race, class, ethnicity, and religion. While emphasizing the diversity of American culture, participants will consider some core values and ideas uniting America both in historical and contemporary society. Students will be invited to seek out and share fresh narratives of the American experience.

Prerequisite(s): COMP 106 or Composition Placement Score with a score of 40 or Composition Placement Score with a score of 107 or COMP 220 or COMP 270 or COMP 280

Restriction(s):
Can enroll if Level is Undergraduate

COMM 317     Case Studies in Prof & Tech Writing     3 Credit Hours

COMM/COMP 317 provides both practical and conceptual studies informing professional and technical writing practices. The course offers in-depth treatment of problems within written communication and information design for diverse audiences. Instructional format includes lectures and discussions based on case material derived from actual events. Themes include document design, accessibility, and the usability of professional and technical documents in the field. (F, W, S).

Prerequisite(s): COMP 106 or COMP 220 or COMP 270 or Composition Placement Score with a score of 40 or Composition Placement Score with a score of 107 or COMP 280

Restriction(s):
Cannot enroll if Class is
Can enroll if College is Arts, Sciences, and Letters or Education, Health, and Human Services or Business
Can enroll if Major is

COMM 340     Professional Communication     3 Credit Hours

Course covers essential skills of professional written and oral communication within the organization; the purpose, process, and problems of professional communication; the influence of organizational structure; audience analysis; the writing and editing of reports (formal and informal, including memo reports) and of professional correspondence; the preparation of graphics; and the planning and delivery of oral presentations. May count toward Communications minor. (F,W,S).

Prerequisite(s): COMP 106 or COMP 220 or COMP 270 or Composition Placement Score with a score of 40 or Composition Placement Score with a score of 107 or COMP 280

Restriction(s):
Can enroll if Class is Junior or Senior or Graduate

COMM 360     Social Media for PR     3 Credit Hours

This course explores the emerging social media technologies and studies their application in contemporary PR practice. It examines the nature and role of social media in organizations and explores technologies including blogs, Microblogs, collaboration tools, podcasts, viral video, social bookmarking, mobile platforms, and other evolving technologies.

Prerequisite(s): COMM 260

Restriction(s):
Cannot enroll if Class is Freshman

COMM 364     Writing for Civic Literacy     3 Credit Hours

In Writing for Civic Literacy, students will study how politicians, the media and critical citizens use language to engage with the broader community. Students themselves will learn to use language to become more active, well-informed citizens. They will study rhetorical awareness, audience analysis and persuasive writing techniques and put those lessons to use in community settings. They will perform community service at agencies of their choosing and use those experiences as objects of analysis, researching the social context in which those agencies operate and writing analytically about the agencies. Further, students will synthesize classroom lessons and real-world experience by executing writing tasks for and with the agencies (these tasks might include editorials for the local press, informational webpages and fundraising materials).

Prerequisite(s): COMP 106 or COMP 220 or COMP 270 or Composition Placement Score with a score of 40 or Composition Placement Score with a score of 107 or COMP 280

COMM 365     Health Communication     4 Credit Hours

This course examines theory and research relevant to health communication including in patient-provider, interpersonal, intercultural, organizational, and mass communication contexts. Through case studies, guest speakers, media examples, role playing, and discussion, students will be equipped to (a) analyze how messages from patient-provider, interpersonal, intercultural, organizational, and media sources affect health beliefs and behaviors, (b) evaluate the quality of communication in health and illness contexts, (c) apply this knowledge to become a more active participant in your OWN health care. (W, YR).

Restriction(s):
Can enroll if Class is Junior or Senior

COMM 366     Public Comm and Culture Stdies     4 Credit Hours

This gateway course provides the theoretical and methodological foundation to embark on the study of three key interrelated spheres of communication: Public Advocacy and Democratic Culture, Public Relations and Organizational Culture, and Intercultural/ International Communication and Global Culture. Students will have the opportunity to examine important issues within each of the major areas as well as explore connections between the different areas within particular communication contexts. Through a variety of class exercises, course assignments and readings examining both theoretical and contextual elements of communication, students will acquire an analytical and practical "toolkit" enabling them to function effectively as communicators in culturally diverse organizations and civic contexts. (F, W).

COMM 390     Topics in Communication     3 Credit Hours

A course in nonfiction narrative that focuses on memoir writing, emphasizing technique. Students will read book-length examples by Azar Nafizi, Nelson Mandela, Frank Conroy, Mar Karr, Susanna Kaysen, Frank McCourt, Ann Patchett and Joan Didion, examining these books as models for writing.

COMM 397     Communications Thesis     3 Credit Hours

A thesis project that is the culmination of the Communications major. Students will choose the project area and write a thesis (40-50 pages) under the direction of a Communications faculty member. The thesis option is available only to students with substantial practical experience in the communication field, and requires the approval of Communications faculty.

Restriction(s):
Can enroll if Class is Junior or Senior

COMM 398     Independent Studies-Comm     1 to 3 Credit Hours

Readings, supervised practice, or analytical assignments in Communications, determined in accordance with the needs and interests of those enrolled. May count toward Communications minor. (F,W).

COMM 400     Narrative and Identity     4 Credit Hours

This class explores the role that communication plays through storytelling in the creation and management of the complex identities people inhabit at various levels of society. We examine the ways in which personal, family, subcultural, organizational, mass mediated, and intercultural and transnational narratives can affect the shaping and reshaping of individual and group identities. This includes the study of multiple identities as members of families, communities, civil societies, and businesses, and those that involve different social locations like gender, race, and ethnicity. Students will learn theoretical tools and examine case studies to better understand the communicative aspects of identity creation and recreation. Students will write their own narratives about personal identity changes and present them through blogs, podcast episodes, or recorded oral presentations. (YR).

Restriction(s):
Can enroll if Class is Junior or Senior

COMM 420     Critical Media Studies     4 Credit Hours

Course presents various critical approaches to the study of the media. Perspectives include political economy, cultural studies, critical theory of the Frankfurt school and feminism. Through readings and first hand analysis of the media students will delve deeply into the institutional underpinnings, content, use and reception of media. There will be special emphasis on how broader economic, cultural and technological changes influence our experience of media in everyday life as creators, citizens, audiences and consumers. (YR).

Prerequisite(s): COMP 106 or COMP 220 or COMP 270 or Composition Placement Score with a score of 40 or Composition Placement Score with a score of 107 or COMP 280

Restriction(s):
Can enroll if Class is Junior or Senior

COMM 422     Language and Popular Culture     4 Credit Hours

This course provides an overview of popular culture theories and communication models along with research methods. It offers an accessible, in-depth presentation of popular culture including music, film, television, magazines, comics, animation, and advertising in the US and the beyond. The main focus of the course is to highlight the functions of language, particularly, dialects, accents, and foreign languages, in producing and consuming local and global pop culture texts. (F).

Restriction(s):
Can enroll if Level is Undergraduate

COMM 430     International Communications     4 Credit Hours

Course examines the relationship between globalization and communication from various vantage points such as cultural imperialism, global media flows, and hybridity theory. Students use these theoretical approaches to understand how people in particular locations experience, adapt, resist and modify globally circulating aspects of media, popular culture, news and information. Through critical responses to readings, class exercises, individual and team projects, students also explore how global pressures and changes influence the way people understand and project their identities, buy and sell communication as a commodity, negotiate borders, and create social change. (W).

Prerequisite(s): COMP 106 or COMP 220 or COMP 270 or Composition Placement Score with a score of 40 or Composition Placement Score with a score of 107 or COMP 280

Restriction(s):
Can enroll if Class is Junior or Senior

COMM 442     20th Centry Public Argument     4 Credit Hours

This class will examine and critically analyze several of the most significant speeches, movements, and rhetorical artifacts of the twentieth century. Through lectures, discussions, and analysis of speeches and other texts, we will focus on the relationship between rhetoric and history, and how theories of rhetorical action help us appreciate the role of discourse in the effective functioning of a democratic system. Emphasis will be placed on case studies (both social movements and other persuasive enterprises) that illustrate the theory and practice of persuasion and how citizens and institutions employ persuasive strategies and tactics to effect and resist change in their community and society at large. (YR).

Prerequisite(s): SPEE 101

COMM 450     Principle of Organization Comm     3 Credit Hours

Course examines how communication networks function in organizations. Purpose: to provide an organizational context and conceptual framework for the practice of professional writing and speaking skills. Writing projects include a research report, a case study, and several shorter papers, practical and analytical, on assigned topics. Students cannot receive credit for both COMM 450 and COMM 550. (OC).

Prerequisite(s): COMM 340 or COMM 360 or COMM 440

Restriction(s):
Can enroll if Class is Junior or Senior

COMM 455     Gender and Media Studies     4 Credit Hours

The course will focus on several feminist approaches used in understanding the media and attempting to create social change through the media. The role of media in the definition and reproduction of gender-based hierarchies and in the renegotiation of gender boundaries will both be explored. To this end, both mainstream and women's media will be examined. The course will take a multicultural and international perspective, incorporating concerns of class, race, ethnicity, and nation as these intersect with the study of gender and media. Mainstream and alternative media will be analyzed through readings, films, case studies, in-class collaborative exercises and longer term projects. News, entertainment, and advertising genres will be examined in a variety of media such as the printed press, television, video, film, and the Internet. (W).

Prerequisite(s): WGST 275 or WGST 303 or ANTH 275 or PSYC 275 or SOC 275 or ANTH 303 or PSYC 303 or SOC 303 or HUM 275 or HUM 303 or WST 275

Restriction(s):
Can enroll if Class is Sophomore or Junior or Senior
Can enroll if Level is Undergraduate

COMM 460     Public Relations Campaigns     4 Credit Hours

This course surveys a broad spectrum of public relations campaigns including different communication tools and techniques, message strategies, and traditional/non-traditional media choices. Students will develop a campaign for a real organization and will present their ideas convincingly using oral and written communication. Throughout the semester, a strong emphasis will be placed on case studies of best practices, social media tactics, and campaign measurement. (YR).

Prerequisite(s): COMM 260

COMM 462     Transnational Rhetorics     3 Credit Hours

Full Course Title: Transnational Rhetorics: Writers Across Borders "Transnational Rhetorics" engages students in reading and writing stories that cross various forms or borders. These borders might be national, as in stories about immigration or displacement. Or, the borders might be more abstract, like the assumed borders between race, class, and gender, or even the possible barriers we perceive between personal experience and world events. In this course, we will read stories about people who reflect on these kinds of border-crossings. We will then take a rhetorical approach to these narratives and examine how they work, what similarities they share, and importantly, how they address their audiences. Then, we will then produce--in turn--our own border-crossing essays that attend to the same issues of audience, context, narrative, and creativity. (OC)

Prerequisite(s): COMP 106 or COMP 220 or COMP 270 or Composition Placement Score with a score of 40 or Composition Placement Score with a score of 107 or COMP 280

COMM 464     Contemporary Rhetorical Theory     3 Credit Hours

An examination of contemporary rhetorical theories through study of representative practitioners and related developments in linguistics, philosophy, psychology, communication, and composition and rhetoric. Students may not receive credit for both COMP 464 and COMP 564.

Prerequisite(s): COMP 106 or COMP 220 or COMP 270 or Composition Placement Score with a score of 40 or Composition Placement Score with a score of 107 or COMP 280

Restriction(s):
Cannot enroll if Class is

COMM 465     Risk and Crisis Communication     4 Credit Hours

Effective communication is necessary for successfully preparing for, responding to, and recovering from crisis events. These emergencies can include public health crises (e.g., infectious diseases, food contagions, hazardous chemical releases, terrorist attacks) and threats to an organization’s ability to operate (e.g., natural/environmental disasters, cybersecurity breaches, sexual harassment accusations). This course examines risk and crisis communication research, theory, and practices. Special emphasis is placed on crisis planning, media relationships, image restoration, ethical responses, and organizational learning, particularly in situations in which the health and wellbeing of the public is at stake. Students will present real life cases of crisis and risk/crisis management, and later turn these presentations into blogs, podcasts, or (TED)-style talks. (YR).

Restriction(s):
Can enroll if Class is Junior or Senior

COMM 466     Arguing Feminism: Rhetoric, Writing & Advocacy     3 Credit Hours

Full course title: Arguing Feminism: Rhetoric, Writing & Advocacy. An introduction to the work of major twentieth century feminists working in rhetoric and related fields. Students examine recurring themes of language, meaning, ethics and ideology, and practice writing strategies which address rhetorical and ethical concerns central to feminist/academic writing. (AY).

Prerequisite(s): COMP 106 or COMP 220 or COMP 270 or COMP 280 or Composition Placement Score with a score of 40 or Composition Placement Score with a score of 107

Restriction(s):
Cannot enroll if Class is Freshman
Can enroll if Level is Undergraduate

COMM 481     Gender and Globalization     4 Credit Hours

Mass media, politics and academia are full of references to globalization, and a future "world without borders." This interdisciplinary course considers the implication of globalization for women's lives, gender relations and feminism. Topics covered include the global factory, cross-cultural consumption, human rights, global communications, economic restructuring, nationalism and environmental challenges. Rather than survey international women's movements, this course explores how globalization reformulates identities and locations and the political possibilities they create.

Prerequisite(s): HUM 303 or PSYC 303 or SOC 303 or WGST 303

Restriction(s):
Cannot enroll if Class is
Can enroll if Level is Undergraduate