Interpersonal Communication: Develops basic principles, characteristics, types and summary propositions of personal communication. Examines the relationships between concepts such as language, perceptions, self-concept, listening and values in their bearing upon personal communication.
Principles of Mass Communication: Development and application of basic communication principles in mass media. Examination of a variety of media — print, film, electronic.
Communication Research Methods: This course provides students with an introduction to communication research methods. Using a communication lens, students will explore the process of conducting ethical and meaningful research. This course will familiarize students with basic communication and media-related research design, demonstrate how theory and research work together to answer important questions about human communication behaviors, and provide a platform for students to develop their own research questions and skills.
Organizational Communication: The best places to work are often those that offer a positive climate, inclusive culture, and opportunities for growth. This course uses theory and research to trace the evolution of the workplace and identifies how organizational processes can impact the experiences of organizational members. Students will use practical application to explore and understand what it means to organize at work and within the community.
Communication Theory: Examines the various ways of approaching the study of communication processes. Focuses on the historical development of theoretical perspectives with emphasis on significant research trends that influence the understanding of communication.
Small Group Communication: Develops basic communication concepts with application to small group decision-making. Explores role behavior and leadership, problem solving, conformity and deviance, individual and group behavior, risk, size and other variables that influence small group communication.
Business and Professional Speaking: Study and practice in three areas of communication that most business and professional people encounter within organizations: 1) speaking to groups – the theory and practice of clearly presenting information and ideas, 2) speaking one-on-one – the theory and practice of interviewing, job selection, application, and professional relationship building, 3) leadership abilities – the theory and practice of effective leadership practices. Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.
Technology at Work: Considers how new and social media influence culture, politics, commerce, identity, and relationships. The course uses both old and new theories of communication and media studies to understand how power and influence are asserted and resisted in digital spaces. The course adopts a digital storytelling perspective for developing expertise about new media campaigns.
Family Communication: This course examines the ever-changing nature of families and the role communication plays in creating and maintaining family relationships. Topics will be developed through critical examination and application of social scientific research and theory. Specific issues explored include family member roles family types, and current issues (e.g., secrets, conflict, divorce) that impact families.
Communication and Mental Health: Communication is integrally connected with mental health. In this course, students will learn about enhancing their own mental health through intrapersonal and interpersonal communication. Students will also learn to interpret and apply empirical communication research and to be a critical consumer of information relating to communication and mental health.
Crisis Communication: This course considers how human beings use communication to repair our reputations and keep us safe in times of crisis. The course considers several perspectives on apologetic rhetoric, including Benoit’s theory of image repair discourse and Koesten & Rowland’s writings about the rhetoric of atonement. The course also examines the role of crisis communication plans and social media in responding to crises such as natural disasters and national security concerns.
