Schedule of Classes

Social scientific inquiry into human communication; core theories of message production and reception in interpersonal, group and organizational contexts.

Humanistic approaches to inquiry in communication; qualitative research techniques; core theories of message production and reception in social, political, and mediated contexts.

Survey of the cultural, social, political, and economic impacts of new communication technologies, including written language, the printing press, the telephone, television, and cyberspace.

Survey of mass communication research; history, content, effects, theories, and policy implications of various media.

Principles and practices of effective oral communication; analysis of the speaking-listening process; selection and organization of speech materials; use of new presentation technologies.

Students address communication issues in a field setting. They will evaluate communication practices using interview methodology. Projects are jointly evaluated by internship supervisor and professor. Sophomore standing. Open to communication majors only. Graded CR/NC.

Examines cultural institutions, ideologies, artifacts, and productions; role of culture in everyday life; cultural studies as methodology; culture and power.

Theoretical foundation for understanding the construction, consumption, and consequences of entertainment from classical to contemporary times; situates entertainment within the ecology of information and communication. Recommended preparation: COMM 200, COMM 201

Experimental and survey methods for communication study; basic statistical concepts, procedures, and tests.

Theories and research in social influence; strategies and tactics of persuasive communications in such settings as politics, public relations, advertising, business.

Analysis of face-to-face interaction; role of communication in the development, maintenance and destruction of relationships; communication processes in managing interpersonal conflict.

Explorations of the effect of digital technology on the entertainment business. Relationships among technology, economy, popular culture, entertainment and art.

Nature and functions of communication in human conflict; development of communication skills for managing conflict productively in interpersonal, organizational and intercultural contexts.

Interplay between media and society, including family and children's socialization, inter-group relations and community, pornography and violence, gender and race, media ethics, conduct of politics.

Communication processes in global computer networks; formation, maintenance, and decline of virtual groups; privacy and access; introduction to computer networks for communication students and researchers.

Basic argumentation theory including analysis. Research and evidence, case construction, refutation; discursive and visual argument; diverse fields of advocacy including law, politics, organizations, interpersonal relations.

Cultural variables and social psychological processes that influence intercultural interaction; relationship between communication and culture in diverse settings including business, medicine, and education.

Examines urgent social and political issues as they are shaped, represented and expressed by the institutions of media, culture and communication within the United Kingdom.

This course examines philosophies and popular representations of technology from the origins of western culture to the present and identifies the complex attitudes toward technology.

Cultural implications of computer-mediated communication and related media. Ideological responses to media innovation; debates over artificial intelligence, virtual communities, and virtual reality. Recommended preparation: COMM 339.

Social and economic impacts of information and communication technologies; social factors that shape technological change; issues include access, privacy, freedom of expression, productivity, democratic control.

Introduction to the medium; history of video games; video games as aesthetic products, cultural products, economic outputs; policy issues, effects, and sites of community.

Cross-national approaches to the study of US and UK media; focuses on news and entertainment media products; examines content, industries, technologies and audiences.

Examines the modern city as a communicative text with London as the case study; taught as a part of the Spring Semester in London Program.

Students explore the theoretical and practical issues involved in designing effective media and communication projects for social change in international contexts.

The study of current and historical battles over the limits of free expression from press and public parks to television, movies, music and cyberspace. (Duplicates credit in former JOUR 371.)

Oral and written communication skills demanded in the workplace including informative and persuasive speeches; interviewing; team communication; and training material preparation. Recommended preparation: COMM 204

Directed individual research studies of contemporary problems. Supervised laboratory experience. Open only to members of the University debate squad.

An inside look at the symbiotic relationship of sports and the media -- from the interdependence of sports and media, to the coverage of sports in newspapers, magazines, radio and television. The economic and ethical issues involved, the conflicts of interest, the history and current status of sports coverage in American media today.

Popular culture as an indicator of cultural values, a producer and reflection of cultural meaning, and a means of communication; theory and case studies.

The role of information, persuasion, and meanings in organizations. Topics include organizational culture, leadership, decision-making, networks, power, diversity and the global workplace.

Value perspectives on communication in varied settings: interpersonal, organizational, and public. Issues of truth and responsibility in family and social interactions, advertising, and governmental communication.

Issues of gender in communication, including: media representations of femininity and masculinity; and gender's role in communication at the interpersonal, public, and cultural levels.

Fashion as a form of communication and culutre; fashion's role in identity, body politics, art, nationhood, celebrity and Hollywood culture, youth cultures and subversive practices. Recommended preparation: COMM 384, COMM 395.

Methods and functions of criticism in forms of public communication; historical-contextual, textual, and interpretive procedures; diverse theoretical approaches including formalism, dramatism, genre, and ideology.

Examines laws and regulatory policies shaping new media, especially the Internet; impact of regulation on development and use of communication technology.

The new millenium in history, religion and mass media. Utopian and apocalyptic conceptions of the future from oral culture to printing, film, broadcasting, and Internet.

Examines the history, technology, regulations, and business practices of American broadcast and entertainment industries.

Examination of the role of advertising in contemporary society as an economic force and a cultural form of representation. Recommended preparation: COMM 200, COMM 201

Explores blurring of entertainment, marketing and culture in advanced information economies; intersections of culture and media and their social ramifications. Recommended preparation: COMM 200, COMM 201

Examines how race and ethnicity as social categories are shaped by communication media; focuses on how race and ethnicity sustain entertainment and media industries. Recommended preparation: COMM 200, COMM 201.

Examination of the effect of gender stratification in media industries upon the cultural products they create, especially gender and gender/race role portrayals.

Reporting and portrayal of people of color in the United States; impact of racial diversity on media, employment and access, and development of media for individuals and communities of color. Open to non-majors.

Gender and news media evolving images of women and men in print and electronic media. Impact of gender in content and style of news, television and cinema. Open to non-majors.

Theory and research; examination of the influence of environmental factors, physical behavior, and vocal cues on human behavior.

The role of communication in global organizations; information, networks, and communication technologies for global organizing; computer-based collaborative work and virtual organizations. Recommended preparation: COMM 385

Individual research and readings. Not available for graduate credit. Available to juniors and seniors only.

Students gain research experience in the design, implementation, analysis, and reporting of communication research. Students serve as research assistants to faculty members. Not available for graduate credit.

Writing of the honors thesis. Not available for graduate credit.

Examines social and political controversies over conflicting ethical standards for communication in a variety of media: mass-media, communication technology, and entertainment. Recommended preparation: COMM 200, COMM 201

Selected topics in communication.

Theories of communication behavior in relatively unstructured, face-to-face situations; examination of decoder-encoder, message, channel, and situational variables. Not available to M.A. in Communication Management majors.

Develops a conceptual framework for understanding information, uncertainty, knowledge, interpretation, and equivocality. Principles for managing information load, and communication networks information distribution, and decision making.

Issues of culture in recent rhetorical theory; in-depth examination of representative idealist, pragmatist, structuralist, critical, and postmodern accounts of the symbolic construction of cultural forms. Not open to M.A. in Communication Management majors.

Overview of humanistic and social scientific approaches to the study of communication; emphasis on macro and micro social scientific, symbolic, and structural perspectives. Not open to M.A. in Communication Management majors,

Developing expertise in field research, and experimental, quasi-experimental, and correlational methods in communication research. Taught in Computer Lab. Not open to M.A. in Communication Management majors.

Advanced analysis of variance, regression models, path analysis, MANOVA, discriminant analysis. Taught in Computer Lab. Not open to M.A. in Communication Management majors.

Comparative analysis of social, cultural and political impacts of communication technology and media; emphasis given to communication's influence in the social dimensions of globalization. (Duplicates credit in former CMGT 559.)

Communication perspectives on the process and outcomes of globalization; role of large media organizations in the global flow of information; and leadership and multiculturalism.

Mass media in American political life, including political reporting, election campaigns, non-electoral politics, and the media as a political issue.

Research leading to the master's degree. Maximum units which may be applied to the degree to be determined by the school. Graded CR/NC.

Credit on acceptance of Thesis. Graded IP/CR/NC.

Credit on acceptance of Thesis. Graded IP/CR/NC.

Credit on acceptance of Thesis. Graded IP/CR/NC.

Development and assessment of research into global communication; selection of appropriate research methodologies; and production of scholarly research. Open to M.A. in Global Communication students only.

Advanced macro theories of mass communication and culture creation/change; emphasis on structural-functionalism, neo-Marxism, critical theory, symbolic interactionism, phenomenology, post-structuralism, deconstruction.

Evaluation of research about communication in patient care, health campaigns for diverse publics, tools for disease management, and outreach to producers in mass media.

Current problems in communication theory and research; advanced, specialized interest areas of individual faculty on the frontiers of knowledge.

Examines the relationship of culture to globalization, ranging from nationalism and colonialism to global cultural products, multinational cultural production, diasporic cultures, global media, and cosmopolitanism.

Communication processes in global organizational transformation; influences of information technology, intercultural variables, and globalization on decision-making, operations and practices of international and transnational organizations.

Conceptual and analytic issues in network perspectives; emphasis on communication patterns, processes, content, influences and impacts.

Advanced research seminar examining the interaction between communication technology, society, economy, politics, and culture from interdisciplinary and cross-cultural perspectives. Not available for degree credit for M.A. in Communication Management students. Not available for Communication Management M.A. students.

Examination of theoretical models and best practices of academic research and advocacy relationships; students conduct a community-based research project using a model of community-based participatory research.

Cultural and temporal differences in defining arts, artists and audiences; transmitting cultural beliefs through art; understanding aesthetic responses; experiences of alienation and incomprehension with art.

A supervised course tailored to specific student interests. The professor and student develop a syllabus that permits exploration of advanced or specialized topics. Graded CR/NC.

Independent research designed to demonstrate the student's ability to conceptualize, conduct, and present scholarly research. Parallel to COMM 794. Graded CR/NC.

Research leading to the doctorate. Maximum units which may be applied to the degree to be determined by the department. Graded CR/NC.

Credit on acceptance of dissertation. Graded IP/CR/NC.

Credit on acceptance of Dissertation. Graded IP/CR/NC.

Credit on acceptance of Dissertation. Graded IP/CR/NC.

Credit on acceptance of Dissertation. Graded IP/CR/NC.

Credit on acceptance of Dissertation. Graded IP/CR/NC.