Communication Courses

COMM 101

Speech Fundamentals

3 credit hours

This course is an introduction to the theory and practice of public speaking. Students will develop skills that enable them to present themselves and their ideas in an effective manner. Extensive practice in speech organization and delivery is included. Designed for the beginning speaker; should be taken during the first year. Credit for this course cannot be used in the communication major or minor. Offered every semester.

COMM 110

Newswriting and Reporting

3 credit hours

This course is a survey of the professional practice of journalism, including the basic techniques of news writing for print, electronic media and Internet. Offered fall.

COMM 200

Perspectives on Human Communication

3 credit hours

This course is an introduction to the theory, research and practice of human communication within a variety of contexts. The course is designed to provide the background necessary to understand the role of communication in everyday life. Offered fall and spring.

COMM 203

Intercultural Communication

3 credit hours

This course is an analysis of the impact of culture on various communication behaviors. Special attention is given to the study of cross-cultural interactions in interpersonal and organizational contexts. Issues such as globalization and diversity sensitivity will be examined. Offered fall.

COMM 205

Mediated Message Production

3 credit hours

This course will introduce students to the production of two types of mediate messages common in most communication organizations: audio and video. Students will complete basic audio and video projects. Offered fall.

COMM 206

Communicating with Social Media

3 credit hours

This course critically explores how and why individuals use social media to communicate personal identity and build various networks of interpersonal relationships, while navigating issues of privacy and social norms. Offered spring.

COMM 207

Sports Communication

3 credit hours

This course surveys major topics in sport communication, including the symbiotic relationship between sport and mass media, how gender and ethnicity are represented in sport media, the history of the media's coverage of sport in the U.S., the role of interpersonal and group communication in sporting activities and audience studies of the impact of mediated sport. Offered spring.

COMM 209

Small Group Communication

3 credit hours

This is a laboratory course aimed at providing the student with theory and practice in group communication methods, including reflective thinking, problem solving and decision making. Offered periodically.

COMM 210

Interpersonal Communication

3 credit hours

This course includes an emphasis on the achievement of success in organizations and in private life through the use of effective interpersonal communication. Offered periodically.

COMM 211

Introduction to Mass Communication

3 credit hours

This course is an introduction to the field of communication with specific focus on the elements of mass communication: the information delivery systems, their functions and the uses to which they are put by society. The emphasis is on a theoretical and conceptual basis for the functioning of mass communication in society: technology and change, diffusion of information, freedom and responsibility, mass culture. Offered fall and spring.

COMM 216

Introduction to Health Communication

3 credit hours

This course is a survey of health communication concepts and theories. The processes by which people, individually and collectively, understand shape and accommodate to health and illness issues are explored as well as the study and use of communication strategies to inform and influence individual and community decisions that enhance awareness, processes and procedures. Offered spring.

COMM 220

Digital Audio Production

3 credit hours

P: COMM-205

This course is a lecture/lab experience in digital audio production and the production of audio forms including interviews, air shifts, commercials/public service announcements, news/documentaries for distribution by traditional and Internet-based media. Offered spring.

COMM 221

Digital Video Production

3 credit hours

P: COMM-205

This course focuses on production techniques for digital video projects utilizing single-camera on-location shooting and nonlinear editing. Projects focus on instructional videos, news packages and documentaries for distribution by traditional and Internet-based media. Offered spring.

COMM 223

Podcasting

3 credit hours

P: COMM-205

This course introduces students to the new audio broadcasting field known as podcasting. Students will discuss how to develop an engaging story, how to that tell that story using only auditory means, how to edit their story through sessions known as "edits", and distribute their stories through various online means. (I.E. iTunes, Stitcher, YouTube, etc.) Offered fall.

COMM 227

Political Communication

3 credit hours

This course examines the role communication plays in our political lives. In particular, the course examines how contemporary political communication influences our interpersonal lives, how it permeates the organizations we associate with and how it dominates the many forms of mass communication we consume. Finally, the course investigates effective campaign communication strategies. Offered fall.

COMM 244

Introduction to Public Relations

3 credit hours

This course focuses on the principles and practices of public relations of profit and non-profit institutions. The tools of communication and the numerous publics involved will be covered. Offered spring.

COMM 255

Special Topics in Communication

1 to 6 credit hours

COMM 256

Queer Cinema

3 credit hours

This course introduces students to the history and study of GLBTQ film. Students will screen examples of various styles and genres of queer cinema, study directors and studios who produce queer cinema and learn to critique film in both an oral and written fashion. Offered spring.

COMM 257

Non-Profit Communication

3 credit hours

This course is a survey of nonprofit communication concepts and theories that explores strategies for effectively communicating with unique nonprofit sector stakeholders including: directors, donors, volunteers, and communities as well as theories and strategies for engaging in cause marketing communication across various channels, including social media, media relations, fundraising, grant writing, volunteer recruitment and event planning.

COMM 260

Introduction to Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies

3 credit hours

This course addresses the relationship between biological sex and the construction of gendered identities. As a result, this course deals directly with this relationship, as well as the historical conditions that give rise to this relationship, by examining writings about women and men and femininity and masculinity, from a range of disciplines that include the cultural, the sociological and the anthropological.

COMM 265

Social Media Advocacy and Campaigning

3 credit hours

This course critically explores, from both message analysis and message creation perspectives, how individuals, groups, and organizations strategically use social media to engage various publics for a variety of purposes including marketing, advocacy, and collective action. Offered spring.

COMM 298

Independent Study

1 to 4 credit hours

This course is an individual investigation of special problems and topics in communication. Prerequisite: 25 hours of communication, 3.25 GPA, and consent of instructor.

COMM 301

Law of Mass Communication

3 credit hours

P: COMM-200 or COMM-211

This course examines the U.S. legal system as it affects the mass media. Students will review the responsibilities of professional communicators, as they relate to the First Amendment, risks to public safety, defamation, access to government information, the right to a fair trial, copyright laws, obscenity and the regulation of advertising and the electronic media. Offered periodically.

COMM 313

Persuasion

3 credit hours

P: COMM-200 or COMM-211

This course is a study of the means of influencing others. The logical, psychological, emotional and ethical dimensions of persuasive communication is explored. Practice in creating and delivering persuasive messages is included. Offered spring.

COMM 321

Electronic Journalism

3 credit hours

P: COMM-200 or COMM-211

This course emphasizes researching, writing and producing extended news and public affairs reports for the Internet, television, radio and other electronic media. Electronic news media responsibilities and ethical restraints are analyzed. Offered spring.

COMM 324

Senior Seminar I: Communication Research

3 credit hours

P: COMM-200 or COMM-211

This course provides students with a research vocabulary, advanced writing skills and research tools for analyzing and evaluating information in the Communication discipline. The course introduces students to qualitative and quantitative research methodologies and the paradigms associated with each inquiry. Students will select their Senior Seminar II: Research Application topic, write a proposal to investigate the topic, conduct a literature review and/or other comparable written work on the topic and engage in original research related to the selected project. Offered fall. NOTE: This course is a prerequisite to COMM 369: Senior Seminar II: Research Application.

COMM 333

Communication Problems and Topics

3 credit hours

P: COMM-200 or COMM-211

This course is an examination of emerging and recurring issues affecting audiences, industries and institutions in mediated and/or non-mediated contexts. The course also provides practice in professional development, including cover letter and resume writing, interviewing and professional portfolio development. Offered spring.

COMM 335

Organizational Communication

3 credit hours

P: COMM-200 or COMM-211

This course is an examination of communication systems within and among organizations. The course focuses on the process of communication, types and components of communications systems and the effects of communication systems as they impact employee productivity, growth and values. Offered spring.

COMM 337

Leadership Communication

3 credit hours

P: COMM-200 or COMM-211

This course is an introduction to the theory and practice of communication as it applies to organizational leadership. Students will develop skills that enable them to present themselves and their ideas in an effective manner. Extensive practice in delivering, speaking and writing are required with emphasis on audience analysis, research, leadership challenges and theoretical strategies for addressing diverse groups. Offered fall.

COMM 350

Gender and Communication

3 credit hours

P: COMM-200 or COMM-211

This course will introduce students to social constructionist perspectives on sex, gender and sexual orientation. Students will be provided a historical survey of women's and gender studies scholarship and connections to contemporary communication theory. Offered spring.

COMM 365

Internship/ Practicum

1 to 9 credit hours

P: COMM-200 or COMM-211

The student will work in a professional communication facility or in a faculty-supervised project of sufficient depth and responsibility. Placement is approved by the program's internship supervisor. Offered every semester.

COMM 368

Communication Responsibilities

3 credit hours

P: COMM-200 or COMM-211

This course surveys major ethical problems in communication. The course includes case studies and examinations of issues pertaining to gate keeping, deceptive advertising, rights of privacy, the presentation of violent and sexual content, and concerns raised in a variety of mediated and non-mediated contexts. Offered fall.

COMM 369

Senior Seminar II: Research Applications

3 credit hours

P: COMM-324 Senior standing

This course is a continuation of Senior Seminar I: Communication Research. It provides students an opportunity to advance the project under study. Students will work with a faculty member to create and apply the information learned throughout the major. Upon completion, the project will be presented to the Communication's Program faculty for acceptance. Offered spring.