Communication Course List

A broad survey of contemporary theories and processes of interpersonal, public, and mediated human communication. Pre: Graduate standing.

Theoretical traditions and assumptions of quantitative inquiry in the communication discipline. Hypothesis generation; research design, data collection and analysis. Ethical issues, style conventions, and standards for establishing reliability and validity. Open science practices. Distinctive contributions of quantitative research to communication theory and practice. Pre: Graduate standing.

Training in teaching the basic communication course at the university level. Emphasis on the theory and practice of teaching public speaking, prepared related materials and class sessions, and responding to student assignments. Graduate standing required. May be repeated for up to 3 hours.

Applied, advanced work in prospectus development.

Theoretical traditions and assumptions of qualitative inquiry in the communication discipline. Methods of data collection, interpretation, analysis, and presentation. Ethical issues, style conventions, and standards for establishing interpretive reliability and validity. Distinctive contributions of qualitative research to communication theory and practice. Pre: Graduate standing.

Explores major areas of theoretical study of mass communication and the social impact of mediated messages.

Explores the social implications surrounding the design, production, use, and evaluation of communication technology. Emphasis is on how communication functions in the creation and use of technology, and how communication and other social factors may be influenced by technology.

Survey of theory related to the production, content, form, consumption, effects, and social role of mass media. Graduate standing required.

Variable topics in studies of media, technology, and society. Social, political, and economic impacts of media and technology on audiences, contexts, issues, resources, and policy. Theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of media and technology. May be repeated for credit, with different content, for a maximum of 9 hours. Pre: Graduate standing.

Examines fundamental theory and research in public relations, including systems theory, symbolic interactionism, organizational theory, cognitive processing and persuasion, models of public relations practice, and ethics.

Theory and application of communication in organizational settings. Graduate standing required.

Characteristics and uses of crisis and issue management as communicative resources for organizations. Contributions of public relations practice in the creation of systems of meaning, public policy, and distribution of symbolic and tangible resources. Graduate standing required.

Examines fundamental theory and research on persuasion and social influence. Emphasis on a broad-based perspective, encompassing the full scope of persuasion as it is found in everyday life. This course examines persuasion in a variety of contexts and settings, including advertising, small groups, and face-to-face encounters.

Variable topics in studies of strategic communications. Deliberative communication practice on behalf of organizations, corporations, causes, and/or social movements. Impact of internal and external audiences, contexts, issues, delivery platforms, resources, technology, and policy. May include theories of persuasion and social influence, media impact, and public opinion. May be repeated for credit, with different content, for a maximum of 9 hours. Pre: Graduate standing.

Survey of theories of rhetoric. Focuses on the multiple conceptions of rhetoric through history and the critical methods emerging from rhetorical theory.

Communication theories and methods of studying social movement campaigns. Rhetorical construction of social protest. Graduate standing required.

Public relations as a business management function. Strategic role of public relations in building corporate reputation and protecting goodwill, executive and organizational image, communication strategy, corporate social responsibility, ethical and legal communication practices, media relations, community relations, employee communication, investor relations, government relations, and crisis communication. For MBA students. Pre: Graduate standing.

Topical seminar examining various aspects of contemporary theory and research in interpersonal, public, and mediated human communication. Can be repeated with different content for a maximum of six hours credit.

For non-thesis candidates who are required to register for their final examination and have completed their program of study. Not to be included in minimum 36 hours required for degree.

For students pursuing a non-thesis degree. Projects may involve guided research/scholarship or an internship.

Different methods, explanations, and perspectives to critique mass media messages, focusing on television and advertising. Special attention to ideological issues and the relation of media messages to social power. Pre: Graduate standing.