Communication Graduate Course Descriptions

Graduate Core Courses

Comm 511
Introduction to Communication Theory
Introduction to the development and scope of the communication discipline, including a critical examination of the lines of inquiry and methods of investigation that shape the discipline. Emphasis is placed on those elements of scholarly inquiry that enable students to become competent consumers of current research and contribute to their ability to conduct original research in com- munication.

Comm 521
Quantitative Methods in Communication Research
An examination of the methods of quantitative empirical research in communication. Emphasis is upon selected research designs, data collection and analysis, data input for computer analysis with statistical packages, results interpretation, and writing reports of completed research. Graduate level standing required.

Comm 531
Qualitative Methods in Communication Research
An examination of naturalistic empirical communication research and the assumptive bases. Particular attention given to descriptive, interpretive, and critical approaches for analysis, and to specific methods of participant observation, interviewing, and textual analysis. Critical examination of selected research as models for original student research. Graduate level standing required.

Comm 532
Critical Methods of Media Inquiry
Prepares graduate students for understanding and employing critical methodologies in research. Contrasts the context-based critical mode of inquiry with the epistemological premises in positivistic claims of value-free research. Offers ways of integrating theory, methods, research strategy, and social criticism. Graduate level standing required.

Graduate Elective Courses

Comm 510
Cybercultures
This course will examine cultures that transcend offline boundaries into the digital world. Specifically, we will examine the content, development and implications of cybercultures. We will focus on the cultural implications of new communication technologies such as video games, the Internet and email, personal communication technologies, and online chat spaces.

Comm 510 
Health Communication Campaigns
In-depth examination of theory and research on health communication campaigns that promote behavior change. Students will learn determinants of health behavior and strategies for change at the individual, interpersonal, small group, community, and organizational levels. Students will have the opportunity to create their own persuasive health campaign.

Comm 510
New Media & Technology in Communication
This course will examine the role that communication and information technologies play in our social and communicative processes. Specifically, we will explore the development, examine the content, and explore the effects of new media technologies in communication. We will focus on the communicative implications of new communication technologies across a variety of contexts, including organizations, health, politics, consumerism, entertainment, education, and news media.

Comm 510
Political Campaigns

Comm 510
Provider-Patient Communication

Comm 510
Public Opinion
This course explores research questions that relate to mass communication and American public opinion. Important normative and philosophical issues are identified and reviewed via early writings (ca. 1900) in social philosophy and social science. These issues are further investigated by examining relevant work from sociology, social psychology, and mass communication.

Comm 510
Social Support
People who are trying to maintain good health whether they are ill or well face many challenges. Communication scholars have found evidence that one way of managing those challenges is through the communication of social support. In this course, we will review the major topics and issues in social support literature. Our primary focus will be on theoretical issues; however, we will also describe and evaluate the potential for practical application of communication theory. Research project required.

Comm 512
Empirical Theories of Mass Communication
Surveys social scientific theories of mass communication. Post-bac or graduate level standing required.

Comm 515
Problems of Intercultural Communication
Builds upon the theories and issues discussed in the introductory course by including contemporary and classical literature on multicultural and intercultural communication. Identifies and analyzes politically constructed categories of race, age, class, gender in society against the backdrop of debates on multiculturalism in the United States. Examines these categorizations of race, class, etc. in their historical, social, and cultural context, and how those have influenced mass-mediated and interpersonal communication. Uses mass media (television, radio, daily print media, music) texts to provide examples of how we understand “difference” and “otherness” in our daily lives. Post-bac or graduate level standing required.

Comm 518
Advanced Interpersonal Communication
Theory course in which students analyze current concepts and theories related to inter-personal communication, comparing and contrasting various models and their relative adequacy in representing the complexity of communication processes. The impact on actual communicative practices is examined. The influence of particular historical perspectives and contemporary issues and trends on interpersonal communication is analyzed through evaluation of empirical data and general cultural texts. Research project required. Post-bac or graduate level standing required.

Comm 520
Political Communication
An analysis of the relationship of communication to the exercise of politics and political power. Topics may include the ethics and practices of electoral politics, political ideologies, political advertising, propaganda, public opinion formation, the role of mass media as a source and form of political communication, speech writing, public policy writing and analysis, political news writing, and political campaigning. The focus is on how communication strategies and media can be used to organize consent or dissent to ruling parties, representatives, and ideas. Post-bac or graduate level standing required.

Comm 522
Critical Theories in Mass Communication
Surveys critical and institutional theories of mass communication. Primary focus is analysis of the relationship between media and communication institutions and the state and other social institutions. Post-bac or graduate level standing required.

Comm 523
Organizational Communication
Application of communication theory to the study of human interaction in the organizational context. Examination of the relationships between structural variables in the organization and informal communication channels, including analysis of leadership style, decision-making, conflict management, and computer-mediated communication. Course requirements include completion and report of a personal research project. Post-bac or graduate level standing required.

Comm 527
Issues in International Communication
A study of historical and contemporary theories and practices in the conduct of trans-border communication. Topics may include international communication issues of law, diplomacy, conflict, the Cold War, international organizations, mass media, information, advertising and news flows, and social-economic development, as well as discussions of specific cases of cultural and institutional communication, spoken, written and produced, in various industrial and developing societies. Post-bac or graduate level standing required.

Comm 536
Communication and Cognition
Exploration of human communication from a cognitive perspective. Post-bac or graduate level standing required.

Comm 537
Urban Communication
Course utilizes a cultural, contextual approach to the study of urban communication structures, processes and practices. Macro and micro features are examined with the goal of understanding the role of communication in structuring social life in urban environments. Relevant theories on urban life and multiple dimensions of verbal and nonverbal communication codes are examined as they apply in urban contexts. Theoretical and empirical approaches recognize urban centers as dynamic multicultural environments. Research project required. Post-bac or graduate level standing required.

Comm 538
Everyday Talk: Structure and Process
How humans organize talk, with a primary emphasis on face-to-face talk in an informal setting. Attention will be given to the structure of roles and turns, sequencing of stages and topics, issues of common ground and relevance, and cognitive processes of message origination and interpretation in particular contexts. Post-bac or graduate level standing required.

Comm 540
Metaphor, Play, and Humor
How metaphor, play, humor, and other forms of “non-serious” language and gesture contribute to the creation of meaning and sustaining of relationships in everyday social interactions. Topics vary from quarter to quarter, and may include: metaphor; playful communication; humor and
irony; and narratives. May be repeated for undergraduate or graduate credit. Recommended prerequisites: Comm 311 or equivalent; upper-division or graduate standing.

Comm 552
Gender and Race in the Media
Primarily examines the representations of gender and race, including age, class and sexual orientation in various media (mainstream and alternative), and will examine theoretical and methodological approaches which may be used to interpret these representations. In addition, considers the potential impact that media institutions have on people’s lives, political decisions and social relations. The overall aim is for students to understand how their own cultural identities affect their media consumption and social positioning. Post-bac or graduate level standing required.

Comm 560
Framing and Mass Media
Examines how messages are constructed and the effects frames have on audiences. Framing theory is linked to propaganda, public relations, marketing, political communication and cognition, and has a rich theoretical and methodological tradition. Examines the conceptual definitions, and the underpinning theory and methodology used in framing scholarship. Agenda setting, bias and framing, public opinion formation, cultivation analysis, behavioral effects, and macrolevel and microlevel methods are also examined. Post-bac or graduate level standing required.

Comm 587
Propaganda, Public Relations, and Media
Introduction to how mass media, particularly film, are used to promote causes, influence opinion, sell products and promote stereotypes. Two streams of theory are pivotal to the course: theories of propaganda, public relations, persuasion and mass media, and film theory. Post-bac or graduate level standing required.

Please note that some courses are not offered every year.