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Courses

From concepts to topical seminars

The Communication department’s graduate course offerings implement a three-level curriculum:

  • The four-course base: A three-course core consisting of a survey of concepts and theories of communication and both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, plus one course in your primary area
  • The center: A series of 600- and 700-level courses
  • The apex: 800-level seminars that cover specialized topics in great depth

The following courses are permanent titles. For descriptions, consult the semester schedule or the department’s Graduate Handbook.

Required courses

  • Comm 611: Introduction to Theories and Concepts of Human Communication
  • Comm 620: Research Methods I (Qualitative Methods)
  • Comm 621: Research Methods II (Quantitative Methods)

Area surveys

  • Comm 613: Introduction to Theories of Social Interaction
  • Comm 665: Contemporary Rhetorical Theory (or its equivalent)
  • Comm 691B: Seminar in Media Theory
  • Comm 693D: Introduction to Film Theory

Permanent titles

  • Comm 696: Independent Study
  • Comm 699: Master’s Thesis
  • Comm 712: Political Communication
  • Comm 720: Social Impact of Mass Media
  • Comm 724: Audience Research and Cultural Studies
  • Comm 733: Cultivation Analysis
  • Comm 781: The Ethnography of Communication
  • Comm 796: Independent Study
  • Comm 896: Directed Research
  • Comm 899: PhD Dissertation

Special topics

In addition to our permanent graduate courses, the department regularly offers special topics. Among the special topics offered in recent semesters:

  • American Rhetorical Theory
  • Cinema As Social Force
  • Class Cultures
  • Communicating Central American Cultures
  • Communication and Social Change in the Third World
  • Communication and Transnationalism
  • Contemporary Rhetorical Theory
  • Critical Pedagogy
  • Cultural Theory of Stuart Hall
  • Democracy, Rhetoric, and Performance
  • Discourse Analysis
  • The Documentary Enterprise
  • Feminist Film Theory
  • Field Research in Media and Cultural Studies
  • Field Research Methods in Social Interaction
  • Film Cultures and Community
  • Global Cultures and Communication
  • Intercultural Communication
  • Introduction to Semiotics
  • Media and Cultural Policy
  • Media and the Family
  • Media Effects
  • Media Historiography
  • Media Literacy
  • Mediation
  • Music, Culture, and Communication
  • The Politics of Sexual Representation
  • Political Economy of Media Industries
  • Social Interaction Analysis
  • Technology and Society
  • Telecommunication Policy