Communication Courses

Program | Faculty | Master's | Doctoral | Courses

The department's course offerings implement a three-level curriculum. The base of the curriculum is a three-course core consisting of a survey of concepts and theories of communication and both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. An additional foundations course in the student's primary area is also required. The center of the curriculum consists of 600- and 700-level courses; and at the apex are 800-level topical seminars which study particular subjects in great depth. The purpose of this curriculum is to educate students who will be expert in their area of concentration, can locate their field of study in the context of alternative theoretical options and research procedures, and can account for their theoretical and methodological decisions. Consistent with our understanding of graduate study, many of the most important courses are topical seminars (offered at the 600, 700, and 800 levels), the content of which varies from semester to semester. Recent offerings include: Communication and Moral Orders; Communication and New Technologies; Coordinated Management of Meaning Theory; Critical Pedagogy; Information Society; Cultural Theory of Stuart Hall; Phenomenology and Communication; Cultural Industries in Latin America; Culture of Advertising; Documentary Film; Ethnographic Approaches in Communication; Experience, Identity and Interaction; Feminist Film Theory; Gender and Communication; Global Culture and Communication; Intercultural Communication; Media Historiography; Mediation; Politics of Popular Culture; Politics of Sexual Representation; Postmodernism and Media; Rhetoric and Social Movements; Women's Political Discourse. For a more complete description of available courses, please consult the current semester schedule or the departmental graduate handbook.

All courses carry 3 credits unless otherwise specified.

514 Social Uses of Language

Nature of speech and language as a social practice. Meanings of language use as formative of social and cultural life.

546 Film Theory and Criticism

Basic theories of film communication; var-ious film modes and structures. Development of bases for evaluation of films according to communicative and aesthetic values.

565 Contemporary Rhetorical Theory

Contemporary philosophical approaches to rhetorical theory. Selected major contemporary theorists such as Weaver, Richards, Burke, Duncan, McLuhan, and Perelman.

611 Introduction to Theories and Concepts of Human Communication

Process of theory construction, theory testing, and paradigmatic change in communication. Theory relationships among normative and scientific studies. Theory types and their causal mechanisms, units of analysis, and appropriate research methodologies. Major theories compared in terms of their theoretical and metatheoret-ical bases. Required of all Communication graduate students; taught in fall.

613 Introduction to Interpersonal Communication Theory

Scholarly literature of interpersonal communication, including historical development and conceptualization, survey of current research and theoretical literature, and critique of methodologies and lines of development. Emphasis on reciprocal causal relationships between communication patterns and nature of the social order, and implications of this relationship for individual action and cultural change. Required of students specializing in this area.

620 Qualitative Methods in Research
(1st sem)

Approaches to research, conceptualiza-tions of problems, questions, and methodologies for the field of communication, broadly defined with an emphasis on qualitative, interpretive, feminist, critical, and cultural approaches. Introduction to methodological specialties of departmental faculty. Required of all Communication graduate students.

621 Quantitative Methods in Research (2nd sem)

Introduction to the structure, process, and logic of quanitative empirical research in communication. Topics include research design, measurement, descriptive and inferential statistics, and basic multivariate analysis. Students expected to acquire an understanding of the ability to critique various methodological approaches and techniques. Fundamental concepts of data analysis; preparation for more advanced courses. Required of all Communication graduate students.

622 Advanced Quantitative Methods in Research

Intensive study of statistical procedures used in current communication research, such as N-way ANOVA, multiple regression, canonical correlation, factor analysis, path analysis, etc. Prerequisites: Comm 620A and 620B.

641 The Cinema as a Social Force

Effective and reflective roles of film in society. Emphasis on relationship of society to structure, development, function, and effects of the motion picture.

662 Approaches to Rhetorical Criticism

Various critical approaches to rhetorical transactions. Historical, formalist, sociocultural, psychological, and archetypal.

691B Theories of Mass Media

Foundation course in the history and philosophy of various approaches to mass media and technology. Covers mainstream research in direct, indirect, and limited effects models. Required of students specializing in this area.

699 Master's Thesis

Credit, 6.

712 Political Communication

Diffusion of persuasive political communications through standard and created media. Examination of campaign techni-ques (i.e., research on issues and themes, electorate polling, thematic media approaches, campaign strategies) in management and administration.

720 Social Impact of Mass Media

Review of literature on social impact of mass media. Primary focus on television. Seminar: lectures and student critique of reading materials. Topics: media violence and human aggression; media socialization; mass education; mass persuasion; effects on entertainment.

722 Media Systems and Institutions

Analysis of institutionalization of mass communication process in society, including organization entities creating message systems and nature of resultant information structures.

733 Cultivation Analysis

The theoretical assumptions and methodological procedures of cultivation analysis; how the theory developed; design and execution of cultivation studies; thorough guided secondary analysis of existing databases. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

750 Language and Society

Relationships between language use and aspects of social structure and process. Study of origins and functions of language diversity; ways that language varieties affect communication, social identity, and social evaluation. Emphasis on social class, gender, race, and ethnicity.

781 Ethnography of Communication

Exploration of ethnographic inquiry and some of its possibilities for creating insights into human communication. Basic philosophy, theory, and methodological issues.

791 Audience Research and Cultural Studies

Focus on the relations between media (television, film, newspapers, etc.) and audiences, concentrating on theoretical and empirical work drawn from a cultural studies tradition.

796 Independent Study

Independent study in special subjects. Credit, 1-3 each semester; maximum credit, 6.

821 Seminar in Mass Communications

Revolving topics.

841 Seminar in Film

Revolving topics.

860 Seminar in Rhetorical Theory

Revolving topics.

891 Seminar in Interpersonal Communication

Revolving topics.

896 Directed Research

Specialized research projects, individual or by team, and supervised closely by instructor. Credit, 1-3 each semester, by arrangement.

899 Doctoral Dissertation

Credit, 12.