Communication Studies Concentration

WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH A DEGREE IN COMMUNICATION STUDIES?

"Employers send a consistent message about what they look for in a college-educated employee: the ability to write clearly, speak persuasively, analyze data effectively, work in diverse groups, and understand the competitive global knowledge environment."
-Kevin Reilly, President, University of Wisconsin

Employers are looking for graduates who can "think critically, communicate clearly, and solve complex problems." And these are exactly the skills we teach our students. Recent communication studies alumni work in account management, corporate communications, development and fundraising, human resources, marketing and events planning, non-profit management, and social media, among other fields.

See what COMM Studies alumni are doing.

THE COMMUNICATION STUDIES CURRICULUM

Recently redesigned for the needs of today's college student, our curriculum teaches flexible knowledge and skills that transfer to a variety of settings. We are committed to preparing you not only for a career, but a lifetime of learning.

Our focus areas allow you to explore your interests in communication in depth. Whether you want to learn how people form relationships and work in groups (Applied Communication), how citizens and politicians argue and advocate to solve problems and advance causes (Rhetoric), or how film, television, and new media shape our identities and society (Media), we have courses just for you!

Undergraduate Courses in Communication & Film

The Major (33-39 hours)

Major Core (6 hours)

All students must take

NOTE: 
A 2.0 cumulative GPA and a grade no lower than a C- is required for all courses completed in the major. In addition, all students must fulfill the requirements for one of the following concentrations:

Communication Studies (33 hours):

Applied Communication

• COMM 3012 - Health Communication ** Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: Examination of the role of communication in health care; application of communication theory and practice to the health care context from provider-patient interaction to cultural influences on health.
  
  
• COMM 3330 - Applied Communication Research Methods ** Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: Examination and application of quantitative and qualitative and methods of research, especially as they are used in various real-world settings. PREREQUISITE: COMM 2100 and COMM 2101.

• COMM 3561 - Gender in Communication Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: This class provides a foundation of gender theories used in communication research and applies these theories and concepts to the way gender becomes instituted within our culture. The class deals with institutions such as family, religion, work, education, media, and government. Students will gain a better understanding of the role communication plays in the formation, navigation, maintenance and disruption of institutional gender expectations and norms.
  
  
• COMM 4011 - Communication in Organizations ** Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: Study of communication systems and problems in contemporary organizations with emphasis on the role of communication in corporate culture and organizational change.
  
  
• COMM 4015 - Health Literacy Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: Development of health literacy as an area of concern in healthcare including patient/provider interactions, public health campaigns, health education, healthcare reform, and health insurance.
  
  
• COMM 4016 - Public Health Campaigns Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: Examination of the fundamentals of public health communication as well as the latest public health communication innovations, tools, technologies, research and strategies.
  
  
• COMM 4322 - Persuasion and Influence** Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: Principles underlying communication designed to influence attitudes or behavior; approaches to motivation, perception, message structure, attention, reasoning, audience analysis, persuasability, and attitude change; items for analysis drawn from speeches, advertising, radio, television, film, and new media.
  
  
• COMM 4340 - Listening Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: Exploration of communication theory and practice from perspective of listening; philosophical, practical, personal dimensions of listening as an art of being as well as a mode of doing.
  
  
• COMM 4341 - Interpersonal Communication ** Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: Theory, research and practice regarding dyadic communication.
  
  
• COMM 4342 - Small Group Communication Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: Study of group communication theory emphasizing group membership, member perceptions, group development, group processes, and group outcomes.
  
  
• COMM 4363 - Dialogue Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: Theoretical, philosophical and practical exploration of dialogic communication and relations.
  
  
• COMM 4373 - Interracial Communication** Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: Special problems encountered in communication among races; readings, discussion, and field study of how prejudice, stereotypes, and self-concepts can affect communication; exploration of methods to minimize these problems.
  
  
• COMM 4375 - Intercultural Communication ** Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: Special problems encountered in communication among people of different cultural backgrounds; focus on understanding communication between and among people with different national/cultural backgrounds and functioning more effectively in multicultural settings.
  
  
• COMM 4380 - Communication and Conflict ** Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: Theories and methods of conflict management and resolution focusing on practical communication skills.; concepts of perception, listening and peacemaking emphasized.
  
  
• COMM 3100 - Communication Ethics ** Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: Exploration of principles, theories, and philosophical approaches to ethics of human communication; emphasis on decision-making, critical thinking and awareness of personal responsibilities as a sender and receiver of messages.
  
  
• COMM 4400 - Contemplative Communication Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: Non-analytical approach to communication theory and practice; holistic-communal perspective of relational experience; benefits of silence, stillness and solitude are interrelated with the values of openness, receptiveness and responsiveness. This course approaches the study of communication from a contemplative perspective; from a deep consideration of the challenge to live deliberately.
  

Rhetoric

• COMM 3321 - Argumentation and Advocacy ** Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: Theories of argumentation with an emphasis on developing skills in analyzing, reasoning, and using evidence in political advocacy. Students will learn the role of advocacy, debate, and deliberation in public decision-making. PREREQUISITE: COMM 2381.
  
  
• COMM 3360 - Rhetoric of Pop Culture Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: Investigation of rhetorics of U.S. culture; focus on how constructions of class, gender, race, and sexuality work in contemporary television, film, music, and advertising.
  
  
• COMM 3361 - African-American Rhetoric ** Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: Speeches and rhetoric of African-Americans; emphasis on spokespersons such as Walker, Turner, Douglass, Washington, DuBois, Malcolm X, King, Davis, and Jackson.
  
  
• COMM 3362 - Rhetoric in Southern Culture Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: The purpose of this course is to analyze and critique the way rhetorical discourse creates and defines Southern culture and identity.  Specific attention will be spent on facets of southern culture such as leisure, the arts, religion, sports, politics, tourism, place, commemoration and historical narratives. How the South is defined in terms of race, gender, and class identity will be key features of the course. 
  
  
• COMM 4013 - Political Communication Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: Investigation of various forms of political communication; texts drawn primarily from current political disputes in the U.S.; focus on improving basic skills of critical thinking and writing about civic life.
  
• COMM 4360 - Rhetoric of Social Movements Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: This course aims to explain the rhetoric that surrounds social protest-both from the protesors and the resisters. More specifically, we will define the social movement, explain its development, and look at the specific rhetorical strategies that movements generally employ. By the end of the course, students should be familiar with several specific social movements and have a better understanding of the rhetorical construction of social protest.
  
  
• COMM 4364 - Gender and Social Change Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: History of gender topics in U.S. public discourse. The course covers gender and rhetorical theory analyzing the social and cultural significance gendered voices and topics have played and continue to play in US history. Focus is given to various 19th, 20th and 21st century issues.
  
  
• COMM 4365 - Place/Community/Communication Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: Exploration of interrelationships between human interaction, created places and natural world; emphasis on communication environment, broadly conceived, and its effect on community.
  
  
• COMM 3001 - Rhetoric/Civic Controversy ** Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: Introduction to history and practice of rhetoric as the art of civic engagement in a democracy; focus on key terms, ethical assumptions, and interpretative tools of rhetoric study; analysis of contemporary and historical cases in local and national controversy.
  
  
• COMM 3341 - Discussion Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: Study and practice of principles and techniques of discussion, dealing with current problems of wide interest and significance.
  
  
• COMM 3342 - Communication and Leadership Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: This course is designed to explore rhetorical perspectives and practices of leadership. By the end of the course, students should be able to understand, analyze, and evaluate rhetoric’s potential relationships to experiences and practices for contemporary leadership and demonstrate fluency with a range of rhetorical choices for effectively critiquing and exercising ethical leadership.
  
  
• COMM 3331 - Rhetorical and Media Criticism** Credit Hours: (3)
  Description: This course gives students the tools to interpret and evaluate persuasive messages in various contexts. It covers specific methods of criticism, as well as how to produce independent research on rhetoric and media. This course includes writing and presentation requirements. PREREQUISITE: COMM 2100 and 2101
  
  

Media

Electives (12 - 20 hours)

Completion of courses to bring the total to 120 semester hours.

Honors Program