Courses

Topical seminar dealing with issues of concern to contemporary communication studies.

Principles of public speaking; practice in composition, delivery, and criticism of informative, persuasive, and entertaining speeches.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Integrate information and research through readings, discussions, speech analysis, and formal speaking assignments utilizing emerging technologies.
• Understand the applicable communication theories in the subject of public speaking.
• Develop a professional level presentation in an informative, persuasive and mediated context.
• Demonstrate improved oral and written communication skills.

Principles and techniques of persuasion through argument, evidence, and logical inference. Practice in debate.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Understand how reasoned argumentation can help them make their own decisions, and how people use arguments to influence others’ decisions through communication.
• Survey dialectical, rhetorical, and logical approaches to argumentation, and practice reconstructing real-life argumentation in order to evaluate its reasonableness and identify fallacious reasoning.
• Apply these insights to build an argumentative case about an issue of your choice. You will evaluate each other’s arguments, engage each other in debate, and finally write an argumentative essay in which you argue your side of the issue.
• Appreciate the risks of improper or sloppy argumentation in applied contexts in life, and the ways critical thinking about argumentation can generate fresh understanding of conflicts in interpersonal, public, and institutional settings.

This course examines children’s and adolescents’ interactions with media and technology and their influence on communication and social development.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Use communication theories and concepts to analyze human behavior (specifically: interpersonal, family, and group settings).
• Gather and use evidence to study and understand communication processes and consequences (including asking questions and systematically attempting to answer them, understanding the value and limitations of the research processes and conclusions).
• Write and orally communicate in varied settings (specifically: interpersonal, family, group, and mediated settings).
• Apply communication theories and concepts to social and professional life (including issues of diversity, ethics and civic engagement).

This course provides a multidisciplinary and collaborative environment focused on leadership theory and current practice in public and private sector organizations through a communication lens.  Leadership models will be analyzed and evaluated for effectiveness from a variety of perspectives providing opportunities to gain a greater understanding of theories, concepts, models, and approaches of leadership in diverse contexts (personal, team, group, organization, community, etc.).  Students will also make connections with their own leadership philosophy, experiences, and areas for future growth.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Define what leadership is (and is not) in terms of central characteristics, goals, and principles.
• Identify and describe key foundational theories, approaches, and disciplinary perspectives to the study of leadership and communication.
• Analyze different leadership traits, competencies, skills, and styles and assess their effectiveness in diverse contemporary settings.
• Self-assess one's leadership traits, competencies, skills, and styles, as well as strengths and areas for future growth, and identify a personal leadership philosophy to adopt in personal and professional endeavors.
• Practice principles of leadership in personal and professional endeavors particularly leadership involving group dynamics.

This course examines features of interpersonal conflict situations, explores individual conflict styles, and identifies strategies for managing or resolving interpersonal conflict.

 Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Understand and describe the dynamics of conflict, influence, and negotiation.
• Demonstrate an ability to assimilate information and identify main themes in the readings, using a writing style that is appropriate for the social sciences.
• Discuss research findings and reflect on how theory and research on conflict, influence, and negotiation are applicable within your own life experiences.
• Apply class concepts to understand the dynamics of real social conflicts in your community.

This course examines the role of interpersonal communication in managing a variety of challenging events in friendships, romantic relationships, and family relationships, such as hurt, conflict, jealousy, negotiating sexual intimacy, terminating relationships, etc.

 Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Identify some of the challenging experiences that emerge in close relationships and explain the circumstances surrounding these events and the role of interpersonal communication in resolving those events.
• Demonstrate an ability to assimilate readings from class and to write in a manner that is appropriate for the social sciences.
• Demonstrate an ability to use communication concepts to analyze human behavior and to apply those concepts to improve social and professional life.
• Demonstrate competency in library research and an ability to integrate resources to understand a relational phenomenon.
• Demonstrate an ability to construct survey questions and analyze survey data to better understand a relational phenomenon.

The effects of gender roles in interpersonal communication; examination of literature and research on differences between male and female patterns of interaction.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Understand the conceptual foundations of gendered communication including how to think critically about contemporary global issues from a multidisciplinary perspective.
• Understand the process of communication and how it affects the social construction of gender as well as gain a better understanding of the terminology related to communication, gender, and culture in terms of how it is put into practice.
• Analyze and synthesize information and ideas from multiple sources in order to generate new ideas and insights.
• Appreciate diverse cultures and intergenerational traditions particularly as they relate to self-identity, education, close relationships, organizations, media, and issues of power/violence.
• Demonstrate an ability to work with a team in planning and presenting scholarly materials as well as facilitating group discussions around issues related to our gendered lives.

In this course we examine how relationships and identities are constructed in communication. We focus on specific practices of interaction – the basic building blocks for communication – to discover those practices through which communicators build their actions and sometimes thereby, their relationships and identities.

 Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Identify basic features of interaction (such as turn-taking, action sequence organization, action formation, repair organization, etc.).
• Describe the actions interactants are engaging in, and the specific practices they use to implement these actions.
• Analyze communication practices through which relationships are produced and managed through interaction at the family dinner table.
• Identify when and how relationships and identities become salient for, and/or come to be managed and/or produced by interactants.

Exploration of communication demands of health care and the development of effective communication strategies and skills for use in health care practice.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Identify the fundamental theoretical concepts associated with health communication.
• Explain the relationship between communication theories and health communication practices.
• Analyze health communication interactions utilizing communication theories and concepts.
• Apply concepts, definitions, and ideas discussed in class to their own individual behavior, interactions, and relationships (explaining and identifying healthy and unhealthy behavior and/or interactions).

Design, implementation, and evaluation of public communication campaigns designed to change health behavior of individuals, groups, and entire populations.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Explain and assess the relationship among assumptions, method, evidence, arguments, and theory in social and historical analysis.
• Identify and critically assess ethical issues in social science and history
• Apply concepts about human and social behavior to particular questions or situations.
• Communicate effectively in modes appropriate to a discipline or area of inquiry.
• Evaluate and critically assess sources and use the conventions of attribution and citation correctly.
• Analyze and synthesize information and ideas from multiple sources to generate new insights.

Analysis and preparation of case studies in industry, labor, education, government, and trade organizations, and the application of public relations techniques.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Employ a range of advanced searching and identification techniques, analysis and problem solving, and synthesizing tools to achieve specific goals.
• Analyze and synthesize information and ideas from multiple sources to generate new insights.
• Employ current technologies and techniques to access information, conduct research and to communicate with key publics.
• Perform a critical self-assessment comparing skills and interests to further study or pursuit of a professional career.

This course links communication theory to the practice of marketing and media planning. Students work to analyze current trends in media and marketing while applying skills learned in previous communication courses.

 Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Evaluate current trends in the media and marketing industries, and distinguish between trends in each of the respective subfields.
• Explain and articulate how popular communication theories and topics relate to the media and marketing industries.
• Apply key communication theories and research to plan and produce a basic marketing communication plan.
• Analyze advertising and marketing campaigns to assess the communicative choices made by industry professionals.
• Demonstrate a deeper awareness of the degree to which communication theories informs the creation and design of society through advertising and marketing.
• Demonstrate proficiency in presenting ideas effectively in a class presentation.

This course examines the processes through which organizations handle and disseminate information to the public with a specific emphasis on crisis communication.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: 

• Analyze and practically implement the current communication theories associated with managing information in public organizations.
• Interact with media representatives in order to effectively represent their organization and provide information to the public.
• Develop and identify the components of an effective crisis communication response.

This course introduces students to the organizational structure of media
and advertising organizations and focuses on the central role of
communication particular to media and advertising. The course is
designed to expose students to core concepts and principles of
organizational theory as they apply to these organizations. Students
will learn how to navigate modern media and advertising organizations
in the current technological landscape.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Apply the principles and concepts of management as they apply to
media organizations
2. Describe how media organizations function in the context of
traditional theories of management and organization
3. Evaluate the choices that managers in media organizations are
making today.
4. Use evidence to illustrate the complexity of organizational
ecosystems and the impacts of ongoing disruption.
5. Navigate the challenges of managing a diverse workforce in today’s
business environment

Theory and pragmatics of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and small-group process analysis, intervention, and facilitation.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Process knowledge of the role of communication training and development as an area of human resource development.
• Define communication competence and conduct a needs assessment to determine whether a workshop is warranted.
• Understand principles of the design and delivery of effective training programs, and skill in developing a program evaluation to document the success of the training effort.

This course analyzes communication technologies, their consequences for society and individuals, and the social forces that affect their form and function.  It critically examines the impact of communication technology on society through in-depth seminars and independent research.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Examine how social, cultural, and political environments are changing with the emergence of new technologies.
• Address contemporary controversies about the impact of new technologies on society.
• Develop analytical tools for understanding the relationship between new technologies and society.
• Build a critical awareness of the influence of new technologies on themselves, other individuals, institutions, and societies.
• Design and implement original research on the relationship between communication technologies and society.

This course features critical exploration of the theory and research regarding personal and community experiences of social support, its influences on interpersonal relationships and health, and its social functions.

 Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Construct a nuanced definition of social support, including consideration for its various types and how scholarly understanding of social support has evolved over time and across disciplines.
• Identify and explain how social support influences our interpersonal relationships as well as individual outcomes (including health and well-being).
• Compare advanced perspectives on key movements, themes, and thinkers in the study of social support and its relationship with various outcomes.
• Analyze "big ideas" (abstract theoretical concepts) and how such conceptualizations have been extended and applied in contemporary research on supportive communication.

Nonverbal aspects of human communication, including proxemics, kinesics, haptics, vocalics, eye behavior, human artifacts, and environments; the functions served by nonverbal behavior in interaction.

Sociolinguistic, psycholinguistic, and general semantic analysis of language as a component of human communication systems.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate understanding of fundamental perspectives on language in communication; use theories and concepts to analyze human behavior.
• Identify and appraise various approaches to language, their methodologies, and implications.
• Analyze features of conversational organization, such as turns and action sequences.
• Analyze how we accomplish basic everyday activities in conversation (e.g., story-telling, complaining, and blaming) and their implications for interpersonal relationships.
• Analyze how nonverbal behaviors contribute to communication.
• Demonstrate proficiency in using evidence to study and understand everyday communication processes.
• Create detailed transcriptions from tapes of ordinary talk.
• Analyze recordings and transcripts of ordinary talk in order to describe how conversational activities are accomplished.

The role of communication in social change, diffusion of innovations, and national development.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Apply an ecological approach to communication.
• Demonstrate how ecological levels are interrelated.
• Explain how ecological factors impact community engagement and practices through case studies.
• Determine appropriate communication strategies to enhance context-placed practices.
• Demonstrate an understanding of community-based principles and ethics.
• Identify how an ecological approach is relevant to certain careers working with communities.

This course takes a communication-based approach to key workplace processes that operate in the shadows (e.g., violence, wrongdoing, harassment) and what are called hidden organizations (e.g., terrorist cells, informal economy, secret societies).

 Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Describe the various problematic practices in organizations and the destructive forms of communication typically associated with them.
• Diagnose dark/problematic communication in organizations and make recommendations for addressing such problems.
• Recognize types of and examples of dark organizations based on the characteristics that determine a dark organization.
• Discuss the (in)effectiveness and (in)appropriateness of organizations and organizational practices that can be described as dark/hidden.

Examines leadership from a communicative perspective, integrating theory and practice. Combines traditional information components of university courses, with experimental learning activities such as interactive simulations, exercises, case studies, and an organizational simulation.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Apply communication theories, concepts and skills to the study and practice of leadership.
• Understand fundamental perspectives, theories and concepts of leadership as they apply in relationships, groups, organizational and civic settings.
• Demonstrate an analytic/critical perspective relative to leadership perspectives, theories and concepts.
• Systematically assess individual, group and organization leadership practices and situations.
• Acquire enhanced experience and competency in, and commitment to, personal leadership in relationship, group, organizational, and civic settings.

This class explores facets of patient-provider communication and their impact on patient and provider satisfaction and health outcomes.

 Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Describe characteristics of the U.S. healthcare system and analyze their influence on patient-provider communication.
• Appraise the models of the patient-provider relationship and consider how they have framed patient-provider communication.
• Compare different methodological approaches to studying patient-provider communication (e.g., communication as perceptions, as attitudes, as behavior).
• Identify features of patient-provider communication and social/ecological factors (e.g., technology, medical interpreting, physician training) and explicate their significance for the patient-provider relationship and/or health outcomes.

Application of principles and techniques in a targeted health communication campaign; social norms theory, experiential learning theories, effects of misperceptions on behavior, and needs of special student populations.

 Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Analyze the theoretical and pragmatic bases of health communication campaigns, in general, and dangerous drinking prevention campaigns specifically.
• Describe themselves as products and producers of culture and indicate the implications for them as instruments of both reinforcing and changing the culture of college drinking.
• Apply lessons learned from the scholarly literature on the social norms and brief intervention approaches to prevention of dangerous drinking among college students.
• Explain basic information about addiction and the challenges faced by students in recovery on a college campus.
• Create innovative RU SURE Campaign messages and implement campaign strategies in new locations.