Recent and Upcoming Course Plan

There are very few required courses in the graduate program in communication. Students are encouraged to design their curricula around their chosen interests and scholarly goals. M.A. and Ph.D students compose a formal "plan of study," after one year of coursework, which must be approved by advisors, faculty supervisory committees, and the graduate director. This plan of study details the particular curriculum each student will accomplish, indicates which classes fulfill particular requirements, and charts a direction for scholarship.

The “Upcoming Course Plan” helps students and faculty anticipate course offerings to design plans of study. This schedule is subject to changes and revisions. Some course titles may be altered when classes appear in the published schedule of courses. Courses marked "(PhD)" are open to doctoral students only and have a cap of 12 students.

Graduate Course Descriptions

COM 5930—Topics in Communication Studies (3)
Topical issues in communication.

COM 6001—Theories and Histories of Communication (3)
Required of all M.A. and Ph.D. students. An introduction to the history and theory of communication as a discipline: its relationship to the arts and sciences, and a survey of the historical development of the field, emphasizing current issues in theory, research, and practice.

COM 6017—Gender in the Workplace (3)
This course focuses on the workplace as a site of gendered communication practices. A variety of work settings will be analyzed in terms of how they construct gender identities, reinforce public-private distinctions and maintain traditional career models.

COM 6025—Health Communication (3)
PR:GS. Application of communication theory and research to the health context including provider-patient communication, health information campaigns and health beliefs and behavior. Special attention to the value issues in health communication.

COM 6045—Communicating Leadership (3)
Effective leadership today focuses less on control and more on the strategic use of communication to build relationships and guide behavior. This course examines the various ways leaders can communicate more effectively in contemporary organizations.

COM 6121—Organizational Communication (3)
A study of communication theory and behavior within organizational settings: role of communication, communication climates, communication networks, leadership.

COM 6248—Historical Perspectives on Communication (3)
Explores prominent figures and theoretical movements in area of Communication (Interpersonal or Organizational Communication, Cultural Studies, Rhetorical Studies, or Performance Studies). [Repeatable for credit as topics vary.]

COM 6306—Action Research (3)
Action research is rooted in engagement, involving collaboration with community or organizational partners who will be affected by the research. Through hands-on projects we learn principles of action research and explore communication and ethical issues.

COM 6313—Interpreting Communication Research (3)
This course is designed to give students tools to help them interpret the mainstream research literature in communication and to judge research on a quality continuum. No assumptions are made about student understanding of quantitative research methods.

COM 6345—Contemporary Cultural Studies (3)
PR:GS. Examines theoretical issues and interpretive approaches for exploring questions of knowledge, identity, experience, meaning and value in modern culture through the study of communication.

COM 6400—Communication Theory (3)
PR:GS. An examination of communication theory through selected reading in the works of major theorists past and present.

COM 6418—Communication and Systems Practice (3)
Systems theories offer possibilities for understanding interconnections and emergence, identities and environments, and stability and change, with communication processes being central. We explore social systems principles by linking theory and praxis.

COM 6605—Media Studies (3)
PR:GS. Study of the impact of mass and mediated forms of communication on individuals, groups, societies, and cultures. Several theoretical and critical perspectives are considered.

COM 6724—Communication Training in Organizations (3)
Provides holistic understanding of how communication training is developed and conducted in organizations. Students learn to assess communication training needs, design/deliver effective communication training programs, and evaluate their effectiveness.

COM 7325—Seminar in Communication Research Methods (3)
Required of all Ph.D. students. Also required of all M.A. students wishing to pursue the thesis option. Examines the research practices and methodologies of communication as a discipline, including bibliographical resources, research designs, research techniques, and forms of scholarly presentation.

COM 7933—Seminar in Communication Studies (3)
PR:GS. Variable topics course.

ORI 5930—Topics in Performance Genres (3)
Variable topics course.

ORI 6018—Performance Art (3)
Explores historical, theoretical, and critical perspectives on performance art in the US.

ORI 6020—Performing Social Resistance (3)
Explores performance as a site of and means for creating social resistance and change.

ORI 6107—Texts in Performance (3)
Explores contemporary literary texts through dramatic analysis, live performance, adaptation and staging strategies.

ORI 6250—Performance and Technology (3)
Explores the relationship between live and mediated performance, the use of media technologies in performance, and the place of live performance in a Western mediated society.

ORI 6435—Performance as Cultural Study (3)
Impact of performance and performance forms as cultural communication. The course examines literary, festive, religious, political and social performance in dialogue with culture.

ORI 6456—Performance Theory (3)
A survey of modern and contemporary approaches to performance as constitutive of identity, verbal art, communication, and culture.

ORI 6506—Performance Criticism (3)
Focuses on the development and honing of critical skills employed in response to performance. These skills can be applied to a multitude of acts and texts.

ORI 6930—Communication Aesthetics (3)
This course examines the historical evolution of the aesthetic dimension of communication as performance in terms of major concepts and theorists from Plato to the present.

ORI 7930—Seminar in Performance Studies (3)
Variable topics course.

SPC 5238—Topics in Rhetorical Analysis (3)
Introduces a variety of critical perspectives applied to rhetoric in specialized contexts. Topics vary depending upon interest of students and faculty.

SPC 5930—Topics in Discourse (3)
Variable topics course.

SPC 6214—Ethnography of Communication (3)
Explores ethnography as an approach to conducting research and a means of theorizing about human communication.

SPC 6231—Survey of Rhetorical Theory (3)
Historical development of rhetorical theory from Plato to contemporary theorists with emphasis upon the evolution of trends and concepts in rhetorical theory.

SPC 6236—Contemporary Rhetorical Theory (3)
PR:GS Basic texts in 20th century rhetorical theory. Readings may vary.

SPC 6391—Interpersonal Communication (3)
Study of theory and research related to interpersonal communication.

SPC 6432—Family Communication (3)
This course examines the family in terms of the patterns of interaction through which meanings are produced. Family communication concepts and theories will be introduced as they relate to diverse family forms and experiences.

SPC 6545—Persuasion (3)
Study of contemporary theories and research in persuasion.

SPC 6645—Rhetoric in Society (3)
Examination of ways in which rhetoric reflects and molds social processes, including social integration and/or alienation; social roles and identity construction; institutions and movements; ideology and social change.

SPC 6682—Rhetorical Criticism (3)
The study of theoretical perspectives in rhetorical criticism. The application of criticism to selected rhetorical situations.

SPC 6726—Communication in Close Relationships (3)
Interpersonal and intersubjective processes involved in the development of close personal relationships. Includes studies and personal experiences that cut across historical, therapeutic, spiritual, philosophical, literary, and cinematic perspectives.

SPC 6728—Communicating Grief, Loss, and Illness (3)
Examines how illness and loss disrupt our stories of self and relationships and lead to construction of new stories, also cultural patterns of stories. Topics include critical illness and relationships, dying, bodies, emotions, caregiving, aging, and divorce.

SPC 6903—Directed Readings (1-4)
PR:CC.

SPC 6913—Directed Research (1-4)
PR:ML,CC. S/U.

SPC 6934—Selected Topics in Communication (1-4)

SPC 6935—Pro Seminar in Communication
Reading and discussion of current books, articles, and papers in communication theory and research.

SPC 6971—Thesis: Masters (1-19)
PR:CC S/U.

SPC 7900—Doctoral Research Tutorial (1-3)
PR:Admitted to doctoral program. Advance directed research.

SPC 7930—Seminar in Rhetorical Studies (3)
PR:GS Variable topics course.

SPC 7980—Dissertation: Doctoral (1-19)
PR:Admission to candidacy.

SYA 6205—Social Construction of Reality (3)
Evolution of the concept of social construction; emphasizes the consequences of understanding lived experiences and discursive representations as social constructions. Topics include depression, child abuse, masculinity/femininity, and sexual harassment.