Initial Requirements
COMM 1010 - Introduction to Communication Studies
Examination of how communication principles and skills influence our understanding of current social problems such as global climate crisis, health care, and poverty. Focus on communication and community engagement includes experimental learning with community partners. Oral communication skills and collaborative group building skills are emphasized.
COMM 1440 - Honors Classical Argument
Uses of argument in rational decision-making based on classical theories of reason. Elements of argument, classical foundations of argument and contemporary application of argument principles.
COMM 2020 - Interpersonal Communication
Introduction to interpersonal communication research results and theories with application in two-person and small group relationships in a variety of human communication contexts.
COMM 2040 - Public Speaking
Introduction to principles of and practice in preparing public speaking speeches. Stresses the role of public speaking in democratic decision-making.
COMM 2060 - Performance of Literature
Performance as a method of textual study. An introduction to the theory and practice of analyzing, rehearsing and performing non-dramatic texts. Recommended for elementary education majors.
COMM 2140 - Advocating in Public
Introduction to the critical dimensions of rhetoric and argument through presentation and evaluation of public discourse. Balanced attention to the theory and practice enabling students to analyze the persuasive function of public discourse; to discuss the role of audience in the construction of public discourse; and to develop skills for constructing, supporting, and evaluating public discourse.
COMM 3010 - Communication Perspectives
Prereqs: Non-Majors: Non-Majors are ineligible for enrollment in COMM 3010
Majors: COMM 1010 and two of the three 2000-level courses required for the pre-major (2020, 2060, 2140)
Intensive research and writing course in which students learn concepts and skills necessary to review communication research, engage in critical research about communication phenomena and write a research proposal. This course must be taken prior to or concurrently with a student's first enrollment in upper-division COMM courses. A student who fails to complete the course successfully after two attempts (either through withdrawal or failure to achieve a grade of C or better) will not be permitted to enroll in subsequent semesters.
Major Courses (Divided by Area of Interest)
Interpersonal, Digital & Organizational
COMM 3120 - Nonverbal Communication
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2020
Majors: COMM 3010
Applications of research and theory in understanding the impact of nonverbal communication in a variety of human contexts.
COMM 3220 - Health Communication
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2020
Majors: COMM 3010
Communication in medical settings; origins, nature and impact of communication practices and beliefs in the health-care delivery system; role of interaction on human well-being.
COMM 3320 - Communication and Conflict Management
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2020, AECO 4000, AECO 4020, or AECO 4120
Majors: COMM 3010
Examination of the role of communication in the effective management of conflict and introduction to basic mediation topics such as gender, intercultural and nonverbal communication. Study of conflict in various common contexts: intrapersonal, interpersonal, group and organizational.
COMM 3420 - Communication and New Technology
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2020
Majors: COMM 3010
Examination of communication in technologically mediated environments. Emphasis on how these environments affect impression formation and management, deception and trust, attraction and relationship formation, group dynamics, social support and networking, community building, etc.
COMM 3520 - Advanced Interpersonal Communication
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2020
Majors: COMM 3010
Advanced study of interpersonal communication research, focusing on theory and application in a variety of contexts.
COMM 3620 - Intercultural Communication
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2020
Majors: COMM 3010
Knowledge and skills designed to increase intercultural communication competence. Investigation into the ways in which culture interrelates with and affects communication processes. Examines affective, behavioral and cognitive processes involved in intercultural learning.
COMM 3720 - Small Group Communication
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2020 or PSYC 2650
Majors: COMM 3010
Theory, research and laboratory experience in small group communication; problems in group discussion; decision-making techniques.
COMM 3920 - Organizational Communication
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2020, PSYC 3520, MGMT 3820, MGMT 4460, or MGMT 4470
Majors: COMM 3010
Principles of communication applied in the organizational environment. Focus upon diagnosis, analysis, and resolution methods related to communication-based problems with organizations.
COMM 4020 - Communication Theory
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2020
Majors: COMM 3010
Process of theory construction with particular emphasis on human communication, elements and types of theories, theoretical logics, and metatheoretical perspectives toward communication, and specific content theories of communication.
COMM 4120 - Communication and Sport
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2020
Majors: COMM 3010
Examination of sport communication research from three perspectives: (1) a practical perspective aimed at improving performance, (2) an interpretive perspective addressing how participants make sense of their participation, and (3) a critical perspective interrogating problematic aspects of sport, including issues of gender, race, and class.
COMM 4320 - Communications and Virtual Gaming
Exploration of fundamental concepts related to games and gamers from socio-cultural, psychological and technological viewpoints. Explores the role of gaming technologies in communication, focusing on how they change the nature of communication and their impacts on people's lives and on society, and develops analytical abilities for examining games and gaming technology.
COMM 4420 - Communication and Relational Development
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2020
Majors: COMM 3010
The role of communication processes in initiating, developing, defining, maintaining and dissolving various forms of human relationships. Examines the nature of communication in a variety of relational contexts.
COMM 4829 - Topics in Interpersonal/Organizational Communication
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2020
Majors: COMM 3010
Rotating topics in interpersonal communication, organizational communication, or communication research methods. Previously offered classes include:
· Leadership and Communication
· Communication and Virtual Gaming
· Sports Communication
· Social Media
Performance Studies
COMM 3260 - Storytelling, Narrative, & Everyday Life
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2060 or THEA 1050
Majors: COMM 3010
Investigation of the role of story in the formation of identity and culture, as well as exploration of the narrative structure of everyday life.
COMM 3265 - Topics in Storytelling
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2060 or THEA 1050
Majors: COMM 3010
Understanding how the art of storytelling influences and supports the development of diverse cultures. Comparison and contrast of storytelling traditions of at least three different groups related by geography (i.e. Americas, Asia or Africa) or topic (fairy tales, family stories or creation myths). Performance and analysis of narratives develops performance skills and sharpens critical thinking skills. Provides opportunities to participate in performances as a researcher, adapter, performer and critic.
COMM 3760 - Performance Methods
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2060 or THEA 1050
Majors: COMM 3010
Advanced topics in individual performance as a method of textual study as well as theory and practice in individual performance as an aesthetic event and as a rhetorical and social act.
COMM 3865 - Adaptation and Staging
Adaptation and staging for performance. Focus on the visual language of stage composition, adaptation and staging non-dramatic materials, examinations of the roles of the director, actor and audience member.
COMM 4060 - Performance Theory
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2060 + 3760 or 3860
Majors: COMM 3010
Examination and comparison of text-centered, performer-centered and audience-centered theories of performance; functions of performance; and methods for evaluating performance.
COMM 4065 - 20th Century Performance Styles
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2060 or THEA 1050
Majors: COMM 3010
Examination of the evolution of performance philosophies, techniques, and conventions that provided the foundation for contemporary theory and practice of the academic discipline of performance studies. Students engage 20th century traditions through discussion, analysis, and performance.
COMM 4160 - Intertextuality and Performance
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2060 or THEA 1050
Majors: COMM 3010
Examination of the myriad relationships that obtain among texts in both the consumption of existing texts and the production of original texts through the processes of questioning, parodying, rewriting, and critiquing these texts through the processes of performance.
COMM 4260 - Performance and Culture
Prereqs: Non-Majors: None
Majors: COMM 3010
Examination of the role of performance in cultures. Research and analysis of texts and performance practices among various ethnic and cultural group
COMM 4360 - Performance Composition
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2060 + 3760 or 3860; or THEA 1050 + 2351
Majors: COMM 3010
Contemporary performance practices as critical and persuasive tools. Develops skills in reading, writing, analyzing and performing a broad range of texts to acquaint students with the variety of methods whereby performances can be composed.
COMM 4460 - Performance Art
Survey of historical and contemporary avant-garde performance art. Examination of historical and contemporary movements to develop a critical lens and vocabulary for composing performances.
COMM 4869 - Topics in Performance Studies
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2060 + 3760 or 3860; or THEA 1050 + 2351
Majors: COMM 3010
Rotating topics may include: performance of particular genres, including poetry narrative, drama or non-literary texts; performance methods, including thematic approaches to performance or historical styles of performance; or theoretical issues in performance, including narrative theory, intertextuality or New Historicism. Previously offered classes include:
· Tourism, Performance, and Culture
· Performative Writing
· Nonwestern Performance Practice
· Intertextuality and Performance
Rhetorical Studies
COMM 3340 - Methods of Rhetorical Criticism
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2140
Majors: COMM 3010
Survey of significant methodologies available to rhetorical critics. Emphasis on the critical abilities necessary to describe, explain, analyze, and evaluate symbolic influence in the public sphere.
COMM 3440 - Public Address Studies
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2140
Majors: COMM 3010
Major theories of public address and the critical assessment of selected persuasive addresses in the public arena.
COMM 3840 - Argumentation and Debate
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2040 or 2140
Majors: COMM 3010
Theory, research and practice in developing and presenting arguments on public policy issues; reasoning, strategy and oral advocacy.
COMM 4040 - Rhetorical Theory
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2140
Majors: COMM 3010
A study of rhetorical traditions that provide useful insights into how individuals engage in rhetorical transactions.
COMM 4140 - Gender and Communication
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2140 or WMST 2100
Majors: COMM 3010
Gender & Communication explores connections between gender, rhetoric, and public culture. Critiquing rhetorical constructions of gender expectations in U.S. discourses, especially as they intersect with race, class, and sexualities, this course offers students the opportunity to study a range of public rhetorics including protests, legislative policies, speeches, movies, poetry, television, and music.
COMM 4240 - Rhetoric and Popular Culture
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2140
Majors: COMM 3010
Consequences of discourse on popular culture. May include communication throughout the life cycle, rhetorical creation and maintenance of social movements, international and intercultural rhetoric, feminist rhetorical criticism, ideological criticism, the rhetorical aspects of popular culture and the grounds for the criticism of culture from a rhetorical perspective.
COMM 4340 - Rhetoric and Politics
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2140
Majors: COMM 3010
Rhetoric of political campaigns, presidential rhetoric, legal communication, and the rhetorical creation, maintenance, use and legitimization of symbolic power.
COMM 4440 - Landscapes of Public Memory
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2140
Majors: COMM 3010
This course examines contemporary locations and landscapes of public memory. The course begins with the fundamental assumption that contemporary rhetoric plays a primary role in shaping individuals' experiences with public (memory) spaces. In this class we will explore particularly salient locations of public memory and investigate how one's experience and understanding of such places is rhetorically informed.
COMM 4540 - Communication Theories of Sexuality
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2140
Majors: COMM 3010
This course examines the ways in which sexuality is constituted through (public) discourses. Students will learn how to use critical theories to investigate rhetorics that sustain multiple and intersecting sexual identities and gender performances; and apply what they have learned to their everyday experiences with popular culture. Topics to be addressed include the rhetorical construction and disciplining of heteronormativity, heterosexual and queer sexualities, as well as performances of masculinity and femininity.
COMM 4640 - Latin@ Rhetorics
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2140
Majors: COMM 3010
This course examines the ways in which discourse is created, circulates, and constitutes contemporary understandings of "Latin@-ness" in the United States. Students will learn how to use a critical rhetorical lens to investigate how Latin@ identity, community, and politics have come to be meaningful in the contemporary United States. Topics to be addressed include histories of Latin@ experience in the United States, (interscting) performances/expressions of Latin@ identity, borders/bordering, and popular representations of Latin@s.
COMM 4849 - Topics in Rhetorical Studies
Prereqs: Non-Majors: COMM 2140
Majors: COMM 3010
Investigation of various topics related to the study of humans using symbolic discourse to influence others. Theory and application using qualitative and historical/critical methodologies. Previous classes offered include:
· Mythic Rhetoric of the American Superhero
· Visual Rhetoric
· Rhetoric of Social Movements
· Feminist Activism and Social Movements
· Coaching Forensics
Capstone and General Communication
COMM 4510 - Communication Capstone
Prereqs: Senior standing
A capstone study of communication principles and practices. Students examine and practice the knowledge and skill sets that employers have identified as central to the success of college students hired in their organizations: oral presentation, listening, teamwork, critical thinking/problem solving, communication technology application, and professionalization.
Please email COMMAdvising to set up an appointment with an advisor to learn more.
