COMM -- Communication

COMM 400 Research Methods in Communication (3) Prerequisite: COMM 250 and an introductory course in statistics. Formerly SPCH 400. Philosophy of scientific method; role of theory; research ethics; empirical research methods (measurement, sampling, design, analysis).

COMM 401 Interpreting Strategic Discourse (3) Formerly SPCH 401. Principles and approaches for practical analysis of discourse designed to shape audience opinion.

COMM 402 Communication Theory and Process (3) Recommended: COMM 250. Formerly SPCH 402. Philosophical and conceptual analysis of communication theories.

COMM 420 Theories of Group Discussion (3) Formerly SPCH 420. Current theory, research and techniques regarding small group process. Group dynamics, leadership and decision-making.

COMM 422 Communication Management (3) Formerly SPCH 422. Communication policies, plans, channels, and practices in the management of the communication function in organizations.

COMM 423 Communication Processes in Conferences (3) Formerly SPCH 423. Group participation in conferences, methods of problem solving, semantic aspects of language, and the function of conferences in business, industry and government settings.

COMM 424 Communication in Complex Organizations (3) Formerly SPCH 424. Structure and function of communication within organizations: organizational climate and culture, information flow, networks and role relationships.

COMM 425 Negotiation and Conflict Management (3) Formerly SPCH 425. Role of communication in shaping negotiation and conflict processes and outcomes.

COMM 426 Conflict Management (3) Recommended: COMM 425, COMM 250, and COMM 402. Formerly SPCH 426. Role of communication in managing conflict processes.

COMM 435 Theories of Interpersonal Communication (3) Prerequisite: COMM 400 or permission of department. Formerly SPCH 435. Major theoretical approaches and research trends in the study of interpersonal communication.

COMM 453 The Power of Discourse in American Life (3) Formerly SPCH 453. The potential of language forms and strategic discourse to create, perpetuate, and alter patterns of political and cultural behavior. The influence of contemporary political and cultural discourse on public understanding, public policy, and day-to-day life.

COMM 455 Speechwriting (3) Formerly SPCH 455. The study of message strategies in order to research and develop effective speech texts appropriate to speakers and their audiences in various public contexts.

COMM 460 Public Life in American Communities, 1634-1900 (3) Formerly SPCH 460. Ways that Americans have used their voice to create public life. Focus is on the diverse social communities that have characterized American life and the place and characteristics of oral discourse in each.

COMM 461 Voices of Public Leadership in the Twentieth Century (3) Formerly SPCH 461. Study of the use of speaking in the power struggles of the twentieth century. Focus is on important speakers of the century, their social and policy influence, and the struggle to expand the diversity of voices with power in the public sphere.

COMM 469 The Discourse of Social Movements (3) Recommended: COMM 401. Junior standing. Repeatable to 6 credits if content differs. Formerly SPCH 469. Study of key social movements that have influenced American social and political life. In alternate years the Civil Rights Movement and the Rhetoric of Women's Suffrage and Abolitionism. Consideration of how groups excluded from or marginalized in American political life affect social change.

COMM 470 Listening (3) Formerly SPCH 470. The principles of listening behavior.

COMM 471 Public Communication Campaigns (3) Prerequisite: COMM 200 or permission of department. Formerly SPCH 471. Diffusion theory and its implications for public communication campaigns.

COMM 472 Nonverbal Communication (3) Formerly SPCH 472. Nonverbal communication in human interaction theory and research on proxemics, kinesics and paralanguage as expression of relationship, affect and orientation within and across cultures.

COMM 475 Persuasion (3) Formerly SPCH 475. Bases of persuasion with emphasis on recent experimental developments in persuasion.

COMM 476 Language, Communication, and Action (3) Formerly SPCH 476. The nature of communication as symbolic action. Topics include language, meaning, intention, understanding, and consequences of communication.

COMM 477 Discourse Analysis (3) Formerly SPCH 477. Concepts of textual and discourse analysis applied to speech situations.

COMM 478 Communication Colloquium (1) Repeatable to 4 credits if content differs. Formerly SPCH 478. Current trends and issues in the field of communication, stressing recent research methods. Recommended for senior and graduate student majors and minors in communication.

COMM 482 Intercultural Communication (3) Formerly SPCH 482. The major variables of communication in an intercultural context: cultural, racial and national differences; stereotypes; values; cultural assumptions; and verbal and nonverbal channels.

COMM 488 Communication Portfolio Project (1) Senior standing. For COMM majors only. Repeatable to 3 credits if content differs. Formerly SPCH 488. Preparation of the professional communication portfolio.

COMM 489 Topical Research (1-3) Prerequisite: permission of department. Repeatable to 6 credits if content differs. Formerly SPCH 489. Individualized research projects conducted with a faculty sponsor.

COMM 498 Seminar (3) Prerequisite: permission of instructor. Senior standing. Formerly SPCH 498. Present-day communication research.

COMM 600 Empirical Research in Communication (3) Formerly SPCH 600.

COMM 601 Historical-Critical Research in Communication (3) Formerly SPCH 601. Intense study in critical and historical methodology as applicable to research in communication. Emphasis will be placed on the composition and the evaluation of historical-critical studies of significance in the field of rhetorical communication scholarship.

COMM 626 Conflict Management (3) Formerly SPCH 626. Role of communication in managing conflict processes.

COMM 628 Organization Communication: Research and Intervention (3) Prerequisite: COMM 424 or permission of instructor. Repeatable to 6 credits if content differs. Formerly SPCH 628. The role of the internal and external communication consultant as an organizational change-agent. Emphasis upon data gathered to facilitate the communication development of the organization.

COMM 650 Classical and Medieval Rhetorical Theory (3) Formerly SPCH 650. Rhetorical theory of the classical and medieval periods from Isocrates to Robert of Basevorn.

COMM 651 Renaissance and Modern Rhetorical Theory (3) Formerly SPCH 651. Rhetorical theory of the renaissance and modern periods - especially in Britain. Thomas Wilson, Richard Sherry, Henry Peacham, Richard Rainolde, Anthony Mundy, Angel Day, Andreas Hyperius, Leonard Cox, Peter Ramus, Omer Talon, Francis Bacon, Blaise Pascal, Antoine Arnauld, Bernard Lamy, Francois Fenelon, John Ward, John Lawson, Thomas Sheridan, George Campbell, Hugh Blair, Richard Whately, David Hume, and Thomas DeQuincey.

COMM 652 Contemporary Rhetorical Theory (3) Formerly SPCH 652. A study of twentieth century theories of rhetoric. Special attention will be devoted to Richard Weaver, Kenneth Burke, Lloyd Bitzer, Ernest Bormann, Walter Fisher, and the continental theorists of communication such as Chaim Perelman and Jurgen Habermas.

COMM 655 Seminar in Speechwriting (3) Formerly SPCH 655. Theoretical and practical aspects of speechwriting at an advanced level.

COMM 670 Seminar in Listening Behavior (3) Prerequisite: COMM 470 or permission of instructor. Formerly SPCH 670. A study of research in and measurement of listening behavior.

COMM 680 Communication Programs in Education and Training (3) Formerly SPCH 680. An analysis of instructional development in communication. Instructional objectives, strategies and evaluation are applied to educational, corporate and industrial training programs.

COMM 681 Communication Issues in Human Resource Development (3) Formerly SPCH 681. Research in and theory of contemporary communication issues in the human resource development of governmental, corporate, business organizations.

COMM 682 Seminar in Intercultural Communication (3) Formerly SPCH 682. Intercultural communication with an emphasis on the rhetoric of other cultures, barriers to effective intercultural communication, and interracial communication.

COMM 686 Teaching Communication (1) Formerly SPCH 686. Principles of effective teaching--content and process--in the college communication classroom.

COMM 688 Communication Field Experience (1-6) Prerequisite: permission of instructor. Formerly SPCH 688. Applications of communication principles and research in professional communication settings.

COMM 698 Special Problems in Communication (1-3) Formerly SPCH 698.

COMM 700 Introduction to Doctoral Studies in Communication (3) Prerequisite: admission to the Ph.D. program in COMM. Formerly SPCH 700. Basic skills in communication research.

COMM 701 Quantitative Methods in Communication Research (3) Prerequisite: COMM 700. Formerly SPCH 701. Logic and methods of quantitative data collection and statistical analysis as applied to communication studies. Research strategies for communications: experimentation, survey research, field research, and content analysis.

COMM 702 Intermediate Quantitative Data Analysis in Communication Research:  The General Linear Model (3) Prerequisite: COMM 700 or permission of instructor. Formerly SPCH 702. Data analysis in current communication research. Techniques include regression, correlation, factor analysis, matrix algebra, covariance structure, and path diagrams. Students will be expected to have completed a methods course and a statistics course or tested equivalent competencies.

COMM 703 Advanced Quantitative Data Analysis in Communication Research: Structural Equation Models (3) Prerequisites: COMM 702 and permission of instructor. Formerly SPCH 703. Model evaluation and theory construction in communication research. Causal systems in current communication research: recursive, nonrecursive, and unobserved variable models. Students must have a dissertation research project requiring quantitative methods.

COMM 711 Qualitative Research Methods in Communication Research (3) Prerequisite: COMM 700 or permission of instructor. Formerly SPCH 711. Methods for historical, critical, and field research in communication. Formulation of significant research questions, systematic collection of bibliographic and phenomenal information, formulating substantial claims, organizing and writing research for disciplinary outlets.

COMM 712 Advanced Historical/Critical Methods in Communication Research (3) Prerequisites: COMM 711 and permission of instructor. Formerly SPCH 712. Critical assessment of qualitative approaches to communication. Introduction to significant schools of historical and critical research. Advanced techniques for inquiry and manuscript preparation. Students must have dissertation research project requiring historical or critical method.

COMM 720 Seminar in Small Group Communication (3) Formerly SPCH 720. Small group communication theory, research, and applications.

COMM 724 Seminar in Organizational Communication (3) Prerequisite: permission of instructor. Formerly SPCH 724. Theories and problems of human communication within, between, and/or among formal organizations will be emphasized.

COMM 730 Seminar in Health Communication (3) Formerly SPCH 730. Communication processes in health care and promotion.

COMM 758 Seminar in Rhetorical Theory (3) Prerequisite: COMM 460, COMM 461, or COMM 450. Repeatable to 12 credits if content differs. Formerly SPCH 758. Examination of selected theories of style drawn from the fields of rhetoric and literature, and analysis of model speeches.

COMM 760 Seminar in Political Communication (3) Prerequisite: COMM 601 or permission of instructor. Formerly SPCH 760. A blend of theory and practice to integrate rhetorical-critical theory and empirical methods with politics. Practitioners in political communication will be drawn in as resource persons. Students will map the communication strategy for candidates and analyze actual campaign strategies.

COMM 768 Seminar in Public Address (3) Repeatable to 12 credits if content differs. Formerly SPCH 768. An in-depth study of national and international speakers and issues throughout the history of the spoken word. Emphasis will be placed upon the application of rhetorical principles to the analysis of world speakers and their speeches.

COMM 775 Seminar in Persuasion and Attitude Change (3) Formerly SPCH 775. This seminar will concentrate on the problem of making message strategy decisions. Course content will consist of study of both theoretical and empirical research on attitude and attitude change in persuasive communication.

COMM 776 Seminar in Interpersonal Communication (3) Formerly SPCH 776. Interpersonal communication theory, research, and practice.

COMM 798 Independent Study (1-3) Prerequisite: permission of instructor. Formerly SPCH 798. An individual course designed for intensive study or research of problems in communication.

COMM 799 Master's Thesis Research (1-6) Formerly SPCH 799.

COMM 888 Doctoral Practicum in Communication (3-9) Repeatable to 9 credits if content differs. Formerly SPCH 888. Analysis of professional activity through personal observation. Evaluation of the purpose, process, effectiveness, and efficiency of professional activity. Recommendations for training and further research.

COMM 889 Doctoral Tutorial in Communication (3-9) Repeatable to 9 credits if content differs. Formerly SPCH 889. Individual research in communication.

COMM 899 Doctoral Dissertation Research (1-8) Formerly SPCH 899.