Graduate Academics

COMM#	Course Title	Description
501	COMMUNICATION RESEARCH AND WRITING (3-0-3) (F)	A critical overview of leading theoretical and research traditions in communication studies, with special emphasis on epistemological issues. The course will also examine the application of research to professional environments, civil society and other contexts.
505	THEORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF COMMUNICATION (3-0-3) (S)	An overview of communication studies. The course will emphasize the metaphysical, epistemological, ethical and aesthetic dimensions of various schools of communication thought.
506	INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION (3-0-3) (F)	This course examines the range and variety of theories and research in areas such as attraction, relational development and maintenance, friendship and courtship, inter-racial and same-sex relationships, and relationship decline.
507	ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION (3-0-3) (S)	Graduate-level survey of contemporary theory and research as applied to the study of all types of organizations. This course explores the role of communication in the creation and constitution of organizational reality.
508	MEDIA THEORY AND PRACTICE (3-0-3) (F)	The course examines a broad range of theoretical perspectives on media institutions, practices, and effects. Emphasis is given to the implications of media theory and research for citizens, members of civic and professional organizations who work with media, as well as media practitioners. Course topics may include theory and research regarding the media’s role in education, persuasion, entertainment, socialization, social structure, politics, psychological effects, and business.
509	LEGAL AND ETHICAL ASPECTS OF COMMUNICATION (3-0-3) (S)	Advanced examination of ethical and legal issues facing practitioners and the public. Topics may include First and Fourth Amendment, the right to privacy, censorship, libel and slander, copyright, and media and national security considerations.
510	COMMUNICATION, COMMUNITY AND POLITICS (3-0-3) (F)	This course concentrates on the intersections among theory and practice in communication studies, community organization and political science. It looks at all three in terms of the exercise of power, and the conflicts between autonomy and control in a range of social settings.
511	CRITICAL THEORY (3-0-3) (S	A seminar on the work of the German Frankfurt School and its role in the communication theory of society. Special emphasis on critical epistemology as social theory, the political economy of culture, and discourses growing out of twentieth-century and twenty-first century debates over modernity.
512	CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION (3-0-3) (F)	Advanced studies in current issues and theoretical perspectives in the study of rhetoric, communicative relationships, the art and performance of communication, and intercultural communication. Topics include the history of the terms “culture” and “communication,” and the historical evolution of theoretical perspectives on both terms.
513	PUBLIC RELATIONS (3-0-3) (F)	Advanced studies in public information, investor relations, public affairs, corporate and nonprofit communication, marketing or customer relations, with emphasis on how public relations also helps shape organizations and the way they work. Topics include the history of public relations and the role of research, feedback and evaluation in the design of effective campaigns and messages in an information-rich society.
514	MEDIA WRITING (3-0-3) (S)	An intensive examination of the theory and practice of information-gathering and writing techniques for print and broadcast media. Subjects include strategic and technical writing, business writing, documentation, speeches and integrating the written word with visual design.
580-589	Selected Topics