Southwestern University
2000-2001 Catalog

Assistant Professor Christine E. Kiesinger, PhD, Chair
Assistant Professor Robert Bednar, PhD
Assistant Professor Julie Thompson, PhD
Instructor Lisa Romig, MA (part-time)
Visiting Instructor David Olson, MA

Communication is an inherently interdisciplinary subject of study. Thus, this department seeks to expose students to the diverse approaches represented in the field, including the social scientific, the humanistic, and the aesthetic traditions. At the level of practice, the department emphasizes five primary life skills: writing, speaking, critical thinking, interpersonal interaction, and discourse analysis.

The Communication major requires a total of 30 hours, comprised of 21 core hours and 9 elective hours:

Public Speaking (75-113) 3 hrs

Introduction to Communication Studies (75-133) 3 hrs

Interpersonal Communication (75-623) 3 hrs

Journalism (75-613) or Advanced Composition (10-413) 3 hrs

Rhetorical Theory (75-573) 3 hrs

Mass Communication (75-683) 3 hrs

Capstone Experience (75-943, 953) 3 hrs

75-series electives 9 hrs

Public Speaking (75-113) and Introduction to Communication Studies (75-133) are prerequisites for all upper-level courses in the department.

Because Communication relates to and enhances virtually all areas of knowledge, Communication majors are encouraged to pursue double majors. The Communication major is a natural companion to English, Theatre, Political Science, History, Philosophy, Religion, Sociology, Psychology, advanced language study, and Business. Furthermore, it provides a valuable complement to other majors in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and the fine arts.

Communication graduates are prepared for a wide array of careers that emphasize effective human interaction: law, education, management, politics and government service, the ministry, marketing, print and electronic journalism, public relations, technical writing, and communication consulting. Students obtaining certification in the Communication teaching field (to be completed in conjunction with the requirements of the Department of Education) are required to complete the following courses:

Public Speaking (75-113) 3 hrs

Introduction to Communication Studies (75-133) 3 hrs

Introduction to Performance (75-173) 3 hrs

Interpersonal Communication (75-623) 3 hrs

Journalism (75-613) 3 hrs

Rhetorical Theory (75-573) 3 hrs

Mass Communication (75-683) 3 hrs

Narrative Communication (75-653) 3 hrs

A minor in Communication may be obtained by completing 18 semester hours of Communication, 12 semester hours of which must be above the introductory level. The Communication minor may be taken in conjunction with any other major program.

Communication (COM)

75-113 PUBLIC SPEAKING. Through a wide variety of speaking formats, students will become more comfortable with the inherently uncomfortable situation of speaking to persuade before a critical audience. This introductory course approaches the speech of advocacy as a means of social analysis.

75-133 INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION STUDIES. This course provides an introduction to the field of communication. Particular emphasis is placed on communication theory and research methodology. Both the social scientific and humanistic traditions are explored.

†75-173 INTRODUCTION TO PERFORMANCE STUDIES. This course focuses on performance as an activity which can lead to enhanced literary and cultural analysis and understanding. Topics and activities include everyday life performance, improvisation, theatrical performance, cultural performance, and the performance of non-dramatic literature. (Formerly Oral Interpretation) Also Theatre 73-173 and Women’s Studies 04-173. (POK-Aesthetic Experience: Performance)

75-463 ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION. An investigation of the communication patterns of a wide variety of organizations, both public and private. Organizing is viewed as a dynamic process of communication. Particular emphasis is placed on organizational culture and the analysis of case studies. Prerequisites: Communication 75-113, 133. (Alternate years.)

75-563 COMMUNICATION, GENDER, AND IDENTITY. This course explores the role communication plays in the construction of identity and gender. Issues of identity and gender are analyzed and discussed as they are played out in interpersonal, organization, educational, and mass media contexts. Prerequisites: Communication 75-113 and 75-133. Also Women’s Studies 04-563.

75-573 RHETORICAL THEORY: CLASSICAL RHETORICAL TRADITIONS. This course introduces students to general principles of rhetorical theory and practice through critical examination of competing orientations to persuasion in the classical Greek and Roman texts. In the classical Green tradition, students will learn about the Sophists, Isocrates, Plato, and Aristotle; in the Roman tradition, Cicero, Quintilian, and Longinus. The course provides students with a critical vocabulary of concepts that will be useful in the exploration and analysis of the ethical and civic-minded production and consumption of public argument. The course requires students to examine and articulate the multiple ways that course concepts relate to contemporary social and political conditions. Prerequisites: Communication 75-113 and 133. Also Classics 07-573.

75-613 JOURNALISM. This writing-intensive course considers the character, purposes, and subject matter of newspaper features stories and magazine articles. Prerequisites: Communication 75-113 and 133.

75-623 INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION. This course explores how communication affects human relationships, particularly person-to-person communication. Communication is viewed as a transactional process involving verbal and nonverbal cues. Particular emphasis is placed on the analysis of relational challenges and the development of effective interpersonal skills. Prerequisite: Communication 75-113, 133.

†75-653 NARRATIVE COMMUNICATION. This course features the art of narration, particularly the genres of fiction, autobiography, and documentary. Primary emphasis will be placed on aesthetic issues. Prerequisites: Communication 75-113, 133, 623. Communication 75-573 is recommended. (POK-Aesthetic Experience: Lecture)

75-663 RELATIONSHIPS ON FILM. This course explores interpersonal relationships as depicted in popular film. Films are treated as texts to be read, engaged, and critically analyzed as a means of exploring certain relational concepts, issues, and dilemmas. Additionally, this course investigates the way that popular film often constructs and impacts one’s relational experiences. Prerequisites: 75-113, 133, 623.

†75-683 MASS COMMUNICATION. This course provides an introduction to the critical cultural study of the political economy, history, and functions of the major institutions involved in the production of mass media communication. Special emphasis is place on the standard production practices of mass media industries that produce the media texts that surround us in our everyday lives within contemporary mass society: newspapers, radio, sound recordings, television, film, books, advertisements, public relations, and Internet web sites. With a secondary emphasis on regulation, public policy, media ethics, and media effects research, we also will explore how these institutionalized communication practices and organizations interrelate with other social institutions such as the government, the judiciary, education, business, and public interest groups. Prerequisites: Communication 75-113, 133. (POK-American and Western Cultural Heritage)

75-693 ADVANCED RELATIONSHIP STUDIES. This special topics course extends the basic theories, concepts, and issues introduced in the Interpersonal Communication course and aims to deepen understandings of the complexities of close emotional relationships. Topic areas include, but are not limited to: communication and the negotiation of commitment, the social construction of marriage, relational dialectics, the communication of emotions, and managing conflict through dialogue. Prerequisites: 75-113, 133, 623.

75-713 ADVANCED PERFORMANCE STUDIES. A course which focuses on performance as a field of knowledge and a way of knowing. Topics will include cultural performance, literary performance, and performance art. Prerequisites: Communication 75-113, 173. Also Theatre 73-713 and Women’s Studies 04-713.

75-723 FEMINISM AND PERFORMANCE. A course focusing on the ways culture has constructed the performance of gender on stage, in everyday life, and in the media. Prerequisite: Women’s Studies 04-103. Also Theatre 73-723 and Women’s Studies 04-723.

75-733 FAMILY COMMUNICATION. This course examines communicative dynamics and patterns particular to families. Topic areas include family systems theory, narrative family analysis, family structures, rules, roles, and the development of effective family communicative practices. Prerequisites: Communication 75-113, 133, 623.

75-743 COMMUNICATION, TECHNOLOGY, AND CULTURE. This course explores the multi-layered historical and contemporary interplay of culture, communication, and technology. The course constructs a systematic picture of how and why oral, manuscript, print, electric, electronic, and digital media have been introduced, articulated, and maintained in specific cultural contexts, placing special emphasis on the ways that cultures shape their media and the ways that media shape their cultures. Prerequisites: Communication 75-113, 133.

†75-753 INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION. This course examines the relationships between culture and communication and the various dynamics that influence interactions in multicultural contexts, including Eastern and Western cultures. An emphasis is placed on the awareness of self as cultural being and tolerance for ambiguity. Prerequisites: Communication 75-113, 133. (POK-Other Cultures and Civilizations) (Alternate years)

75-783 ADVANCED MASS COMMUNICATION. This course explores approaches to the production and analysis of visual media texts that have emerged in the fields of visual communication, media studies, visual culture, and cultural studies. Attention is directed to the major products of mass media industries–especially advertisements, film, fiction/nonfiction television programs, and web sites–but also to popular forms of photography, desktop publishing, multimedia, technical illustrations, and educational materials. Writing and production techniques are incorporated through individual and group projects and culminate in the collaborative production of a virtual exhibit of student web page projects. Prerequisites: Communication 75-113, 133, 683.

75-943 ACADEMIC INTERNSHIP. Must be taken on a Pass/D/F basis. In normal circumstances, may be repeated only once for credit.

75-301, 302, 303 SELECTED TOPICS. May be repeated with change in content.

75-951, 952, 953 INDEPENDENT STUDY. May be repeated with change in content.

75-983 HONORS.