Southwestern University
2001-2002 Catalog

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COMMUNICATION DEPARTMENT

Division of Social Sciences
Assistant Professor Christine E. Kiesinger, PhD, Chair
Assistant Professor Robert Bednar, PhD
Assistant Professor Julie Thompson, PhD
Assistant Professor David Olson, MA
Instructor Mary Kay Sicola, JD (part-time)
Instructor Eric Van Danen, MA (part-time)

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: Classical Rhetorical Tradition (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 Studies(75-173) 3 hrs
Interpersonal Communication (75-623) 3 hrs
Journalism (75-613) 3 hrs
Rhetorical Theory: Classical Rhetorical Tradition (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. (POK-Aesthetic Experience: Performance)
75-133 INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION STUDIES. This course introduces theoretical and critical perspectives relevant to the study of human communication. A special focus on narrative theory, social constructionism, symbolic interactionism, and qualitative/interpretive research methods grants students an understanding of the role that communication plays in the construction and maintenance of culture and identity.
†75-173 INTRODUCTION TO PERFORMANCE STUDIES. See 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.)
75-483 GENDER, RACE, AND CLASS IN MEDIA. This course introduces the major concepts of a cultural studies approach to critical media literacy by exploring a variety of perspectives on discourses of gender, race, and class in contemporary media and cultural studies. With attention to the three main areas of cultural studies inquiry—political economy, textual analysis, and audience reception—the course is organized around different genres of media where gender, race, and class are actively represented and contested: advertising, pornography, horror movies, romance novels, daytime TV shows, primetime TV shows, music videos, hip-hop music, etc. The course culminates in student research projects, so throughout the course we will introduce and practice critical analytical skills important for doing cultural studies in research on contemporary media texts and contexts. Prerequisites: COM 75-113, COM 75-133. Also Women’s Studies 04-483.
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, public, 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 Athenian context. Students will learn about the Sophistic, Isocratean, Platonic, and Aristotelian traditions. 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 through a semester-long topical case study. The case study topic changes each time the course is offered. Prerequisites: Communication 75-113 and 133. Also Classics 07-573.
75-583 RHETORICAL CRITICISM. This course introduces students to the theory and practice of rhetorical criticism. The course explores different methods or perspectives on the process of identifying , explicating, analyzing, and critiquing the nature and functions of public discourses. Focus on public oratory and film discourses. Prerequisites: COM 75-113, 75-133, and 75-573.
75-593 RHETORIC OF THE “FAMILY”. This course examines selected public controversies in 20th-century American rhetorical culture regarding the “family.” We will examine academic and legal controversies regarding how discourses of fatherhood, motherhood, and reproductive rights incorporate and reflect cultural anxieties about race, class, gender, ability, and sexual orientation. Students will also engage theoretical readings in public argumentation. The course encourages students to think about the “family” as a rhetorical construction. Prerequisites: COM 75-113, 75-133, COM 75-573. Also Women’s Studies 04-583.
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 the nature of close relationships and the unique quality of communication we call interpersonal. Course materials and discussions are designed to stimulate thoughts about the role communication plays in establishing and maintaining identity, intimacy, and close relationships. There is a special focus on lived, emotional experience which invites students to thoughtfully analyze and reflect upon their own significant relationships. Prerequisites: 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) (Alternate years)
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.(Summer)
†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 placed 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 inter-relate 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. Prerequisites: Communication 75-113, 173. See Theatre 73-713 and Women’s Studies 04-713.
75-723 FEMINISM AND PERFORMANCE. Prerequisite: Women’s Studies 04-103. See 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 construction, enactment, and representation of intercultural relations within contemporary United States culture. We will explore such issues as identity and intercultural communication (ICC); history and ICC; language, discourse, and ICC; conflict and culture; and ICC and social justice. We will explore these topics through a critical examination of the role that popular culture plays in constructing and representing intercultural relationships and issues.
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 tele-vision 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.