An introduction to concepts and principles that are fundamental to understanding the dynamics and consequences of communication. School of Communications majors must take COM 101 within the first three semesters of declaring their major. Offered every semester.
Spring/Summer 2026 - Online
Introduction to the theory and practice of speech with an emphasis on the development of public speaking skills. The class emphasizes kinds of speeches, audiences, organization, delivery, and critical assessment of speech performances. Fulfills one of the Social and Behavioral Sciences requirements. Offered every semester.
Winter 2026 - Online
Practice in the art of reading and listening with understanding. Stresses interpretation as an activity common to the writer, speaker, reader, and listener. Fulfills General Education Foundations - Philosophy and Literature. Offered fall and winter semesters.
A general systems approach applied to understanding the interplay of individuals, institutions, audiences, purposes, and tasks relevant to the health communication professional. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.
Winter 2026 - Online Spring/Summer 2026 - Online
How to create a story, scene, or image in your mind and render it in a variety of modes: oral story, written story, one-shot image told verbally, short script, previsualization for media, previsualization for dance, etc. Course includes discussion of the nature of narrative. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisite: Fulfillment of General Education Foundations - Writing.
A critical survey of major theories of human communication. Analysis and application of concepts from representative primary sources to understand what they presuppose, say, and imply about the nature of communication. Offered every semester. Prerequisite: COM 101.
A survey of qualitative methods and ethical research practices in the field of communication. Topics may include ethnography, interviews, focus groups, content analysis, and/or textual analysis. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisite: COM 101 or permission of the instructor.
A survey of quantitative methods and ethical research practices in the field of communication. Topics may include surveys, experiments, content analysis, and data analysis. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisite: STA 215.
This course introduces students to the ways culture, communication, and identity influence one another. Students will learn about the theories, traditions, new technologies and societal structures which nuance and shape our intercultural experiences in domestic and global contexts. Course topics may include race, language, national identity, gender, sexuality, religion. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisite: Junior standing.
An upper-division course for the study of communications ethics. Students explore how language and innocence are mutually exclusive, examine how rhetoric, ideology, and information bear upon social and personal evil, and consider ethics issues relating specifically to communicative media. Focus is directed to the assessment and development of ethical sense-making. Part of the Identity Issue. Offered winter semester. Prerequisite: Junior standing.
Selected communications theories are examined in the context of contemporary issues/questions. Seminar-style analysis and application of concepts based on readings selected to support discussions about one or more current critical issues in communication. Topics vary with instructor/semester. Offered every semester. Prerequisites: Senior standing and School of Communications major.
A study of special topics not regularly covered in the curriculum. Prerequisite: Admission into the Master of Science in communications.
