COMM 190 Public Speaking
4 hours
Staff
Prerequisite: None
This course addresses basic theoretical principles of effective public speaking necessary for pluralistic audiences, concentrating on content, organization, audience analysis, ethics, language, and delivery. Students apply these principles to several oral presentations, some videotaped and requiring the use of PowerPoint.
COMM 200 Introduction to Communication Studies
4 hours
Broz, Stefne
Prerequisite: ENG 101E
This course provides an introduction to the field of human communication studies and a foundation for future study within the communication discipline by focusing on various theories and methodological approaches in the field. The course introduces the core concepts and theories from a variety of communication contexts, including interpersonal relationships, organizations, media, and cross-cultural interaction. In examining these contexts from a theoretical perspective, the course showcases the ways in which scholars have sought to formulate generalized explanations for the processes of human meaning making. Writing intensive.
COMM 224 Group Dynamics
4 hours
Martycz, Virginia
Prerequisite: None
This course aims at improving your understanding of and ability to demonstrate effective communication behaviors in group discussions. The course is structured so that students study the principles of effective group communication and have the opportunity to apply these lessons to actual group interactions. Students thus have the chance to improve their communication competency in small group settings through discussions and projects in the practical application of theoretical concepts.
COMM 270S Interpersonal Communication
4 hours
Warber, Kathleen
Prerequisite: None
This course offers an introduction to message production and interpretation in face-to-face settings. The focus of the course is to illustrate how choices in interpersonal communication behaviors are basic to our character as human beings and the nature of our interpersonal relationships. Students will complete the course having learned about basic interpersonal communication principles related to, for example, self-presentation, self-disclosure, effective listening, relationship development, relational maintenance, relationship dissolution, compliance gaining, and conflict management.
COMM 280 Reasoning and Communication
4 hours
Waggoner, Catherine
Prerequisite: ENGL 101E
This course provides extensive training in critical thinking, listening, reading, practical reasoning, deliberation, and oral and written advocacy. As part of a deliberative process, participants prepare oral and written arguments on contemporary issues for critical, well-informed audiences. Emphasis is placed on the ability to anticipate and address the wide variety of alternative perspectives represented by such audiences. Required assignments include: a personal essay regarding attitudes toward argumentation, a deliberation log, a roundtable performance of oral arguments with question and answer sessions, a written critique of the roundtable performances, and an argumentative position paper. Writing intensive.
COMM 290S Media Literacy
4 hours
Staff
Prerequisite: ENGL 101E
This course provides a broad foundation for examining the form, content, and consequences of mediated communication (including the Internet, recording, radio, television, cable, film, newspaper, magazine, and publishing industries). The course introduces media industries from both an historical and contemporary perspective, covers the prominent theories that characterize mass media functions and effects, and addresses controversial issues in mediated communication. Students are introduced to intellectual tools that will enable them to be more critical consumers of media and given opportunities to practice applying those tools in both structured classroom discussions and formal writing assignments. A sample syllabus and assignments are available for your review at http://www4.wittenberg.edu/academics/communication/290.html. Writing intensive.
COMM 300 Social Scientific Methods
4 hours
Warber, Kathleen
Prerequisites: COMM 200 and COMM 270S, 280 or 290S; Math Placement score 22
This course introduces students to the process of conducting qualitative and quantitative communication research, including how to 1) formulate a research question, 2) conduct library research for a literature review, 3) select a method (e.g., participant/observation, in-depth interviewing, focus groups, experiment, content analysis, or survey research), 4) adhere to standards for scholarly writing, and 5) critically evaluate others’ research studies. Writing intensive.
COMM 301 Critical Methods: Communication Criticism
4 hours
Waggoner, Catherine
Prerequisites: COMM 290S or permission of instructor
This course is designed to foster critical analysis skills necessary for understanding a wide variety of messages, including those found in speeches, advertisements, news reports, television programs, films, and songs. In particular, students will learn and practice several methods for systematically describing, interpreting, and assessing aspects of messages. The course attends to both the theory and praxis of communication criticism; as students learn of the assumptions and approaches that undergird each method of analysis, they will have the opportunity to apply those methods in the analysis of a variety of discourses. In doing so, they will be encouraged to engage critically with issues of culture and power in the context of communication criticism. Students will demonstrate their comprehension and apply their understanding of methods of communication criticism in exams, several written essays, and participation. Writing intensive.
COMM 320 Topics: Family Communication
4 hours
Warber, Kathleen
Prerequisites: COMM 200 and COMM 270S, 280 or 290S; or permission of instructor
This advanced course examines topics related to 1) family communication and basic family processes, 2) communication in family subsystems, 3) communication during family stress, and 4) family interaction, health, and well-being. Research and theories from communication, sociology, and psychology will be used to explain issues related to the family. Discussion topics include, for example, marital, parent-child, sibling, and intergenerational interactions in the family. Research pertaining to marital satisfaction, divorce, courtship, and the impact of the family on its children (and vice versa) will also be examined.
COMM 327 Health Communication
4 hours
Broz, Stefne
Prerequisites: COMM 200 or permission of instructor
This advanced seminar is designed to introduce students to a wide range of scholarship about health communication. The course will investigate the nature of the communication processes that influence and/or are influenced by health and health care contexts. A growing body of research indicates that the quality of health care and personal health is significantly dependent on the quality of communication that takes place between health care provider and patient, as well as among providers, management and staff. There is also a central role for communication when informing and persuading the public about health issues.
COMM 350 Topics in Media
4 hours
Staff
Prerequisites: COMM 200 and 290S
This course will entail an advanced exploration of a topic such as the nature, function, history, processes, or effects of media and communicating in mediated contexts. The emphasis will not be on production, but on the critical interpretation of the media.
COMM 491 Internship: Communication Leaders
2 hours
Reynolds, Karen
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor
The goal of this experience is to learn about leadership directly from organizational leaders and to represent the department and the university to outside individuals and organizations. Students are exposed to the world of work through private, on-campus sessions with organizational leaders and on-site visits to selected major organizations in the US. They are communication majors preparing for careers in sales, training and development, internal/corporate communication, human resources, public relations, pre-law, consulting, or health and human services.
