Course Descriptions

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Communication Studies Discipline Courses Details

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COMM 150 : Fundamentals of Oral Communication

Prerequisites: None
Description: Introduction to communication in interpersonal relationships, group interactions, and formal speaking. Skill development in listening, speech preparation, and oral presentation.
General Education:
  • Segment I Area - Oral Communication (OC)
Units: 3
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 302 : Communication and Social Process

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents.
Description: Process of institutional and societal decision making. Communication patterns of status quo to maintain itself in milieu of conflict and change. Conflict resolution, persuasion and propaganda, political leadership and institutional authority.
General Education:
  • Segment II Area - Humanities and Creative Arts Area (HCA)
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 321 : Communication Theory

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents.
Description: Communication theories and research. Communication models, verbal and nonverbal symbols, systems theory, symbolic interactionism, persuasion/compliance-gaining, and communication in various contexts.
General Education:
  • Segment III Cluster - Human Communication
Units: 4

COMM 341 : Rhetorical Theory

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM majors.
Description: Theoretical principles of rhetoric: attitude formation and change, audience and audience analysis, ethics, appeals, invention, disposition, style, argument structures, strategies, topoi, criticism, humor, and metaphor.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 351 : Public Speaking

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM/LS majors.
Description: Principles of effective extemporaneous speaking; practice in preparation and delivery of speeches for different occasions. Class criticism of student speeches.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 352 : Women and Words

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents.
Description: Explores women's communicative cultures, while enhancing students' performance skills through a variety of speech activities, such as performance of literature, public speaking, and small group communication. Combines communication and linguistic theories with practical applications within a feminist framework.
General Education:
  • Segment III Cluster - Gender and Culture: Identities, Images, Interactions
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 353 : Speech for the Classroom Teacher

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM/CAD/LS majors.
Description: Principles and practices in the speech needs of the teacher. Designed to improve speech habits of the prospective teacher; assist prospective teachers in acquiring basic, usable techniques for speech improvement in the classroom.
Units: 4

COMM 362 : Introduction to Oral Interpretation

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents.
Description: Oral interpretation of literature: excerpts from prose, poetry, and public speeches. Analysis of literature, script development, and performance skills.
General Education:
  • Segment II Area - Humanities and Creative Arts Area (HCA)
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 363 : Oral Interpretation of the First Person Voice

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents.
Description: Theory and principles of reading literature aloud which is written in the first person voice to illuminate the special properties when translated from the printed page to the spoken word.
General Education:
  • Segment II Area - Humanities and Creative Arts Area (HCA)
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 364 : Oral Interpretation of Children's Literature

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM/CAD/LS majors.
Description: Focus on adults reading stories, poetry, and nonfiction to children ages 5 to 12 years old. Skills for translating the printed page into an oral performance.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 365 : Argumentation and Debate

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM/LS majors.
Description: Methods of analysis and verbal formulation of the strongest possible case for and against a position or a point of view; the support of that position through evidence and inference; practical application in debate and public speaking.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 366 : Persuasion

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM/LS majors.
Description: Factors involved in influencing audience attitudes through public speeches. Awareness of oral persuasion as used in our society and to clarify ethical standards of responsibility of the persuader.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 368 : Forensics

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents.
Description: On-campus and intercollegiate forensics activities including debate, oratory, extemporaneous speaking, and discussion. May be repeated once.
General Education:
  • Segment II Area - Humanities and Creative Arts Area (HCA)
Units: 2
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 410 : American Phonetics

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents.
Description: Speech sounds and prosodic features of American English. Relationship between sounds and the alphabet, and transcribing speech using the International Phonetic Alphabet.
Units: 4

COMM 411 : Language for Teachers

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM/CAD majors.
Description: Introduces concepts of language important to prospective elementary school teachers, such as grammar rules, sound-symbol relationships. Learn how children acquire language and literacy skills as first and second language learners and participants in culture.
Units: 4

COMM 440 : Political Communication

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents.
Description: American political communication in terms of rhetorical structure, substance, strategy, and style. Analysis of contemporary political campaign rhetoric and communication.
General Education:
  • Segment III Cluster - Media and Social Issues
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Spring 2013

COMM 441 : Rhetoric of American Dissenters

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM majors.
Description: The rhetoric of American dissenters from colonial times to the present. Issues of religious freedom, women's rights, racial equality, and industrial democracy. Cultural values implicit in the arguments of dissenters and mainstream reactions.
Units: 4

COMM 443 : Rhetoric of Feminist Movements

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents.
Description: Impact of women leaders of single and multiple issue campaigns on American social policy. Overview of social movement and rhetorical criticism literature.
General Education:
  • Segment III Cluster - Gender and Culture: Identities, Images, Interactions
Units: 4

COMM 444 GW : Rhetoric of the Media - GWAR

Prerequisites: Upper division standing; COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; majors/minors.
Description: Rhetorical dimensions of major communication technologies through history--from oral culture to social media, and its impact on human consciousness and behavior. (ABC/NC grading only.)
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Spring 2013

COMM 445 : The Rhetoric of Terrorism

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents.
Description: Rhetorical implications of terrorism sponsored by individuals, dissent groups, criminal enterprises and/or states; examines how symbolic messages are rhetorically communicated and disseminated for and interpreted by audiences.
General Education:
  • Segment III Cluster - Media Literacy in the Electronic Culture
Units: 4

COMM 448 GW : Rhetoric of Ecology - GWAR

Prerequisites: Upper division COMM major; COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents with a grade of C- or better.
Description: Develop writing competencies (proposing, drafting, editing) for use in various contexts. Analysis of communication in the construction, reproduction, and contestation of relationships between people and the environment. (ABC/NC grading only.)
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 449 : The Rhetoric of Criminality and Punishment

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM/CJ majors.
Description: Contemporary rhetoric of violence and hate, including social discourses of crime and punishment, war and peace, and hatred related to race, sex, gender, sexuality, and class.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 461 : Issues in Free Speech

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents.
Description: Issues and cases involving freedom of expression. Historical and current controversies involving national survival, public morality, law and order, academic freedom, privacy. Symbolic and non-verbal free speech issues.
General Education:
  • Segment III Cluster - Media and Social Issues
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 496 : Special Studies in Communication and Social Criticism

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM majors.
Description: Topic to be specified in Class Schedule. May be repeated when topics vary.
Units: 4

COMM 496 : Performance Art: Aesthetic Communications Criticism

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM majors.
Description: Development of an understanding of performance art as critical communication and engagement with the social world. Exploration of the recent history of performance art development of individual performance/installations investigating a particular topic using different theoretical/aesthetic foci.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2012

COMM 502 : Interpersonal Communication

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; priority given to COMM majors.
Description: Purposes that motivate interpersonal communication, characteristics of the verbal and non-verbal message forms employed, and effects of these patterns of interaction upon the persons involved.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 502 GW : Interpersonal Communication - GWAR

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 with a grade of C- or better, or equivalents; priority given to COMM majors.
Description: Purposes that motivate interpersonal communication, characteristics of the verbal and non-verbal message forms employed, and effects of these patterns of interaction upon the persons involved. (ABC/NC grading only.)
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 503 : Gender and Communication

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents.
Description: Processes and theories of gender and communication, including the role of power and language; verbal and non-verbal interaction; the impact of historical, social, and psychological factors on gendered communication in different settings.
General Education:
  • Segment III Cluster - Family Dynamics and Societal Change
  • Segment III Cluster - Multicultural Human Relations
  • Segment III Cluster - Gender and Culture: Identities, Images, Interactions
  • Cultural, Ethnic, or Social Diversity (CESD)
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 504 : Communication and Masculinities

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214.
Description: Analysis of communication in the production, maintenance, and contestation of various expressions/performances of masculinity, from identity/interpersonal relationships to mediated texts/cultural discourses, in national/international contexts.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2012

COMM 504 GW : Communication and Masculinities - GWAR

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 with a grade of C- or better.
Description: Analysis of communication in the production, maintenance, and contestation of various expressions/performances of masculinity, from identity/interpersonal relationships to mediated texts/cultural discourses, in national/international contexts. (Plus-minus AB/C+/C/NC grading only.)
Units: 4

COMM 508 : Children's Communication

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM/CAD/LS majors.
Description: Children's ability to use language appropriately in interpersonal and group situations is examined as a set of "communication acts:" informing, persuading, feeling, ritualizing, and imagining.
Units: 4

COMM 512 : Nonverbal Communication

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM majors.
Description: Theory and research on nonverbal communication. Interpersonal space, facial displays, body posturing, paralanguage, and costume. Individual awareness of nonverbal messages and individual range of nonverbal expression.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 515 : Family Communication

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents.
Description: Family communication patterns: relational communication, family themes and rules, roles, power, decision-making, conflict, and responses to change and stress.
General Education:
  • Segment III Cluster - Family Dynamics and Societal Change
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 521 : Group Discussion

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; priority given to juniors and seniors in COMM/LS/conflict resolution.
Description: Principles of group discussion; influence of structure, norms, roles, leadership, and climate on the processes of communication and collaborative decision-making. Evaluation of members and leaders.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 522 : Organizational Communication

Prerequisites: COMM 150 or equivalent; enrollment priority to junior and senior COMM majors.
Description: Communication processes in professional, industrial, community, and social organizations, and consultation in developing viable organizational systems. Fieldwork in description and analysis of organizational communication problems.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 522 GW : Organizational Communication - GWAR

Prerequisites: Upper division standing in COMM major; COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalent with a C- or better.
Description: Develop writing competencies (proposing, drafting, editing) for use in professional, industrial, community and social organization; description and analysis of organizational communication processes, practices and policies. (ABC/NC grading only.)
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 525 : Sexual Identity and Communication

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents.
Description: Emergence of sexual identity and orientation in social interaction. Explores how interpersonal and group communication shapes the sexual self through private discourse--labeling, defining, self-disclosing--and public dialogue--community organizing and advocacy.
General Education:
  • Segment III Cluster - Gay / Lesbian / Bisexual / Transgender / Queer
  • Segment III Cluster - Multicultural Human Relations
  • Segment III Cluster - Human Sexuality
  • Segment III Cluster - Gender and Culture: Identities, Images, Interactions
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 527 : Health Communication

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM majors.
Description: Theory and practice of communication in health care. Communication in interpersonal, group, organizational, mass media, and cultural contexts. Application of communication to health problems like HIV/AIDS, cancer, drug and alcohol use.
Units: 4

COMM 530 : Communication in Organizational Training

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM majors.
Description: Communication techniques necessary for successful training in organizations. Skills in assessing training needs, designing programs, and evaluating results.
Units: 4

COMM 531 : Conflict Resolution

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents.
Description: Communication and conflict in two-person, small group, and organization settings. Conflict resolution and leadership skills development.
General Education:
  • Segment II Area - Behavioral and Social Sciences Area (BSS)
  • Segment III Cluster - Global Peace, Human Rights, and Justice Studies
  • Lifelong Development (LLD)
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Spring 2013

COMM 532 : Interviewing Methods in Organizational Settings

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM majors.
Description: The interview as a complex communication process focusing on the development of patterns of questions and appropriate response strategies. Rhetorical analysis of interviews in professional contexts.
Units: 4

COMM 533 : Communication and Empowerment in Organizations

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM majors.
Description: The process of empowerment as it relates to human communication; various conceptualizations of "empowerment," existing treatment(s), and communicative strategies for individual, group or team, and organizational empowerment.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Spring 2013

COMM 534 : Mediation Theory and Practice

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; priority given to juniors and seniors in COMM/LS/conflict resolution.
Description: Theories of mediation/alternative for dispute resolution, mediation skills training, exposure to community mediation organizations, practices. In depth case analysis, role plays, community service opportunities.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Spring 2013

COMM 534 GW : Mediation Theory and Practice - GWAR

Prerequisites: COMM 150; ENG 214 or equivalents with a grade of C or better; upper division standing in COMM major; enrollment priority only to students who have not met the GWAR.
Description: Skill development in communication for dispute resolution in mediation. Upper level writing competencies developed. ABC/NC grading only.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 537 : Leadership Communication

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents.
Description: Theories of leadership communication as they are manifested in organizational and public settings to attain goals.
General Education:
  • Segment II Area - Behavioral and Social Sciences Area (BSS)
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 541 : Intercultural Communication

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents.
Description: Communicative encounters among people of different cultural and ethnic groups. Differences in communicative rules, norms, roles, and their underlying cultural assumptions/values; ways of enhancing such encounters.
General Education:
  • Segment III Cluster - Multicultural Human Relations
  • Segment III Cluster - Cross-Cultural Studies in Language and Art
  • Cultural, Ethnic, or Social Diversity (CESD)
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 542 : Intracultural Communication

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents.
Description: Communicative styles and forms within and among cultural groups in the U.S. Communicative behavior of non-dominant groups such as Blacks, Asians, Chicanos, gays, women, the aging, and disabled.
General Education:
  • Segment II Area - Humanities and Creative Arts Area (HCA)
  • Segment III Cluster - Multicultural Human Relations
  • American Ethnic and Racial Minorities (AERM)
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Spring 2013

COMM 543 : Dialogues Across Differences

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents.
Description: Communication theory and practice as a means to make connections and to improve the quality of dialogues amongst people with different social discourses and cultural experiences.
General Education:
  • Segment III Cluster - Multicultural Human Relations
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 544 : Communication and Aging

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM majors.
Description: Cultural constructions of aging, impact of aging on communication, communication in contexts involving and impacting older adults.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Spring 2013

COMM 550 : Classical Rhetoric

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM majors.
Description: Rhetorical theory, concepts, and practices of Pericles, Demosthenes, Isocrates, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian.
Units: 4

COMM 561 : Social Semiotics

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM majors.
Description: Social functions of language and symbolism in everyday life. Analyses of how meaning is constituted and communicated through the use of symbols in social and cultural practices.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 561 GW : Social Semiotics - GWAR

Prerequisites: COMM 150; ENG 214 or equivalent with a grade of C or better; upper division standing in COMM major. Enrollment priority to students who have not yet met the GWAR.
Description: Social functions of language and symbolism in everyday life. Analyses of how meaning is constituted and communicated through the use of symbols in social and cultural practices. ABC/NC grading only.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 562 : Discourse in Interaction

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM majors.
Description: Theoretical foundations for analyzing discourse in interaction; frequently studied, recurrent structures in discourse in a variety of settings.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 562 GW : Discourse in Interaction - GWAR

Prerequisites: COMM 150 or equivalent; ENG 214 or equivalent with grade of C or better; enrollment priority to junior/senior level COMM majors.
Description: Theoretical foundations for analyzing discourse in interaction; frequently studied, recurrent structures in discourse in a variety of settings. (ABC/NC grading only.)
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Spring 2013

COMM 563 : Conversational Analysis

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM majors.
Description: Examination of research findings on conversations, including the study of such topics as: pragmatic rules, power, manipulation, topic management, politeness, emotional discourse, rituals, and storytelling. Methods for collecting, transcribing, and analyzing naturally occurring conversations.
Units: 4

COMM 570 : Human Communication and New Technologies

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM majors.
Description: How technologies such as teleconferencing, telecommunicating, computer conferencing, videotexts, electronic mail, etc., will affect human communication. Issues of trust, synchrony, privacy, and electronic style.
Units: 4

COMM 661 : Communication Research Strategies

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM/CAD majors.
Description: Basic empirical research skills; design of studies, analysis of data, and preparation of research reports. Practical applications of research.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 662 : Communication Criticism

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM majors.
Description: Methods of rhetorical criticism and examination of the forms of rhetorical acts. Purpose and process of criticism: traditional approach, dramatic approach, fantasy theme approach, narrative approach, cultural approach, and content analysis.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 663 : Qualitative Methods in Communication and Performance

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM majors.
Description: Human communication through the performance of materials gathered from everyday life. Techniques for collecting naturally occurring conversations and conducting oral history interviews which are adapted for individual and group performances.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Spring 2013

COMM 664 : Research Methods in Language and Social Interaction

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM majors.
Description: Methods for exploring verbal and nonverbal communication behaviors in language and social interaction. Transcription and analysis of everyday face-to-face talk. Data analysis methods include conversation analysis, ethnomethodology, speech acts, and gesture analysis.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 681 : Voice and Articulation Theory and Practice

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM majors.
Description: Skills in articulation and voice expressiveness are learned through theory (how the speech mechanism operates most effectively to produce sound) and practice (maximizing the quality of the speaker's natural articulation and voice in exercises and performance).
Units: 4

COMM 685 : Projects in the Teaching of Communication

Prerequisites: Grade of B or better in the course (or equivalent) in which the student will be aide, and consent of instructor.
Description: Students learn more about a previously studied topic in communication and about pedagogical strategies for sharing that knowledge. (Students may earn a maximum of 4 units toward the baccalaureate degree for any course(s) numbered 685 regardless of discipline.)
Units: 1-4

COMM 695 : Internship/Service Learning in Communication Studies

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM majors.
Description: Placement in a profit/non-profit agency for professional development and integration of pedagogy with field experience. Journal/reflection paper and conferences with the coordinator required. May be repeated for a total of 8 units; however, only 4 units may be counted in the major.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 696 : Ensemble Performance Workshop

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM majors.
Description: Focus on presentation of original and adapted texts for performance, including textual and audience analysis, direction, and use of physical spaces. Additional meetings outside class required for rehearsals and performances. May be repeated for a total of 8 units.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Spring 2013

COMM 697 : Advanced Performance Study

Prerequisites: COMM 150 and ENG 214 or equivalents; enrollment priority to upper division COMM majors.
Description: Seminar in performance studies, including the performance of literary and ethnographic texts. Emphasis on presenting and critiquing performances inside and outside the classroom.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 699 : Independent Study

Prerequisites: Upper division standing, consent of major adviser and supervising faculty member, and GPA of 3.0.
Description: Supervised study in communication planned and completed under the direction of a member of the department. Repeatable for credit to total 8 units. Enrollment by petition.
Units: 1-4

COMM 700 : Introduction to Graduate Study

Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
Description: Research and research methodologies. Language and tools for controlled and systematic investigation of speech communication phenomena.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 721 : Seminar in Rhetorical and Communication Theory

Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
Description: Issues in rhetorical and communication theory and practice from the classical period to the present.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 725 : Seminar in Sexual Identity and Communication

Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
Description: How sexual identities are created, shaped, produced, reproduced, maintained, changed, contested, and challenged through communication practices. Social, cultural, and historical contexts. Interpersonal and mass media contexts. This course is offered as COMM 725 and SXS 810. Students may not repeat the course under an alternate prefix.
Units: 4

COMM 731 : Seminar in Communication and Social Criticism

Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
Description: Contemporary persuasion, propaganda, social control, political leadership, and the rhetorical dimensions of social events.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Spring 2013

COMM 740 : Seminar in Interpersonal Communication

Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
Description: Intra- and interpersonal variables necessary to the understanding of human interaction including both verbal and non-verbal phenomena.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Spring 2013

COMM 742 : Seminar in Group Communication Theory and Practice

Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
Description: Analysis of group communication theories and research, identification and evaluation of group networks, leadership styles, conflict management, and observation methodologies.
Units: 4

COMM 745 : Seminar in Gender and Communication

Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
Description: Theory and research regarding the role of gender in communication. Examination of such factors as manifestations of power, politeness, intimacy, and play in the communication styles of females and males. (Plus-minus letter grade only.)
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 750 : Seminar in Communication and Culture

Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
Description: Theories and methodologies appropriate to the study of communicative styles within, between, and among cultural groups and across gender lines and their effect on intergroup contact.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2012

COMM 751 : Intercultural Communication Training

Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
Description: Assessing organizational needs to improve relationships among cultural groups; designing, delivering, and evaluating training programs to provide skills to improve intercultural relations.
Units: 4

COMM 760 : Seminar in Organizational Communication

Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
Description: Theories, research methods, and practices or organizational communication and development from the perspective of the process consultant. A case study report based on personal experience in an organization setting is required.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 761 : Seminar: Corporate Communication

Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
Description: Explores the public level of organizational communication. Focus on symbolic implications and speech perspective of corporate communication methods including image molding, identity shaping, recognition building, reputation enhancement, and advocacy strategies.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2012

COMM 780 : Studies in Contemporary Theory

Prerequisites: Topic to be specified in Class Schedule.
Description: May be repeated when topics vary.
Units: 4

COMM 780 : Rhetoric of Everyday Life

Prerequisites: COMM 700 (may be taken concurrently), or consent of instructor.
Description: The intellectual history of ordinary rhetorical culture; focus on key figures in the history of Western thought who have attempted to conceptualize the rhetorical practices of everyday life.
Units: 4

COMM 780 : Seminar in Performance Art, Communication, and Culture

Prerequisites: COMM 700 or consent of instructor.
Description: Theories and research exploring performance art as a means by which people create, define, contest, and intervene in culture. Focus on performance as a way of knowing and communicating about culture.
Units: 4

COMM 797 : Performance Theory and Practice in Communication

Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
Description: Practicum in performance studies, including performance of literature, performance ethnography, and other performance theories. Emphasis on gaining experience in creating performances in response to theory in multiple contexts.
Units: 4

COMM 850 : Teaching Communication

Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
Description: Assessing student learning needs, designing instructional units and objectives, evaluating performances, and reviewing theories of interpersonal, group and public communication.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 851 : Internship in Teaching Communication

Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
Description: Concepts of effective oral communication, techniques for evaluating/diagnosing proficiency, materials/teaching methods for basic courses in classroom setting under direction of an experienced instructor. CR/NC grading only.
Units: 2
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 852 : Supervision of Teaching Communication

Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
Description: Supplements teaching experience with appropriate supervision and training in curriculum, teaching techniques, grading procedures, etc. Repeatable once for credit. CR/NC grading only.
Units: 1
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 855 : Coaching Forensics

Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
Description: Coaching/teaching undergraduate forensics for speech and debate competition. Value debate theory, with research to assess this theory in forensic practice. May include field research off campus for 2 or 3 weekends.
Units: 4

COMM 871 : Communication Research Strategies

Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
Description: Basic empirical research skills in communication; design of studies, computer analysis of data, and preparation of research reports.
Units: 4

COMM 872 : Field Research Strategies

Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
Description: Ethnographic approach to communication through the use of a variety of qualitative methods including participant/observation, interviewing, conversation analysis, and unobtrusive measures.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Spring 2013

COMM 873 : Research Strategies in Language and Social Interaction

Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
Description: Methods for collecting recordings of interaction; foundations for analyzing such recordings for graduate level research projects.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Spring 2013

COMM 885 : Graduate Projects in the Teaching of Communication

Prerequisites: Grade of B or better in the course or its equivalent in which the student will be an aide; consent of instructor.
Description: An application of previously acquired knowledge through assisting instruction and learning pedagogical strategies. May be repeated for a total of 8 units.
Units: 4
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 894 : Creative Work Project

Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and approval of Advancement to Candidacy (ATC) and Culminating Experience (CE) forms by Graduate Studies; 3.5 GPA, and recommendation of major adviser.
Description: Advancement to Candidacy and Proposal for Culminating Experience Requirement forms must be approved by the Graduate Division before registration. (CR/NC grading only.)
Units: 3
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 896 : Directed Readings in Communication Studies

Prerequisites: Advancement To Candidacy (ATC) and Proposal for Culminating Experience Requirement forms approved by adviser/department chair prior to registration.
Description: Texts and topics in speech communication, based on departmental reading list and student's areas of emphasis, in preparation for Comprehensive Written Examination. Not open to M.A. candidates selecting thesis option or creative project option. CR/NC grading only.
Units: 3
Latest Offering: Spring 2013

COMM 898 : Master's Thesis

Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and approval of Advancement to Candidacy (ATC) and Culminating Experience (CE) forms by Graduate Studies; 3.5 GPA, and recommendation of major adviser.
Description: Intensive, systematic study of significant topic in communication studies. ATC and Proposal for Culminating Experience forms must be approved by Graduate Division. (CR/NC grading only.)
Units: 3
Latest Offering: Fall 2013

COMM 899 : Independent Study for Investigation in Communication Studies

Prerequisites: Consent of graduate major adviser and supervising faculty member; 3.25 GPA.
Description: Study is planned, developed, and completed under the direction of a member of the faculty. Open only to graduate students of demonstrated ability to do independent work. Enrollment by petition.
Units: 1-4
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