Communication (COMM)

This course provides students with a foundational understanding of the communication discipline, focusing on scholarly insights and skills essential for academic and professional success. Through various assignments and discussions, students will explore key concepts, integrate into the MA in Communication program, and develop academic writing abilities.

This course reviews principal communication theories with an emphasis on the use of theories in achieving goals and improving outcomes.

This course introduces students to the fundamental techniques scholars use to conduct communication research. It covers quantitative and qualitative methods, emphasizing the development, analysis, and reporting of academic research. Students will gain practical skills in crafting research questions, conducting ethical research, and analyzing data, preparing them for advanced academic and professional work in the field of communication.

This course provides a dynamic and integrative approach to understanding and creating media, equipping students with both critical perspectives of cultural theory and practical skills essential for today's media landscape.

This course explores the strategies used to enhance employee skills and organizational effectiveness. It covers key topics such as needs assessment, instructional design, and evaluation of training programs, providing students with practical skills for designing and implementing effective training initiatives.

This course focuses on the complex and continuous process through which organizational members create, maintain, and change their organizations and it offers an overview of contemporary theory and research, focusing on employee behaviors, organizational processes, and practical applications.

This course focuses on the process of influence that takes place through communication to achieve goals or to produce change from a collective of people.  This course will include instruction on the various approaches to leadership, process of leadership, and the role that leadership plays in a variety of contexts.

This course focuses on terminology, key theories, and functions of interpersonal communication as it pertains to the formation and maintenance of relationships.

This course investigates traditional and contemporary theories of persuasion and is an in-depth study of the major concepts of persuasive communication.

This course provides an overview of contemporary theory and research on the role of communication in small group decision making. It focuses on factors that positively and negatively influence small group decision-making processes including group development, member characteristics, leadership processes, the use of power and influence, and conflict.

Examines crisis communication from the perspective of academic researchers and practitioners. Includes the analysis of crisis communication research and centers on case study analysis of best and worst practices in crisis planning, prevention, and response.

Using a case study approach, students explore strategic communication processes to inform the development of objectives, messaging and tactics to serve organizational goals.

Explores contemporary instances of new and emerging media platforms, especially as facilitated through digital media technologies, as they continue to disseminate more widely as portals of communication. Students will engage with specific issues in new media through the lenses of various cultural theories in order to gain a greater understanding of the scope of new media, its culture, and the relationships that exist between machines and humans, as well as those between society and technology.

This course is an intensive exploration of selected topics in communication study. May be repeated when topics vary.

The thesis is independent research under the direction of a student's graduate committee, and to result in a completed thesis project, it should be taken in two separate semesters for a total of 6 credit hours dependent upon thesis proposal.

This Individual Study course is designed to provide inquiry and research opportunities in an area of special interest otherwise not available in course offerings. Two individual study courses may be applied toward the degree with the approval of the student's Faculty Mentor.

Practical experience in the communication field through placement in an communication or media internship position. Students must have completed at least 6 hours of graduate coursework in communication and have a minimum GPA of 3.5 to apply for the internship course.