Communication
Due to enrollment pressures, it is Department of Communication policy to drop from the class roll students who fail to attend the first two meetings of a basic course (COMM 131X and 141X) even if they have preregistered. Prerequisite for all 600-level communication courses is admission to the M.A. degree Professional Communication program or permission of instructor.
COMM 131X (3 Credits) Fall, Spring
Fundamentals of Oral Communication: Group Context (3+0)
Presentational speaking skills: individual and group. Includes verbal and nonverbal skills, critical thinking in selecting and organizing materials, audience analysis, and speaking presentation. Group skills include task and relational interaction, required interdependence, working across cultural differences, group decision-making and shared logistics of presentation. Student evaluations are based on nationally normed speaking competencies.
COMM 141X (3 Credits) Fall, Spring
Fundamentals of Oral Communication: Public Context (3+0)
Speaking skills for individual presentation. Includes verbal and nonverbal skills, critical thinking in selecting and organizing materials, audience analysis, informative and persuasive speaking, and actual presentations. Student evaluations are based on nationally normed speaking competencies.
COMM 180 (3 Credits) Fall
Introduction to Human Communication (3+0) s
Critical thinking about fundamental concepts in human communication in interpersonal, group, public, organizational, and intercultural settings. Introduction to inquiry into human communication as a social science.
COMM 231 (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Business and Professional Communication (3+0) s
Designed to provide the student with practical applications of communication in organizations. Includes superior-subordinate communication, conference and meeting management, oral presentation of written proposals, and the examination of information flow through organizational networks. (Prerequisite: Any 100 level oral communication course or permission of instructor. Next offered: 2003-04)
COMM 280 (3 Credits) Spring
Communication and Diversity (3+0) s
Provides students with a cognitive and experiential foundation for understanding how the communication process works in the context of diversity. Includes an in-depth examination of those processes and products of processes that lead communicators to devalue differences in one another.
COMM 300X (3 Credits) Spring
Communicating Ethics (3+0) h
An examination of ethical choices which are communicated in everyday encounters. Examines human moral development from a variety of perspectives, including feminist interpretations. Creation and communication of human values explored through the discussion of a series of contemporary dilemmas. (Prerequisite: Junior standing or above.)
COMM 320 (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Communication and Language (3+0) s
Examination of the nature of language and its place in human communication, with special attention to the creation of meaning in conversation. (Prerequisite: Any lower division communication course or permission of instructor. Next offered: 2003-04.)
COMM 321W (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Nonverbal Communication (3+0) s
Non-lexical behavior in human communication, including consideration of space, physical environment, physical appearance and dress, kinesics, facial expression, and non-lexical vocal behavior. (Prerequisite: Any lower division communication course or permission of instructor. Next offered: 2002-03.)
COMM 322W (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Communication in Interpersonal Relationships (3+0) s
An examination of communication in the most basic human context, the relational dyad. Emphasis on the ongoing, co-construction of the relationship as communicative action. Discussion of interpersonal relationships generally, and extensive discussion of communication in the patterns of coming together, relationship maintenance, relational and personal growth in relationships, relational conflict, and relational disengagement. Theoretical and practical perspectives.
COMM 330 (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Intercultural Communication (3+0) s
The nature and the sources of problems in communication that may arise when persons with different cultural backgrounds interact. Emphasis on problems in intercultural communication in Alaska. (Prerequisite: Any lower division communication course or permission of instructor. Next offered: 2002-03.)
COMM 331O (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Advanced Group Communication (3+0) s
Current research and theory in intergroup and intragroup relations. Topics include the study of leadership, power, group structure, participation, and conflict. (Prerequisite: Any 100 level communication course or permission of instructor. Next offered: 2003-04.)
COMM 335O (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Organizational Communication (3+0) s
Examines current theoretical and methodological approaches undergirding the construction of organizations via the communication process. Includes functional (message flow, load and network analysis) as well as interpretive (metaphors, narratives and organizational culture) approaches to the study of organizational communication. (Prerequisite: One lower division communication course or permission of instructor. Next offered: 2002-03.)
COMM 351 (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Gender and Communication (3+0) s
(Cross-listed with WMS 351)
Basic socialization differences exist in the communication practices of women and men in every culture, resulting in differing cultural constructions of male and female gender. Those differences are addressed in the interpersonal, organizational, and cultural contexts. Exploration of cultural female/male dichotomy as well as individual similarities. (Prerequisite: Any lower division communication course or permission of instructor. Next offered: 2003-04.)
COMM 352 (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Family Communication (3+0) s
Exploration of the functions of communication in marriage and the family, sequences and patterns of family communication, family communication as a continual process of coping with dialectical tensions, and the complexity of changing family life in Western societies. (Prerequisite: Any lower division communication course or permission of instructor. COMM 322 recommended. Next offered: 2003-04.)
COMM 353 (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Conflict, Mediation and Communication (3+0) s
Examines conflict as a complex communication event, together with the role of the mediator in building constructive outcomes in conflicts. Emphasis on developing skills to engage in mediation. (Prerequisite: Any 100 level communication course or permission of instructor. Next offered: 2002-03.)
COMM 401 (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Communication Research Methods (3+0) s
Quantitative and qualitative research methodologies employed in the conduct of research on communication phenomena. (Prerequisite: Any 300 level communication courses or permission of instructor. Next offered: 2003-04.)
COMM 432O (3 Credits) Alternate Spring
Professional Public Speaking (3+0)
Professional clear effective speaking. Uses evaluation criteria and assignments to build speaking competencies. Professional preparation for students whose career path includes public speaking. (Prerequisite: Senior standing. Recommended: COMM 141X. Next offered: 2002-03.)
COMM 425W (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Communication Theory (3+0) s
Theories of human communication, as well as of the nature of inquiry into human communication phenomena. Issues include the nature of communication as a discipline, critical and scientific inquiry, and major paradigms or perspectives within which communication theories are created. (Prerequisite: Any 300 level communication course or permission of instructor. Next offered: 2002-03.)
COMM 441 (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Persuasion (3+0) s
Examination of communication situations which involve attempts to modify the beliefs, attitudes, values, intentions, or behaviors of another individual or group of individuals. Explores the process, methods, and ethics of attempts to affect change via persuasive communication. (Prerequisite: Any 300 level communication course or permission of instructor. Next offered: 2002-03.)
COMM 462W (3 Credits) Alternate Spring
Communication in Health Contexts (3+0) s
Health communication as an established context for communication study will be explored. Problems in health communication will be examined as well as how those problems are exacerbated by the various matters of diversity, language, and setting. Communication between health care professionals., between health care providers and health care consumers, between health care facilities and communities, and the legal perspectives of health communication will be topical. (Prerequisite: Any 300 level communication course or permission of instructor. Next offered: 2003 - 04.)
COMM 475W (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Applied Communication in Training and Development (3+0) s
Applies communication theory and research to organizational settings. Includes the identification and assessment of problems and opportunities that would benefit from the application of communication interventions including training, development and transformation technologies. (Prerequisite: Any 300 level communication course or permission of instructor. Next offered: 2003-04.)
COMM 482W,O (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Capstone Seminar in Communication (3+0) s
Original research to demonstrate ability to read and understand social research, synthesize information, formalize a research question and research skills. This senior capstone course requires a research project presented in a public speaking forum. (Prerequisite: Any 300 level communication course or permission of instructor. Next offered: 2003-04.)
COMM 600 (3 Credits) Alternate Fall
Introduction to Professional Communication (3+0)
An introduction to professional practices important to communication careers. Professional writing and editing methods and techniques used in academic and/or professional careers. Development and presentation of professional reports which would include quantitatively- and qualitatively-based support. A.P.A. style guide will be covered. (Prerequisite: Enrollment in M.A. in Professional Communication or permission of instructor. Next offered: 2003-04.)
COMM 601 (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Communication Methodologies (3+0)
(Cross-listed with JRN 601)
Communication 601 is a required core course for the master's degree in Professional Communication. The student will be introduced to the range of methodologies that are used to produce both practical and theoretic knowledge in the discipline. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches to knowledge building will be addressed. Students will learn the relationships between scientific questions, appropriate selection of methodology, and types of knowledge products. (Next offered: 2003-04.)
COMM 602 (3 Credits) Alternate Spring
Qualitative Communication Research Methodologies (3+0)
Introduction to research using a constructionist epistemology and the methodologies of the human science contexture. Includes evaluation and preparation of research using a variety of methodologies and to employ the data collection techniques that are implied by those methodologies. (Prerequisites: COMM 601 and 625, or permission of instructor. Next offered: 2002-03.)
COMM 622 (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Interpersonal Interaction (3+0)
All understandings of communication study begin at the interpersonal level because this is the context in which the relation of self and the social is most clear. Interpersonal Interaction will provide students an opportunity to investigate a particular communication context of their choice (health comm., family comm., comm. and aging, conflict comm., relational comm., comm. education, etc.) and ways in which interpersonal interactions interconnect human social life at all levels of lived experience. (Prerequisite: Enrollment in M.A. in Professional Communication degree or permission of instructor. Next offered: 2002-03.)
COMM 625 (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Communication Theory (3+0)
(Cross-listed with JRN 625)
Communication 625 is a required course for the master's degree in Professional Communication. The course is designed to acquaint students with both the historical evolution of the discipline against the backdrop of the evolution of the social sciences and with the theoretical perspectives of knowledge-building that have marked that disciplinary evolution. Students will learn the contextual interconnectedness of philosophy and theory. Finally, Communication Theory will also make the essential connections between theoretical perspectives and their professional uses.
COMM 631 (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Teambuilding (3+0)
This course links small group communication theory and methods to professional applications. The focus of the course is on ways to create, maintain, and reward productive work teams. Face-to-face and mediated group sessions will be discussed as well as the impact of professional work groups on organizational teambuilding. Students will work with teambuilding interventions that they will be able to apply in a variety of organizational settings. (Prerequisite: Enrollment in MA in Professional Communication degree or permission of instructor. Next offered: 2002-03.)
COMM 635 (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Organizational Culture and Communication (3+0)
Organizational Culture and Communication addresses the most contemporary perspective of communication in the organizational context. The interpretive paradigm will be examined in terms of the broad range of knowledge currently being generated by Communication scholars and other professionals who are looking more closely at the ways communication produces the social contexts in which it occurs. Human organizations and their transparency to the communication of their members is the pragmatic substance of the course. (Prerequisite: Enrollment in MA in Professional Communication degree or permission of instructor. Next offered: 2002-03.)
COMM 642 (3 Credits) As Demand Warrants
Health Communication (3+0)
Health Communication is intended to give students and interested professionals in related fields access to the most current research in this area. The course will address human communication at every level of interaction in the provision of health care: interpersonal (e.g., doctor/patient), small group (e.g., clinic cardiac team), intra-organizational (e.g., medical staff and business staff), interorganizational (e.g., hospital and schools), public campaigns (e.g., Center for Disease Control and prevention initiatives on drunk driving), and associated communication factors such as culture and diversity. Includes involvement in research and grant-proposal writing. (Prerequisite: Enrollment in MA in Professional Communication degree or permission of instructor.)
COMM 661 (1 Credit) Fall, Spring
Mentored Teaching in Communication (1+0+2)
Mentored teaching provides consistent contact on course-related issues between teaching assistants and mentoring faculty. (Prerequisites: Enrollment in M.A. in Professional Communication or permission of instructor; award to teaching assistantship in communication. Note: Teaching assistants are required to be enrolled in a mentoring teaching section while teaching. May be repeated up to four times for credit.)
COMM 675 (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Training and Development Communication (3+0)
Training and Development Communication offers students practical, current understandings of planned training, development, and transformation processes as they are applied in the organizational setting. The information and class projects will help prepare training and development specialists, consultants, and others whose interest is in this growing communication field. (Prerequisite: Enrollment in MA in Professional Communication degree or permission of instructor. Next offered: 2003-04.)
COMM 680 (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Communication and Diversity in the Professional World (3+0)
Students will learn to apply case study methods to the ever-expanding problems of communication in a changing workplace. The diversity of gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, physical ability, sexual orientation, and age are reshaping the professional world at every level and Communication professionals are increasingly called upon to formulate ways of accommodating this change. The course will prepare students to address diversity and planned changes in the workplace. (Prerequisite: Enrollment in MA in Professional Communication degree or permission of instructor. Next offered: 2002-03.)
COMM 682 (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Seminar in Communication (3+0)
Communication 682 is a capstone course, intended to provide the student an opportunity to integrate his or her graduate coursework in Professional Communication. Students will explore a variety of communication contexts by analyzing interpersonal, group, and organizational considerations related to the context they select to investigate. (Prerequisite: Enrollment in MA in Professional Communication degree or permission of instructor. Next offered: 2003-04.)
COMM 699 (3 Credits) Fall, Spring
Thesis (0+0)
Every candidate for the Communication concentration of the master's degree in Professional Communication will complete a thesis project. The requirement consists of an original piece of Communication research directed by a member of the graduate faculty in the Communication Department. The completed and accepted thesis will be presented in an appropriate public forum.