Communication
Note: Due to enrollment pressures, it is Department of Communication policy to drop from the class roll students who fail to attend either of the first two meetings of a basic course (COMM F131X AND COMM F141X) even if they have preregistered. Prerequisite for all F600-level communication courses is admission to the M.A. degree Professional Communication program or permission of instructor.
COMM F131X Fundamentals of Oral Communication: Group Context
3 Credits
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. (3+0)
COMM F141X Fundamentals of Oral Communication: Public Context
3 Credits
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. (3+0)
COMM F180 Introduction to Human Communication (s)
3 Credits Offered Spring
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 and human science. (3+0)
COMM F231 Business and Professional Communication (s)
3 Credits
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. Prerequisites: Any F100-level oral communication course or permission of instructor. (3+0)
COMM F251 Argumentation and Conflict Communication (s)
3 Credits
Study of argumentativeness as an alternative to aggressive communication. Conflict and cooperation as expressed through human communication behavior will be examined through current approaches to argumentation and debate. Prerequisites: Any F100 level communication course or permission of instructor. (3+0)
COMM F300X Communicating Ethics (h)
3 Credits
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. Also available via Independent Learning. Prerequisites: Junior standing; placement in ENGL F111X or higher; or permission of instructor. (3+0)
COMM F320 Communication and Language (s)
3 Credits
Examination of the nature of language and its place in human communication, with special attention to the creation of meaning in conversation. Prerequisites: Any lower-division communication course or permission of instructor. (3+0)
COMM F321W Nonverbal Communication (s)
3 Credits
Non-lexical behavior in human communication, including consideration of space, physical environment, physical appearance and dress, kinesics, facial expression and non-lexical vocal behavior. Prerequisites: Any lower division communication course; ENGL F111X; ENGL F211X or ENGL F213X; or permission of instructor. (3+0)
COMM F322W Communication in Interpersonal Relationships (s)
3 Credits
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. Prerequisites: ENGL F111X; ENGL F211X or ENGL F213X; or permission of instructor. (3+0)
COMM F330 Intercultural Communication (s)
3 Credits Offered Spring
The nature and sources of problems in communication that may arise when persons with different cultural backgrounds interact. Emphasis on problems in intercultural communication in Alaska. Prerequisites: Any lower-division communication course or permission of instructor. (3+0)
COMM F331O Advanced Group Communication (s)
3 Credits
Current research and theory in intergroup and intragroup relations. Topics include the study of leadership, power, group structure, participation and conflict. Prerequisites: COMM F131X or COMM F141X; any lower-division communications course; or permission of instructor. (3+0)
COMM F335O Organizational Communication (s)
3 Credits
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. Prerequisites: COMM F131X or COMM F141X; any lower-division communications course; or permission of instructor. (3+0)
COMM F351 Gender and Communication (s)
3 Credits Offered Fall
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. Prerequisites: Any lower-division communication course or permission of instructor. (Cross-listed with WMS F351.) (3+0)
COMM F352 Family Communication (s)
3 Credits
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. Prerequisites: Any lower-division communication course or permission of instructor. Recommended: COMM F322. (3+0)
COMM F353 Conflict, Mediation, and Communication (s)
3 Credits
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. Prerequisites: Any F100-level communication course or permission of instructor. (3+0)
COMM F380 Communication and Diversity (s)
3 Credits Offered Spring
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. (3+0)
COMM F401 Communication Research Methods (s)
3 Credits Offered Fall
Quantitative and qualitative research methodologies employed in the conduct of research on communication phenomena. Prerequisites: Any F300-level communication course; senior standing; or permission of instructor. (3+0)
COMM F425W Communication Theory (s)
3 Credits Offered Spring
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. Prerequisites: ENGL F111X; ENGL F211X or ENGL F213X; any F300-level communication courses; senior standing; or permission of instructor. (3+0)
COMM F432O Professional Public Speaking
3 Credits
Professional clear effective speaking. Uses evaluation criteria and assignments to build speaking competencies. Professional preparation for students whose career path includes public speaking. Prerequisites: COMM F131X or COMM F141X; senior standing. (3+0)
COMM F441 Persuasion (s)
3 Credits
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. Prerequisites: Any F300-level communication course or permission of instructor. (3+0)
COMM F462W Communication in Health Contexts (s)
3 Credits
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. Prerequisites: Any F300-level communication course; ENGL F111X; ENGL F211X or ENGL F213X; or permission of instructor. (3+0)
COMM F475W Applied Communication in Training and Development (s)
3 Credits
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. Prerequisites: Any F300-level communication course; ENGL F111X; ENGL F211X or ENGL F213X; or permission of instructor. (3+0)
COMM F482W,O Capstone Seminar in Communication (s)
3 Credits Offered Spring
Original research to demonstrate ability to read and understand social research, synthesize information, formalize a research question and use research skills. This senior capstone course requires a research project presented in a public speaking forum. Prerequisites: COMM F131X or COMM F141X; COMM F401; ENGL F111X; ENGL F211X or ENGL F213X; or permission of instructor. (3+0)
COMM F600 Introduction to Professional Communication
3 Credits Offered Fall
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. Prerequisites: Enrollment in M.A. in Professional Communication or permission of instructor. (3+0)
COMM F601 Communication Research Methodologies (s)
3 Credits Offered Fall
Introduction to the range of methodologies used to produce both practical and theoretic knowledge in the discipline. Presents the relationships between scientific questions, appropriate selection of methodology and types of knowledge products. Note: COMM/JRN F601 is a required core course for the M.A. in Professional Communication. (Cross-listed with JRN F601.) (3+0)
COMM F602 Communication Research Methodologies (h)
3 Credits Offered Spring
An 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 F601; COMM F625; or permission of the instructor. (3+0)
COMM F622 Interpersonal Interaction
3 Credits
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, family, aging, conflict, relational, education, etc.) and ways in which interpersonal interactions interconnect human social life at all levels of lived experience. Prerequisites: Enrollment in M.A. in Professional Communication degree or permission of instructor. (3+0)
COMM F625 Communication Theory
3 Credits Offered Fall
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. (Cross-listed with JRN F625.) (3+0)
COMM F631 Teambuilding
3 Credits Offered As Demand Warrants
Small group communication theory and methods linked to professional applications. 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. Prerequisites: COMM F600. Recommended: COMM F625. (3+0)
COMM F635 Organizational Culture and Communication
3 Credits
Contemporary perspectives 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. Prerequisites: Enrollment in M.A. in Professional Communication degree or permission of instructor. (3+0)
COMM F642 Health Communication
3 Credits Offered As Demand Warrants
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), inter-organizational (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. Prerequisites: Enrollment in M.A. in Professional Communication degree or permission of instructor. (3+0)
COMM F661 Mentored Teaching in Communication
1 Credit
Mentored teaching provides consistent contact on course-related issues between teaching assistants and mentoring faculty. Graded Pass/Fail. Prerequisites: Enrollment in M.A. of Professional Communication or permission of instructor; award of 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. (1+0+2)
COMM F675 Training and Development Communication
3 Credits Offered Spring
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. Prerequisites: Enrollment in M.A. in Professional Communication degree or permission of instructor. (3+0)
COMM F680 Communication and Diversity in the Professional World
3 Credits Offered Spring
Case study methods applied 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. Prerequisites: Enrollment in M.A. in Professional Communication degree or permission of instructor. (3+0)
COMM F682 Seminar in Communication
3 Credits Offered As Demand Warrants
A variable content seminar intended to give students an opportunity to work closely with communication faculty in the study of topics, ideas or methodologies significant to the communication discipline (e.g., relational conflict, social construction, narrative research, etc.). Prerequisites: Enrollment in M.A. in Professional Communication degree or permission of instructor. (3+0)
COMM F699 Thesis
1 - 9 Credits
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. Graded Pass/Fail. (0+0)