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Course Requirements - Communication Studies

The aim of the major in communication studies is to provide a background of theory and practice in oral and mediated communication.

In their study of formal and informal oral, print and digital environments, students will learn to communicate ethically, responsibly and effectively for diverse audiences in multiple contexts.

Course Descriptions

The following represents one of many paths students can take to complete a major in communication studies. A major in communication studies requires a minimum cumulative 2.0 GPA in all courses counted toward the major.

Note that students typically take four courses per semester for a total of eight each year. Check the Coe catalog to review all of your options.

Core Requirements for Majors and Minors

COM 125: Fundamentals of Public Speaking

Explores the basic processes of speech making: audience analysis and adaptation, idea and organizational development, use of effective supporting material and reasoning, and presentation. Critical thinking and listening skills developed by analysis of public speeches. Speaking and writing skills developed through introductory, informative, persuasive, and ceremonial speeches.

COM 381: Research Methods

Exploration of the major approaches to conducting research in Communication Studies. This course serves as the foundation for more complex forms of qualitative and/or quantitative analysis.

Areas of Concentration

Critical Communication

COM 161: Visual Rhetoric

Examination of the persuasive power of visual symbols. The course provides an introduction to foundational concepts in the study of rhetoric and cultivates ways of thinking needed to critically analyze visual forms of symbolic expression.

COM 357: Sex, Race, and Gender in the Media

An introduction to the analysis of representations of identities such as gender, race, sexual orientation, and the body in the mass media. As such, this course examines some of the relationships between the media in the U.S. and the social constructions of race, gender, and sexuality. Students view, read about, analyze, and discuss various forms of mass media and look at what these forms represent. An underlying understanding within the course is recognition of the inextricable interconnections of gender, race, and sexuality. 
Prerequisites: junior standing or consent of instructor.

COM 361: Communication and Social Change

Study of the role of communication as a vehicle for social change. Analysis of the discourse used in social movements from the 1960s to the present. Course combines an emphasis on discourse analysis with opportunities for contemporary application. Prerequisite: junior standing or consent of instructor.

Human Communication

COM 236: Intercultural Communication

Exploration of the role of communication in constructing, navigating, and challenging various markers of similarity and difference.

COM 237: Interpersonal Communication

Examines the influence in interpersonal relationships of ethnicity, gender, family, and class on self-concept, perception, emotions, and verbal and non-verbal expression. Students practice specific techniques that facilitate building positive relationships, including such issues as clear language usage, supportive climate building, and conflict resolution.

COM 332: Health Communication

Examines the connections among communication, culture, and health. Course content and assignments focus on how one communicates about health in various contexts (family, end-of-life, patient-provider, etc.), cultural influences on healthcare practices, and the role of communication and storytelling in coping with one’s body, illness, disability, and death. 
Prerequisite: junior standing or consent of instructor.

Mass Media

COM 151: Introduction to New Media Studies

Exploration of the theoretical and practical questions surrounding digital or computer-mediated communication technologies. This introductory course examines how changes to the technologies for the creation, display, and circulation of messages influence meaning-making.

COM 157: Introduction to Media Analysis

Exploration of important theories, concepts, and terms in media studies. This course examines the production, circulation, and reception of content and provides an introduction to media analysis.

COM 241: Introduction to Multimedia Journalism

Develops journalistic writing skills in several styles (hard news, features, in-depth reporting) and across media (print, audio, video, online). Topics include information gathering, objectivity, audience, news convergence, news values, civic responsibility, and journalism ethics. Students investigate the state of news and the roles and responsibilities of journalists in contemporary American society.

COM 341: Digital Storytelling

Students practice adapting written language to oral and/or visual formats while learning to communicate news messages in a variety of broadcast formats, ranging from audio to news-in-the-field to video productions. Continuing focus on professional standards emphasizing accuracy, conciseness, style, and the conventions of Standard English. 
Prerequisite: Introduction to Multimedia Journalism (WE) (COM-241) or Journalism and Media Writing Workshop (WE) (RHE-225).

COM 337: Persuasion

Investigation of the nature and process of persuasion. This course provides practice in constructing and analyzing persuasive messages and campaigns. Prerequisite: junior standing or consent of instructor.

Special Topics

COM -435/-436: Special Topics in Relational Communication

Exploration of a topic within the field of relational communication. Coursework includes a substantive research project and oral presentations. May be taken more than once for credit with the consent of the department chair. Can satisfy the DCP requirement when the topic is appropriate.

COM -445/-447: Special Topics in Production

Exploration of a topic within the field of production. Coursework includes a substantive research project and oral presentations. May be taken more than once for credit with the consent of the department chair. Can satisfy the DCP requirement when the topic is appropriate. Prerequisites: Rhetorical Theory and Practice (RHE-200) and either Research Methods in Communication Studies (COM-381).

COM -465/467: Special Topics in Public Discourse 

Exploration of a topic within the field of public discourse. Coursework includes a substantive research project and oral presentations. May be taken more than once for credit with the consent of the department chair. Can satisfy the DCP requirement when the topic is appropriate. Prerequisites: Rhetorical Theory and Practice (RHE-200) and either Research Methods in Communication Studies (COM-381).