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.
COMM 131X (3 Credits) Fall, Spring
Fundamentals of Oral Communication: Group Context (3+0)
The communication process, focusing on listening, perception, verbal and nonverbal communication, and organizing material. Emphasizes increased understanding of and effective performance in small group communication situations. Materials fee: $10.00.
COMM 141X (3 Credits) Fall, Spring
Fundamentals of Oral Communication: Public Context (3+0)
The communication process, focusing on listening, perception, verbal and nonverbal communication, and organizing material. Emphasizes increased understanding of and effective performance in public speaking situations. Materials fee: $10.00.
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. Materials fee: $10.00.
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. Materials fee: $10.00. (Prerequisite: Any 100 level oral communication course or permission of instructor. Next offered: 1997-98.)
COMM 251 (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Argumentation and Conflict Communication (3+0) s
The study of argumentativeness as an alternative to aggressive communication. Conflict and cooperation as expressed through human communication behavior will be examined through the current approaches to argumentation and debate. Materials fee: $10.00. (Prerequisite: Any 100 level communication course or permission of instructor. Next offered: 1998-99.)
COMM 280 (3 Credits) Spring
Communication and Diversity (3+0)
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. Materials fee: $10.00.
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. Materials fee: $10.00. (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. Materials fee: $10.00. (Prerequisite: Any lower division communication course or permission of instructor. Next offered: 1997-98.)
COMM 321 (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. Materials fee: $10.00. (Prerequisite: Any lower division communication course or permission of instructor. Next offered: 1998-99.)
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. Materials fee: $10.00.
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. Materials fee: $10.00. (Prerequisite: Any lower division communication course or permission of instructor. Next offered: 1998-99.)
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. Materials fee: $10.00. (Prerequisite: Any 100 level communication course or permission of instructor. Next offered: 1997-98.)
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. Materials fee: $10.00. (Prerequisite: Completion of one lower division communication course or permission of the instructor. Next offered: 1998-99.)
COMM 351 (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Gender and Communication (3+0) s
(Same as 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. Materials fee: $10.00. (Prerequisite: Any lower division communication course or permission of the instructor. Next offered: 1997-98.)
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. Materials fee: $10.00. (Prerequisite: Any lower division communication course or permission of the instructor. COMM 322 recommended. Next offered: 1997-98.)
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. Materials fee: $10.00. (Prerequisite: Any 300 level communication courses or permission of instructor. Next offered: 1997-98.)
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. Materials fee: $10.00. (Prerequisite: Any 300 level communication course or permission of the instructor. Next offered: 1998-99.)
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. Materials fee: $10.00. (Prerequisite: Any 300 level communication course or permission of the instructor. Next offered: 1998-99.)
COMM 462W (3 Credits) Alternate Years
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. Materials fee: $10.00. (Prerequisite: Any 300 level communication course or permission of the instructor. Next offered: 1997-98.)
COMM 475 (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. Materials fee: $10.00. (Prerequisite: Any 300 level communication course or permission of instructor. Next offered: 1997-98.)
COMM 482 (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Seminar in Communication (3+0) s
Current trends and theory in key areas of communication are examined. Students concentrate research in their speciality area while examining selected topics in all the areas. Materials fee: $10.00. (Prerequisite: Any 300 level communication course or permission of instructor. Next offered: 1997-98.)Prerequisite for all 600-level communication courses is admission to the M.A. in Professional Communication program or permission of the instructor.
COMM 601 (3 credits) Alternate Years
Communication Methodologies (3+0)
(Same as JB 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.
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 MA in Professional Communication degree or permission of instructor.)
COMM 625 (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Communication Theory (3+0)
(Same as JB 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.)
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.)
COMM 675 (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Training & Development Communication (3+0)
Training & 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.)
COMM 680 (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Communication & 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.)
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.)
COMM 685 (3 Credits) Alternate Years
Teaching College Communication (3+0)
This course is required of all teaching assistants who will be responsible for instruction in the Department's service course (Fundamentals of Oral Communication: Small Group Context; COMM 131X). Teaching College Communication addresses classroom communication practices in addition to emphasizing how to teach students to work in groups. Teaching Assistants will be provided with strategies and content for each of the instructional components of the basic Communication course. (Prerequisite: Enrollment in MA in Professional Communication degree or permission of instructor.)
COMM 699 (3 Credits) Fall and Spring
Thesis (0+0)
(Same as JB 699)
Every candidate for 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.