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General Information
The Department of Communication offers a graduate program leading to the Master of Arts in Communication degree.  The program prepares students to analyze and function within various levels of social relationships from interpersonal to family, organizational, and political arenas of contemporary life.  Students develop a comprehensive theoretical background and conceptual skills required for transformative practices in a broad variety of contexts.  Emphasis is placed on how questions of ethics, values and processes, and community inform knowledge of and about communication.

Application and Admission
Application and Admission Procedures:  Prospective students should discuss their goals and interests with the graduate program coordinator prior to submitting an application.  An applicant must follow the general application procedures for admission to a graduate program (see the Graduate Admission Regulations section of this catalog), and also provide a letter of intent  (describing background, academic interests, and career goals), and two letters of recommendation from academic faculty.  Once the file for an applicant is complete, it will be evaluated by the coordinator, and an admission recommendation (regular, provisional, or denial) will be forwarded to the graduate dean.  The graduate dean will make the final admission decision and notify the applicant.

Deadlines  Application deadlines for students seeking graduate admission to the Department of Communication without consideration for graduate assistantships:
November 1 - Spring Semester Admissions
August 1 - Fall Semester Admissions
Applicants seeking a Department of Communication Graduate Teaching Assistantship or Graduate Research Assistantship must submit all application materials and an Application for Graduate Assistantship by March 3 for both semesters.

Conditions for Admission:  Applicants must satisfy the minimum admission requirements of the Graduate College (see the Graduate Admission Regulations section of this catalog).  The required baccalaureate degree must be in communication or a related field involving substantial course work in communication.  Admission is competitive and it is possible that not all qualified applicants will be admitted to the program.

Student Guidance
The graduate program coordinator will assign a temporary advisor to each student prior to the first semester of enrollment.  By the end of the first semester, the advisor, in consultation with the student, will initiate the appointment of a three-person supervisory committee that will assume responsibility for student guidance.

Degree Requirements:

Elective Substitutions:   A student may substitute up to three courses totaling no more than 9 credits to meet the elective requirements.  These courses may be from departments outside of the Department of Communication.  Approval is required by the supervisory committee and the graduate program coordinator, and the substitutions must be consistent with all applicable regulations of the Graduate College. 

Course Offerings 

COMM 501 COMMUNICATION RESEARCH AND WRITING (3-0-3) (F).  A critical overview of leading theoretical and research traditions in communication studies, with special emphasis on epistemological issues.  The course will also examine the application of research to professional environments, civil society and other contexts. 

COMM 505 THEORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF COMMUNICATION (3-0-3) (S).  An overview of communication studies.  The course will emphasize the metaphysical, epistemological, ethical and aesthetic dimensions of various schools of communication thought.

COMM 506 INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION (3-0-3) (F).  This course examines the range and variety of theories and research in areas such as attraction, relational development and maintenance, friendship and courtship, inter-racial and same-sex relationships, and relationship decline.   

COMM 507 ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION (3-0-3) (S).  Graduate-level survey of contemporary theory and research as applied to the study of all types of organizations.  This course explores the role of communication in the creation and constitution of organizational reality.   

COMM 508 MEDIA THEORY AND PRACTICE (3-0-3) (F).  The course examines a broad range of theoretical perspectives on media institutions, practices, and effects.  Emphasis is given to the implications of media theory and research for citizens, members of civic and professional organizations who work with media, as well as media practitioners.  Course topics may include theory and research regarding the media's role in education, persuasion, entertainment, socialization, social structure, politics, psychological effects, and business. 

COMM 509 LEGAL AND ETHICAL ASPECTS OF COMMUNICATION (3-0-3) (S).  Advanced examination of ethical and legal issues facing practitioners and the public.  Topics may include First and Fourth Amendment, the right to privacy, censorship, libel and slander, copyright, and media and national security considerations.   

COMM 510 COMMUNICATION, COMMUNITY AND POLITICS (3-0-3) (F).  This course concentrates on the intersections among theory and practice in communication studies, community organization and political science.  It looks at all three in terms of the exercise of power, and the conflicts between autonomy and control in a range of social settings. 

COMM 511 CRITICAL THEORY (3-0-3) (S).  A seminar on the work of the German Frankfurt School and its role in the communication theory of society.  Special emphasis on critical epistemology as social theory, the political economy of culture, and discourses growing out of twentieth-century and twenty-first century debates over modernity. 

COMM 512 CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION (3-0-3) (F).  Advanced studies in current issues and theoretical perspectives in the study of rhetoric, communicative relationships, the art and performance of communication, and intercultural communication.  Topics include the history of the terms “culture” and “communication,” and the historical evolution of theoretical perspectives on both terms. 

COMM 513 PUBLIC RELATIONS (3-0-3) (F).  Advanced studies in public information, investor relations, public affairs, corporate and nonprofit communication, marketing or customer relations, with emphasis on how public relations also helps shape organizations and the way they work.  Topics include the history of public relations and the role of research, feedback and evaluation in the design of effective campaigns and messages in an information-rich society.

COMM 514 MEDIA WRITING (3-0-3) (S).  An intensive examination of the theory and practice of information-gathering and writing techniques for print and broadcast media.  Subjects include strategic and technical writing, business writing, documentation, speeches and integrating the written word with visual design.

SELECTED TOPICS
COMM 580 – ADVANCED THEORY and PHILOSOPHY
COMM 581 – ADVANCED RESEARCH and WRITING
COMM 582 – ADVANCED INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
COMM 583 – ADVANCED ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION
COMM 584 – ADVANCED MEDIA THEORY and PRACTICE
COMM 585 – ADVANCED CULTURE and COMMUNICATION
COMM 586 – ADVANCED STUDIES in CRITICAL THEORY
COMM 587 – ADVANCED STUDIES in GLOBALIZATION
COMM 588 – ADVANCED CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
COMM 589 – ADVANCED PUBLIC RELATIONS

Department of Communication Graduate Faculty
    Mary Frances Casper      Renu Dube      Pete Lutze      Suzanne McCorkle
  Ed McLuskie      Janet Mills      Rick C. Moore      Dan Morris 
  Natalie Nelson-Marsh      Heidi Reeder      Robert Rudd 
  Laurel Traynowicz      Peter Wollheim

Associate Graduate Faculty
  Marty Most  

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