Spring 2025

Social scientific inquiry into human communication; core theories of message production and reception in interpersonal, group and organizational contexts.

Principles and practices of effective oral communication; analysis of the speaking-listening process; selection and organization of speech materials; use of new presentation technologies.

Students address communication issues in a field setting. They will evaluate communication practices using appropriate methodology. Projects are jointly evaluated by internship supervisor and professor. Sophomore standing. Graded: CR/NC. Not for major credit for Communication majors.

Examines cultural institutions, ideologies, artifacts, and productions; role of culture in everyday life; cultural studies as methodology; culture and power.

Economic and political economic principles for the analysis of communication and media industries including broadcasting, newspapers, motion pictures, music, video games, advertising and public relations.

Theoretical foundation for understanding the construction, consumption, and consequences of entertainment from classical to contemporary times; situates entertainment within the ecology of information and communication.

Experimental and survey methods for communication study; basic statistical concepts, procedures, and tests.

Theories and research in social influence; strategies and tactics of persuasive communications in such settings as politics, public relations, advertising, business.

Students learn to be consumers rather than creators of social science research. Examines the challenges and opportunities of communicating research through mass media.

Music as inter-cultural communication and method for exploring race and ethnicity in the constitution of American culture and American self; role of music industry.

Nature and functions of communication in human conflict; development of communication skills for managing conflict productively in interpersonal, organizational and intercultural contexts.

Cultural, social, political, and economic dynamics of communication technologies, including internet architecture, social media, participatory cultures, privacy, surveillance, networked journalism, big data, algorithms, online activism.

Interplay between media and society, including family and children's socialization, inter-group relations and community, pornography and violence, gender and race, media ethics, conduct of politics.

Forms of civic life; opportunities and obstacles in forming, participating in, and disrupting community; issues of knowledge, power, identity; theories/methods of rhetorical analysis and production.

Survey of mass communication research; history, content, effects, theories, and policy implications of various media.

Group process theories relevant to communicative behavior in small group/team settings, including information exchange, decision making, leadership, and meetings; student team projects testing theoretic propositions.

Social media within the broader social, political, and historical contexts; key themes include labor, Web 2.0, self-branding, celebrity, participation, privacy, online shaming, and activism.

Basic argumentation theory including analysis. Research and evidence, case construction, refutation; discursive and visual argument; diverse fields of advocacy including law, politics, organizations, interpersonal relations.

Cultural variables and social psychological processes that influence intercultural interaction; relationship between communication and culture in diverse settings including business, medicine, and education.

Explores the role of the media in the LGBTQ revolution that transformed the lives of sexual and gender minorities in the United States.

This course examines philosophies and popular representations of technology from the origins of western culture to the present and identifies the complex attitudes toward technology.

Cultural implications of computer-mediated communication and related media. Ideological responses to media innovation; debates over artificial intelligence, virtual communities, and virtual reality. Recommended preparation: COMM 339.

Social and economic impacts of information and communication technologies; social factors that shape technological change; issues include access, privacy, freedom of expression, productivity, democratic control.

Advertising as a mode of communication; US advertising history and institutions; economic and policy contexts (domestic and global); critical analysis of advertising texts

Representations of Los Angeles communicated in diverse media; the city as a rhetorical text; analysis of cultural identities, art, architecture and representations in popular culture.

Theoretical approaches to the study of media consumption and audiences; examines international media and consumption practices; explores new media's impact on consumption.

Examination of the modern city as a communicative text with London as the case study.

Students explore the theoretical and practical issues involved in designing effective media and communication projects for social change.

Introduces public diplomacy as a central feature of contemporary international relations and challenges students to locate themselves as both its target and practitioners.

Exploration of how freedom of speech has been adapted and applied to "new media" from film to computer algorithms and video games.

Oral and written communication skills demanded in the workplace including informative and persuasive speeches; interviewing; team communication; and training material preparation. Recommended preparation: COMM 204

Directed individual research studies of contemporary problems. Supervised laboratory experience. Open only to members of the University debate squad.

Explores social, political and ethical issues in elite sports and how issues are addressed through popular media; examination includes the relationship between sports and politics.

An inside look at the important stories, topical issues, trends and historical developments related to the growing influence of business and media on college and professional sports; identifying the key components and meeting the influencers in class that help shape the business side of sports, while recognizing the role the media plays in providing daily coverage across multiple platforms.

Rhetorical and critical approaches to sports and public discourse; application to sports organizations, the news and popular media; representations of gender and race in sports.

Popular culture as an indicator of cultural values, a producer and reflection of cultural meaning, and a means of communication; theory and case studies.

How communication processes both create organizations and are constrained by them. Theory and research into topics such as culture, technology, power, leadership and decision-making in a variety of organizational contexts.

Application of critical, sociological and rhetorical theories to sports events and sport media; examination of the role of sports in enacting social change.

Value perspectives on communication in varied settings: interpersonal, organizational, and public. Issues of truth and responsibility in family and social interactions, advertising, and governmental communication.

Examines case studies on important Italian companies, ranging from the transportation to the luxury goods industries from both an economical and business point of view.

Investigates the implications of the perceptual process of mass media generated immigration discourse in Europe.

Examination of the modern city as a communicative text with Rome as the case study.

Issues of gender in communication, including: mediarepresentations of femininity and masculinity; and gender's rolein communication at the interpersonal, public, and cultural levels.

Advanced readings in communication theory and research (broadly defined); specialized interest areas of individual faculty on the frontiers of knowledge; seminar topics change each semester.

Theory and research in public health communication campaigns; design, implementation, and evaluation; extensive discussion of historical case studies and reasons for success or failure.

Explores food communication as a facilitator of human interaction and cultural diplomacy; controversies regarding food production/consumption; and evolution of food entertainment programming.

Communicating with partners, friends, parents and health care professionals about sexual behavior; interpersonal and mediated contexts; understanding of sexual scripts; current theory and research.

Social and political movements as rhetorical phenomena; ideology, organization, and influence of such movements as civil rights, "New Left," feminism, "New Right," environmentalism.

Seminar examining the relationship between propaganda, ideology, critical thinking and rhetoric; application to contemporary controversies, both domestic and global; role of public argument.

Examines laws and regulatory policies shaping new media, especially the Internet; impact of regulation on development and use of communication technology.

Examines the effects of the Internet on communication industries, the economy, economic policy, and on social, political and cultural practices.

Provides an overview of 2,000 years of Italian-style communications, from Julius Caesar to Machiavelli, Mussolini and the Mafia.

Examines music's unique characteristics as a communicative form and the cultural, economic, political and social influences in music interpretation and production.

A foundational understanding of the historic, cultural and theoretical underpinning of the podcast medium with an emphasis on critical listening.

Focuses on critical theories that examine social and political roles of sport in society and how these roles play out in media and broadcast platforms.

Examines issues of visual images in communication related to history, modernity, cityscapes, news media, advertising, evidence, science, digital technology, and globalization.

Analysis of photography's evolution; new strategies for the photographic image, photo documentary work and global social issues; analysis of images on blogs and Websites.

Explores blurring of entertainment, marketing and culture in advanced information economies; intersections of culture and media and their social ramifications.

Examines how race and ethnicity as social categories are shaped by communication media; focuses on how race and ethnicity sustain entertainment and media industries.

Gender and news media evolving images of women and men in print and electronic media. Impact of gender in content and style of news, television and cinema. Open to non-majors.

Problems in political communication: creating an informed electorate, use of mass media, factors in voter persuasion. Guest experts in political analysis, opinion polling, communication evaluation.

Individual research and readings. Not available for graduatecredit. Available to juniors and seniors only.

Students gain research experience in the design, implementation, analysis, and reporting of communication research. Students serve as research assistants to faculty members. Not available for graduate credit.

Writing of the honors thesis. Not available for graduate credit.

Examines social and political controversies over conflicting ethical standards for communication in a variety of media: mass-media, communication technology and entertainment.

Selected topics in communication.

Focuses on theories and research in communication and social sciences to bridge disciplines to produce a proposal, business plan, publication, or a research project.

Overview of humanistic and social scientific approaches to the study of communication; emphasis on macro and micro social scientific, symbolic, and structural perspectives. Not open to M.A. in Communication Management majors,

Epistemological assumptions, design, and beginning methods of quantitative analysis in communication research.

Explores cybersecurity, privacy, network neutrality and other critical issues in internet governance through the lenses of international political economy and media theories.

Advanced analysis of variance, regression models, path analysis,MANOVA, and discriminant analysis.

Introduction to key concepts and theories in the interdisciplinary field of Science and Technology Studies.

Selected topics in the study of new technologies for human communication: adoption of CMC technologies; social networking; self-presentation and impression formation in CMC; online friendships.

Examines models of a democratic public sphere, with special focus on design and use of networked information infrastructures supporting free speech.

Research leading to the master's degree. Maximum units which may be applied to the degree to be determined by the school. Graded CR/NC.

Conduct research, design and produce a group-based research report and website to assess disruption within Global Media Industries over the past year or two.

Conduct original or revised global media and communication research thesis projects for submission to academic journals and conferences.

Classical and contemporary theories of persuasion, attitude formation and change; impact of cognition, affect and emotions; cultural and group influences; message strategies and framing.

Current problems in communication theory and research; advanced, specialized interest areas of individual faculty on the frontiers of knowledge.

Explores and analyzes the interaction between culture and economy by observing different types of economic practices.

A supervised course tailored to specific student interests. The professor and student develop a syllabus that permits exploration of advanced or specialized topics. Graded CR/NC.

Independent research designed to demonstrate the student's ability to conceptualize, conduct, and present scholarly research. Parallel to COMM 794. Graded CR/NC.

Research leading to the doctorate. Maximum units which may be applied to the degree to be determined by the department. Graded CR/NC.

Credit on acceptance of dissertation. Graded IP/CR/NC.

Credit on acceptance of Dissertation. Graded IP/CR/NC.

Credit on acceptance of Dissertation. Graded IP/CR/NC.

Credit on acceptance of Dissertation. Graded IP/CR/NC.

Credit on acceptance of Dissertation. Graded IP/CR/NC.