Communications

Courses

CO 102: Interpersonal Communication

Semester Hours 3
This is an introductory course that blends research and theory to help students build effective interpersonal communication skills. The course explores such basic topics as self-concept and self-disclosure, listening, verbal and non-verbal messages, perception, emotions, and conflict management. Other communications topics include sex and gender roles, cultural differences, power and relationships, and communication ethics.

CO 104: Public Communication

Semester Hours 3
Strategies and techniques for making informative and persuasive public presentations. Topics include audience analysis, issue framing, patterns of development, visual aids, and oral delivery. Classroom instruction emphasizes presentations based on simulated situations in public forums, panel discussions, symposia, briefings, and debates.

CO 106: Introduction to Film

Semester Hours 3
This course will familiarize students with the different artistic elements of cinema, including cinematography, editing, music and sound, and screenwriting. These elements of film will be discussed and viewed in a mix of clips and full-length films.

CO 120: Introduction to Communications

Semester Hours 3

This course will explore the foundations of human communication in social, personal, and professional interactions and examine the ways in which various channels influence both the sending and receiving of messages. Content will focus on the definition and analysis of rhetoric and presentation; media literacy; cultural orientations; small-group interaction; and interpersonal skills such as listening, language, and non-verbal communication. Assignments are designed to encourage students to become more perceptive, aware, and confident communicators in a variety of settings.

CO 205: Intercultural Communication

Semester Hours 3
This is an introductory course that studies the nature of intercultural communication. Topics such as cultural communication contexts, cultural variables and values, and subcultures will all be discussed. By the end of the semester, students are expected to be more perceptive, aware, and confident communicators, both within their own culture and others.

CO 207: Media Literacy in the 21st Century

Semester Hours 3

This course introduces students to the many ways media shape how we think, feel, and connect with the world. Students will learn how to question and evaluate the messages they see and hear every day, from news and social media to advertising and entertainment. Topics include media influence on behavior, ethics and responsibility in media, how messages are created and shared, media bias and representation, political uses of media, and the effects of new and changing technologies. By the end of the course, students will be able to think critically about media messages and become more informed, ethical, and active media consumers and creators.