Course Descriptions

Fall, 2008

07205 CMS 081M Introduction to Graduate Studies in Human Comm.
Dr. Dawna Ballard
Fridays 3:00-4:30 CMA A3.112
CMS 081M is a general introduction to graduate studies in communication as a discipline and specifically to the Communication Studies Department at the University of Texas. The purposes of the course are to introduce you to the faculty of our department and their work; to socialize you to the academic and professional expectations and routines of scholarly life in the field of communication studies, and to provoke you to take steps to prepare for various careers you might obtain after earning a graduate degree. Class periods are open to all faculty and graduate students in the department and generally serves as a Fall colloquium series in our department.

07215 CMS 386K Interpersonal Communication Theory
Dr. René Dailey
Wednesdays 3:00-6:00 CMA A5.156
This survey course provides an overview of theories and research relevant to verbal and nonverbal communication in interpersonal relationships.

07220 CMS 386N Quantitative Research Methods
Dr. Anita Vangelisti
Tuesdays 3:30-6:30 CMA A5.156
Quantitative Research Methods is a course designed to acquaint you with some of the basic issues, analytic techniques, and "ways of thinking" associated with social scientific approaches to communication research. More specifically, we will be examining various research paradigms, common methods of data collection, and several statistical techniques used to test empirical questions. The goal of the course is to provide you with an introduction to quantitative methods--both in an abstract sense (via readings and class discussions) and in a more concrete, "hands-on" way (by working with a statistics program and designing your own research project).

07223 CMS 386P Conflict and Communication
Dr. Madeline Maxwell
Tuesdays 3:30-6:30 CMA A7.114C
Background: While it was once assumed that interpersonal, group, and international conflict were unrelated topics, that assumption is being challenged today. This course analyzes talk in conflict in a number of direct and mediated situations, focusing on the relationships between social structures and communication, communication or language theories we may derive from the study of conflict talk and the application of interaction and language theories to the study of conflict. Topics include relationship conflict, language and violence, protest language, social conflict, and structures for resolution and management. We will start by reviewing key theories, research, and practices of conflict communication in a variety of contexts, emphasize constructive conflict management from a communication perspective which places primacy in the message as the focus of conflict research and practice.

07225 CMS 386P Language, Culture and Communication
Dr. Jürgen Streeck
Tuesdays 3:30-6:30 JES A205A
This course has two objectives: (a) to offer you a comprehensive overview of how contemporary scholars envision the development of and diversification of language and culture within evolving human interaction networks and societies, and (b) to provide you with research experiences that allow you to identify “the cultural” in phenomena of face-to-face communication, media, and language use.
Themes: cooperation and culture; the interaction order; talk; embodied experience and conceptual structures; the evolution of forms: grammaticalization; communicative change of cultural differentiation; hybridity; culturescapes of communication.
Assessment: You will write regular short reaction papers and three 5 pp. research papers.
Literature:
N.J. Enfield & S. Levinson (eds.). Roots of Human Sociality: Culture, Cognition and Interaction. London, 2006: Berg.
M. Tomasello. The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition. Cambridge, MA, 1999: Harvard University Press.
and electronic reading packet

07230 CMS 390N Media, Politics and the Individual
Dr. Talia Stroud
Wednesdays 3:00-6:00 CMA A7.114C
This course will cover current research and theory in the area of media and politics with particular emphasis on individual-level effects. We will explore questions such as: How does political news coverage influence how people think about politics? What is the political impact of our changing media environment? How does entertainment programming / fake news influence our political beliefs? What decisions do people make about where to gather political information? With whom do we discuss politics and what are the effects? How do the media inform or fail to inform us about politics?

07235 CMS 390P Foundations of Rhetorical Theory
Dr. Barry Brummett
Wednesdays 7:00-10:00 CMA A3.128
This course is a theoretical-historical review of writings about rhetoric in the Western tradition up through the Enlightenment. It is based upon the assumption that there is no single, stable entity in that tradition called “rhetoric.” Instead, different writers organize that term in relationship to terms referencing other discourses and practices. Each way of situating rhetoric in a world of texts and action is also a way of understanding human experience in general.

07247 CMS 390R Feminist Theory and Rhetorical Criticism
Dr. Dana Cloud
Mondays 3:00-6:00 CMA A5.156
A survey of feminist theories and the various waves of the women's movement. Focus on rhetorical theories implicit in feminism and on frameworks for criticizing political and popular culture texts from such perspectives.

07245 CMS 390R Basic Rhetorical Criticism
Dr. Joshua Gunn
Thursdays 3:30-6:30 CMA A5.156
Consideration of various methods of analyzing public discourse, including how and why rhetorical analysis is attempted and what can be done with the results.

07250 CMS 390S Survey of Organizational Communication
Dr. Keri Stephens
Mondays 3:00-6:00 BUR 128
This course explores contemporary issues and processes in organizational communication. The focus is on reading and understanding quantitative research conducted in the organizational communication subdiscipline. We begin by reviewing the key constructs, methods, and philosophical positions found in this subdiscipline. We will then examine topics such as: how newcomers are socialized, how supervisor/subordinate communication occurs, decision-making, emotion and work/life, and the impact of technology on work groups and organizational meetings. We will also explore more macro topics such as the role of communication in major organizational changes and the types of messages organizations craft during crises. The major course project will consist of an organizational communication audit. Students will have the option of joining a team, or being an active participant in creating a specific part of the survey instrument. If you want to be actively involved, you must contact Dr. Stephens by June 1, 2008 to indicate your interest. Much of the audit and survey design will happen in the summer before the course begins. All students will prepare summaries of selected class articles, individual annotated bibliographies, and participate in the writing of a client report. There will also be one exam (over the names of key organizational scholars and concepts) and a group scholarly paper addressing the findings of the audit. We will use the Handbook of Organizational Communication and additional scholarly readings for the course. If you have not had an organizational communication course (or if it has been a while), I will also include suggested background readings from the Miller undergraduate textbook.

07255 CMS 390S Narrative Communication in Organizations
Dr. Larry Browning
Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:00–3:30 CMA A7.114C
This class will focus on organizational communication as narratives. Rationality represents the science of organizations especially the desire to have a controllable, predictable system. Narrativity and storytelling represent the unfolding of lived experience that the predictable, rational system cannot account for-including the organization's unforeseen, dramatic, and memorable events. The strongest single counterpoint to the scientific study of organizations is to view them as sites for narratives, as places where the stories people tell about work and lives is central to who they are. Because stories are so tied to our basic identities, our memberships, our commitments, and our ways of understanding, we are constantly interested in telling our stories and listening to the stories of others. This prima facie evidence of story's importance drives the organization of this course. We will take several cuts at narratives: narratives in organizations, narratives about organizations, narratives for organizations, the use of narratives to discover underlying knowledge, etc.

07260 CMS 392P Computer Mediated Communication I: Models and Methods
Dr. Jorge Peña
Wednesdays 3:00-6:00 CMA A5.156
An examination of the theories and methods employed in computer-mediated communication research. Topics include impression formation and impression management, anonymity, and how social identity affects cognition and behavior. The class will put together empirical studies addressing these issues in the context of recreational or instrumental technology use.