Spring 2016

CMS 306M PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS

DESCRIPTION:

The goal of this course is to make you a more competent professional communicator by studying the theories and principles of effective communication, applying these principles in a variety of assignments, and critiquing the performances of other speakers. With a new media component (access code included in the workbook), you will utilize a wide array of resources such as sample student speeches, interviews with UT faculty on communication issues in our world, researching and outlining tools, and chapter quizzes to help familiarize you with important communication concepts before course exams. At the end of the semester, you should be able to prepare and succeed in conducting team and individual presentations, analyze and adapt to various audiences, and adjust to different speaking situations, purposes, and contexts. This course carries the Ethics and Leadership flag.

CMS 210 FORENSICS WORKSHOP

You must get consent from the instructor before registering for this course.

DESCRIPTION:

This class is a forensic workshop dedicated to the proficiency of the student in intercollegiate competitive forensic events. The course is directly associated with the nationally ranked traveling Individual Events Team, and as such, admission into the course is through an audition process. Each student, to be admitted into the class (and the team) must prepare a 5-10 minute presentation of a literary text or public speech. Once admitted, the student will be required to become proficient in at least three diverse forensic events (from the eleven sanctioned by the American Forensic Association).

CMS 310K TEAM-BASED COMMUNICATION

INSTRUCTOR: DRON MANDHANA

DESCRIPTION:

This course explores communication issues in the context of small groups and teams. The class contains a combination of theory and research about group communication processes as well as the practical aspects of that material. Students will form teams and complete a service-learning project over the course of the semester to gain valuable experience with team interaction dynamics. Some of the team-based communication issues covered in this class include technology, culture, conflict, decision-making, and power.

CMS 313M ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION

INSTRUCTOR: DR. JOSHUA BARBOUR

DESCRIPTION:

As a broad overview to the study of organizational communication, this course covers theories and practices relevant to communication in organizations. The class addresses issues of structure, motivation, leadership, informal communication networks, culture, socialization, decision-making, stress/burnout, conflict, diversity, globalization, and external communication as they relate to organizations. The theory and research in class are made more applicable to students through case studies of actual organizational problems/issues.

CMS 314L LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION, AND CULTURE

This course carries the Cultural Diversity and Writing flags. This course fulfills the Communication and Culture requirement.

DESCRIPTION:

Each of us witnesses and participates in communicative acts on a daily basis. We use and employ different modes of communication while listening to lectures, reporting goings-on to our parents, and catching up with our friends. In this sense, communication is not usually a tool we employ self-consciously but as part of the natural course of our social lives. In other words, we use language and communication as we live our lives but rarely do we have the opportunity to observe how and in what ways communication actually works. In this class we will begin to do just that--examine some of the ways in which culture and society influence our communication and, conversely, the ways in which our communication affects and even perhaps effects the culture in which we live and the kind of society in which we choose to live.

CMS 315M INTERPERSONAL COMM THEORY

INSTRUCTOR: DR. JOHN DALY

DESCRIPTION:

This course is a broad introduction to the study of interpersonal communication. We will focus on the role of communication in relationships. Topics include rumors and gossip, charisma, long distance relationships, disclosure, shyness, fighting, jealousy, love, and friendship.

CMS 316L INTERVIEWING PRINS & PRACTICES

INSTRUCTOR: ELIZABETH GLOWACKI

DESCRIPTION:

This course is designed to teach students the theories and techniques used to prepare and conduct informational, persuasive, and employment interviews. The art of asking the right kind of questions and how that influences communication is a central focus in this course. The projects emphasize the practical application of interviewing skills designed to prepare students for the professional world. Students build their networks by interviewing professionals in a field of interest to them, researching industries that interest them, constructing basic resumes, practicing answering and asking questions in employment interviews, and often, they make connections that help them secure internships or jobs. This course offers a unique combination of interviewing principles with real-world experience and learning outside the classroom that sets it apart from traditional classes.

CMS 330 INTERPERSONAL HEALTH COMMUNICATION

INSTRUCTOR: DR. ERIN DONOVAN

This course carries the Writing Flag.

DESCRIPTION:

Have you ever thought about . . .

Why people keep secrets about their health?

What it is like to date someone with a chronic illness?

How doctors talk to their patients about death?

What makes for a successful parent-child conversation about safe sex?

All of these questions address examples of interpersonal health communication phenomena. In this course, you will become familiar with fundamental interpersonal communication processes that are involved in managing physical and mental health. Ideally, you will develop an awareness of how communication among friends, relatives, professionals, and others influences people’s well-being, and how, in turn, health and illness shape communication and relationship dynamics. Topics covered will include patient identity, managing sensitive health information, social support, family conversations about health issues, and healthcare professional communication. This course carries a writing flag.

CMS 332 ARGUMENTATION & ADVOCACY

INSTRUCTOR: DR. RICK CHERWITZ

DESCRIPTION:

It is the goal of this course to acquaint you with a variety of approaches to the study of argument, indicating the subtle but important distinctions among such terms as "argument," "argumentation," "advocacy," "debate," and "persuasion." This course focuses both upon theory and practice. You will be exposed to the basic concepts and issues involved in the study of argument, as well as the numerous methods for engaging in and evaluating arguments. The course is divided into four units, each addressing a specific topic and treating an important body of literature. The first unit deals with the nature, uses, and limits of the argumentative method; an effort is made to compare argument with other modes of "prescriptive discourse," isolating those features of argument making it a superior method of inquiry and decision-making. The second unit emphasizes the reasoning processes underlying arguments, whether the context is political, philosophical, legal or whatever. You will study some of the more common fallacies in argument, the nature of causal reasoning, formal analysis of arguments, and the various parts of argumentative chains and clusters. The third unit looks at argument as an exercise in advocacy; the perspective of the decision-maker is delineated. This facet of the course presents the concepts and paradigms useful to an analysis of contemporary judicial and legislative debates. Attention is given to the doctrine of presumption as it originated in Roman law, the notion of a prima facie case, and standards of evidence and refutation. The final segment of this course treats argument as a method of philosophical inquiry, addressing the ways in which argument facilitates our search for Truth. You will become acquainted with rhetorical issues concerning the contemporary claim that argument is essential to the process by which we, as humans, obtain knowledge. In particular, analysis is made of the role of argument in science, business, art, ethics, and law.

CMS 334K NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

INSTRUCTOR: DR. RENE DAILEY

DESCRIPTION:

This course is designed to provide a comprehensive introduction to nonverbal communication in interpersonal relationships. The course will cover the various codes of nonverbal communication (e.g., vocalics, kinesics, etc.) as well as how communicators and their environment influence nonverbal behaviors in relationships. This course will also examine the role of nonverbal behaviors in specific topics such as managing interactions, dominance and power, and persuasion.

CMS 335 STRATEGIC SALES & EVENT PLANNING

INTRUCTOR: RANDY COX

DESCRIPTION:

This course is designed as a theoretical and practical instructional setting for the preparation of large scale sales events and conferences. The course includes the integration of basic & advanced communication skills and the application of planning techniques. You will research the client, investigate potential venues, conduct phone based information interviews, and give individual and/or group sales presentations and event overviews tailored to chosen events. Additionally, students will be involved in the planning and execution of actual campus/community based non-profit events and will compare their “real-world” experiences to class objectives and content. As a result, attendance at some out-of-class scheduled events will be a requirement of the course.

CMS 340K COMMUNICATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE

INSTRUCTOR: JOEL ROLLINS

Fulfills the Communication and Culture Requirement

Fulfills the Ethics and Leadership Flag Requirement

DESCRIPTION:

The class examines the complex process of social change by investigating the connection between social movements, rhetoric, and social change. Here we will examine both theories of social change as well as case studies of social movements. Here we will examine both theories of social change as well as case studies of advocacy advertising, civic advocacy, public relations campaigns, and social movements. Specifically, we will focus on rhetoric, ethics, and leadership. Some of the case studies we will study include the current Hip-Hop movement, the counter-culture movement of the 60's, the conservative revolution of the 80's and 90's, and contemporary receptions of race and class. This course is both about history and current practice. As such, students will also follow a contemporary social change group of their choosing—such as Planned Parenthood, Austin Humane Society, Caritas, etc… The account here emphasizes both the crucial importance of language as it is actually used in the form of discourses that express relations of power and bodies of knowledge as well as the tactics and strategies used to foment and resist social change. We will examine an assortment of symbolic practices, meaning here “talk,” “text,” and “image”- to investigate how these practices constitute people, fashion our worlds, our fears, our desires, our enemies, and our identities. Significant ethical questions are embedded within these symbolic practices, questions that swirl around and cut beneath what we have come to know as civic, public, or community activism. Advocacy often is consumed with creating others, polarizing positions, and advocating as “true believers”. Such advocacy, though, may ignore ethical boundaries as it searches for “ethical outcomes”, thereby, possibly, serving poorly both its cause and society. Engaging leadership critically here, through role playing and evaluating all available means of communication, will help provide: a better understanding of how systems work; an increase in self-empowerment and networking skills; and development of advocacy skills and the improvement of, hopefully, your leadership skills as you engage your world and community.

This course carries the Ethics and Leadership flag. Ethics and Leadership courses are designed to equip you with skills that are necessary for making ethical decisions in your adult and professional life. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from assignments involving ethical issues and the process of applying ethical reasoning to real-life situations.

CMS 342K Political Communication

INSTRUCTOR: DR. SHARON JARVIS (HARDESTY)

This course carries the Ethics and Leadership and Writing flags.

DESCRIPTION:

Welcome to Political Communication, a course that examines the theory and practice of political communication in the United States. A democracy has always depended on open and direct communication between its citizens and those who govern them. In the United States, this has been true since Colonial times. But with innovations in communication technologies, the range, depth, and importance of communication practices have changed in revolutionary ways. Our primary goal in this class is to ask whether or not democracy is made better or worse, helped or hurt, by contemporary communication practices and technologies.

This course is one of several in the CMS “Political Communication” track (and there are no pre-requisites required to take it). The course is divided into three parts and has three learning objectives. Section One will cover “How Political Language Connects with Audiences” and students will identify and compose compelling political phrases and persuasive political speeches. Section Two will cover “How Mediating Leadership Changes It” and students will describe how audiences react to mediated leadership. Section Three will cover “How to Apply Message Principles in Campaign Settings” and students will employ strategies to promote political and personal causes.

CMS 344K LYING AND DECEPTION

INSTRUCTOR: DR. MATT MCGLONE

Fulfills the Ethics and Leadership Flag Requirement

DESCRIPTION:

Few people can honestly claim that they have never lied. Deception is common in human communication, from false compliments that flatter to gross distortions that slander. This course examines lying and deception as strategic and manipulative behavior. Topics include the nature of truth, communication ethics, nonhuman deception, children’s use of deception, self-deception, pathological liars, con artists, imposters, and lie detection. We will also articulate the boundaries between unethical and adaptive deception, considering how some lies serve socially appropriate goals while others provoke distrust or condemnation. Several contexts in which deception commonly occurs (advertising, art, journalism, politics, relationships, etc.) will be explored in depth.

CMS 348K VISUAL MEDIA AND INTERACTION

INSTRUCTOR: DR. JÜRGEN STREECK

Fulfills the Writing Flag Requirement

DESCRIPTION:

While communication studies is a discipline mainly concerned with verbal communication, this course is about the visual components of human interaction. It covers both what is traditionally called “nonverbal” communication—communication that we produce with our eyes, faces, hands, and so on—and communication by visual artifacts, including pictures, computer screens, and everyday objects. The point of the class is to understand how these various visual media function, what impact they may have on society and the individual mind, and to increase your competence as a visual communicator and future communication professional. You can also think of this class as a course on visual persuasion or visual rhetoric. It is designed to engage you in the critical analysis of visual behaviors and artifacts, to instigate your curiosity how visual media function and how they enable communication, problem solving, thought, and imagination, and thereby to enhance your ability to assess the quality of visual information. You will investigate how visual behaviors and pictures influence, even manipulate us, in subtle ways.

CMS 353S SOCIAL MEDIA & ORGANIZATIONS

INSTRUCTOR: DR. JEFFREY TREEM

DESCRIPTION:

In this course we will explore various facets of the relationship between social media use and organizational communication. Specifically the course will explore three themes: 1) Ways organizations use social media for communication with external stakeholders, 2) Ways organizations manage communication to support social media efforts, and 3) Ways that social media may shift traditional conceptions of organizations and organizing. Discussion and readings will address the social, technical and psychological factors related to the use and adoption of social media technologies. Emphasis will be placed on relating contemporary practices to theoretical constructs in areas such as online participation, community management, relationships, and reputation management. Students will be encouraged to draw on personal experiences with organizations and explore opportunities or threats companies may face while adjusting to the challenges posed by social media technologies.

CMS 357 FAMILY COMMUNICATION

INSTRUCTOR: DR. ANITA VANGELISTI

Course may be counted toward the Independent Inquiry flag.

DESCRIPTION:

Family Communication is a course designed to acquaint you with some of the more common issues that face those who live in, counsel, treat, and conduct research on families. More specifically, we will be examining the developmental life course of traditional U.S. families, various types of families that comprise modern society, family members, and several current issues that affect families. The goal of the class is to provide you with the opportunity to learn about family communication both in an abstract way (via readings and class discussions) and in a more concrete, hands-on fashion (by conducting your own research).

CMS 370K INTERNSHIP IN COMMUNICATION STUDIES

INSTRUCTOR: DR. KERI STEPHENS

DESCRIPTION:

This course is an introductory exercise to the life-long process of discovering what you want to do with your life and what matters to you. As such, it is a touchstone of your undergraduate experience. The course is designed to encourage you to draw upon your internship work to begin the process of deciding what is important to you in a career, identify a direction that you would like to take next, and sharpen important skills needed for your successful journey.

CMS 371K PRACTICUM IN CONFLICT MEDIATION

INSTRUCTOR: DR. MADELINE MAXWELL

This course carries the Ethics and Leadership flag.

DESCRIPTION:

This course provides hand-on training and practice in conflict intervention techniques, including various forms of mediation, facilitation and dialogue. You will receive a certificate that you have competed the equivalent of both the basic (40 hour) Mediation Course and the Advanced Mediation Course (20 hours) typically offered by centers in the state at a cost of over $2000. The 40-hour Basic Mediation Course is the entry certificate level for professional mediators. You will also learn to facilitate groups and earn a Basic Facilitation Training Certificate. You will participate in practice and may have the opportunity to provide actual intervention services in the UT Conflict Resolution Center. We meet together for a two-hour session each week on Wednesdays. You must also register for a weekly cohort (small group of students) to practice role plays and other exercises. The cohort will meet for 10 weeks of the semester, starting after the required weekend. There is a required weekend session that provides the fundamental skills that you will use in the semester (See below for more information). A unique feature of this class is the service learning that is available. Consequently, students will also be called upon to provide conflict resolution services to the community at other times they have available. Students may repeat this class (with instructor approval) for credit. The skills of this class will benefit you in family and work life, even if you have no interest in a career as a professional mediator.