Fall 2015

INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION THEORY

INSTRUCTOR:  DR. MATT MCGLONE

CMS 386K

FALL 2015

TUESDAYS 6:30-9:30 in CMA 6.152

CLASS SIZE = 12

 

This survey course provides an overview of theories and research relevant to verbal and nonverbal communication in interpersonal relationships.

 

TEXTBOOK:

Knapp, M.L., & Daly, J.A. (Eds.) (2011). The Sage handbook of interpersonal communication (4^th Ed.).  Thousand Oaks, CA:  Sage. 

 

Course is restricted to Communication Studies graduate students.

 

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GROUPS, TEAMS & COMMUNITIES

INSTRUCTOR:  DR. DAWNA BALLARD

CMS 386L

FALL 2015

MONDAYS 3-6 in CMA 3.130

CLASS SIZE = 12

 

This course offers a broad overview of the major concepts and theories of group and intergroup communication processes.  This includes a comparative examination of “top-down” models developed in traditionally studied contexts alongside newer “bottom-up” models that address the unique (inter)group dynamics found in less formal settings.  By the completion of the course, students should: 1) have a more nuanced and sophisticated understanding of the major issues and concepts concerning communication in and between groups, teams, and communities of practice across a variety of contexts; and, 2) be able to apply this knowledge in a range of scholarly and practice-oriented settings.

 

TEXTBOOK:

Giles, H. (Ed.) (2012). The handbook of intergroup communication.  New York: Routledge.

ISBN-10: 0415889650 | ISBN-13: 978-0415889650

 

Poole, M. S., & Hollingshead, A. B. (Eds.) (2005). Theories of small groups: Interdisciplinary perspectives . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

ISBN-10: 0761930760 | ISBN-13: 978-0761930761

 

Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity : New York: Cambridge University Press.

ISBN-10: 0521663636 | ISBN-13: 978-0521663632

 

Additional readings available via course packet.

 

Open to all University of Texas graduate students.

 

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QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS

INSTRUCTOR:  DR. TALIA STROUD

CMS 386N

FALL 2015

TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS 9:30-11 in CMA 5.190

CLASS SIZE = 12

 

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.

 

TEXTBOOK:

Wrench, J. S., Thomas-Maddox, C., Richmond, V. P., & McCroskey, J. C. (2013). Quantitative research methods for communication:  A hands-on approach (2nd ed.).  New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
(ISBN 978-0-19-993180-4)

 

Open to all UT-Austin graduate students.

 

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STRESS AND COPING

INSTRUCTOR:  DR. ERIN DONOVAN

CMS 386P

FALL 2015

THURSDAYS 3:30-6:30 in CMA 3.130

CLASS SIZE = 12

 

In this course, we will explore how people interact with each other and with their environments during times of change and stress—including the emotions, cognitions, and behaviors that occur when people talk about upsetting or traumatic events and circumstances. We will examine some leading theoretical models of stress and coping and social support and review classic and recent empirical pieces. Processes covered will include individual-level coping (e.g., emotion-focused vs. problem-focused, approach vs. avoidant); communal coping (aka dyadic or relational coping); cybercoping; and supportive communication. An emphasis will be placed on health stressors (e.g., diagnosis of serious illness) and health-related outcomes of coping and support (e.g., depression and anxiety).

 

American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6^th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

 

Goldsmith, D. J. (2004). Communicating social support. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

 

Reading packet

 

Open to all University of Texas graduate students.

 

 

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DARK SIDE OF INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

INSTRUCTOR:  DR. RENÉ DAILEY

CMS 386P

FALL 2015

WEDNESDAYS 3-6 in CMA 7.120

CLASS SIZE = 12

 

This course is designed to provide an overview of topics related to the “dark side” of communication in interpersonal relationships. In addition to addressing undesired features of interpersonal relationships, this course will also cover seemingly productive communication patterns that are actually dysfunctional as well as seemingly destructive patterns that are actually functional. Specifically, the course will cover topics such as topic avoidance and secrets, conflict, relational transgressions, invoking negative emotions, and aggression and abuse.

 

TEXTBOOKS:

Spitzberg, B. H., & Cupach, W. R. (Eds.) (2007). The dark side of interpersonal communication (2^nd edition). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. ISBN: 9780805857801

 

Cupach, W. R., & Spitzberg, B. H. (Eds.) (2010). The dark side of close relationships II. New York: Routledge. ISBN: 978-0-415-80458-5

 

Additional readings will be in a course packet.

 

Course is restricted to Communication Studies students.

 

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COMMUNICATION, COGNITION, AND EMOTION

INSTRUCTOR:  DR. ANITA VANGELISTI

CMS 386S

FALL 2015

TUESDAYS 3:30-6:30 in CMA 7.120

CLASS SIZE = 12

 

This course is designed to acquaint students with some of the more common issues involved in integrating theory and research on communication, cognition, and emotion. More specifically, we will be examining a number of social scientific theories of cognition and emotion, empirical work on various types of emotions, and studies ofn several current issues that affect the nature and impact of research on communication and emotion.

 

TEXTBOOK:

Reading packet will be available at Speedway/Abel’s (715 W. 23^rd Street, Suite N)

 

Course is restricted to graduate students in the Department of Communication Studies. Graduate students in other departments must obtain permission from the course instructor

 

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INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

INSTRUCTOR:  DR. JÜRGEN STREECK

CMS 390M

FALL 2015

THURSDAY 6:30-9:30 in CMA 7.120

CLASS SIZE = 12

 

This course provides a selective and critical overview of current approaches to intercultural communication in disciplines such as communication studies, sociology, sociolinguistics, conversation analysis, and anthropology. We compare the goals, frames of reference, methods, data, and findings of these approaches and discuss their advantages and disadvantages for various research programs. Our exploration of the state of the art in empirical research will be complemented by the discussion of three important books on globalization, transculturality, and social interaction, and by frequent collaborative analyses of videotaped moments of intercultural interaction from a practice-based (praxeological) perspective, seeking to identify and describe the obstacles participants face and the resources they mobilize to cope with them. Students write a literature review and an empirical analysis of a scene of intercultural interaction, as well as a handful of short response papers.

 

TEXTBOOK:

Electronic reading packet and TBA.

 

Open to all University of Texas graduate students.

 

INSTRUCTOR:  DR. SHARON JARVIS (HARDESTY)

CMS 390N

FALL 2015

MONDAYS 3-6  in CMA 7.120

CLASS SIZE = 12

 

This course studies the opportunities for political life in a country that receives much of its information from television and, increasingly, from newer media as well. There are two sets of objectives for our time together. Intellectually, we will ask a series of questions, including:  What roles do the media play in the American body politic? How is news produced and what sets of actors contribute to this production? How does the construction and distribution of news create and constrain opportunities for democratic politics? How have developments in information technologies affected the dissemination of news and understandings of politics? and, What are some of the most compelling questions for future research in this field? Professionally, we will engage in a series of tasks to prepare for future careers in research and university life. To this end, all students will (1) produce a research paper on the topic of politics and the media, (2) write reviews of peer research, and (3) present research projects at the end of the seminar. Throughout this course we will focus on professional opportunities and obligations, and seminar time will be devoted to the steps of conducting and presenting research, as well as preparing it for publication.

 

TEXTBOOK:

Our readings will include a packet of articles as well as the following books. Please feel free to email sjarvis@austin.utexas.edu for a full copy of the syllabus.

Baym, G. (2009). From Cronkite to Colbert: The evolution of broadcast news. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers.

Gans, H. J. (2004). Deciding what’s news: A study of CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, Newsweek and Time. (25^th Anniversary edition). Evanston, ILL: Northwestern University Press.

 

Open to all University of Texas graduate students.

 

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BASIC RHETORICAL CRITCISM

INSTRUCTOR:  DR. SCOTT STROUD

CMS 390R

FALL 2015

TUESDAYS 3:30-6:30 in BMC5.214

CLASS SIZE = 10

 

This course surveys a range of critical approaches to public discourse in the rhetorical tradition, beginning with close textual analysis and proceeding through neo-Aristotelian criticism, ideology criticism, Burkean criticism, cultural and narrative criticism, feminist criticism, Marxist criticism, pragmatist criticism, social movements/public sphere criticism, and the criticism of public artifacts like images, museums, and memorials. We will engage a series of debates in the field including the controversy in the 1970s over the political stance of the critic and the controversy between modernist and postmodernist modes of critical engagement.  Facility with these theoretical perspectives offers us lenses through which we can ask questions about public discourse.  Students will develop their ability to provide answers to such questions with nuanced, thoughtful, and faithful attention to the rhetorical artifacts under consideration.

 

TEXTBOOK:

Carl Burgchardt, Readings in Rhetorical Criticism (4^th ed., Strata, 2010). ISBN-10: 1891136232, ISBN-13: 978-1891136238

 

Course Reader

 

Restricted to CMS graduate students.

 

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RHETORIC AND PSYCHOANALYSIS

INSTRUCTOR:  DR. JOSH GUNN

CMS 390R

FALL 2015

THURSDAYS 3:30-6:30 in CMA 7.120

CLASS SIZE = 12

 

This course consists of two parts. Part one is a survey of the various schools of psychoanalysis, beginning with Freud, traveling through the British School, Jung, Kleinian object-relations theory and American ego-psychology, and finally, ending in the challenging work of Lacan and his critics (e.g., Irigaray, Kristeva). The second part of the course explores the ways in which scholars have wed or related psychoanalysis and/to the object of rhetoric, from narratology and mythic criticism, to Lacanian tropology and the cultural criticism of Zizek, to the "ontologization of trope" in the political theory of Ernesto Laclau. The course is intended as starting point for further exploration. Although it will succeed in helping participants to read what is said in the previous sentences, this course should not be taken in the illusory pursuit of mastery.

 

TEXTBOOK:

TBA

 

Open to all University of Texas graduate students.

 

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INSTRUCTOR:  DR. BRENDA BERKELAAR

CMS 390T

FALL 2015

WEDNESDAYS 6:30-9:30 in BMC 5.214

CLASS SIZE = 12

 

This course examines current interdisciplinary definitions, theories, and practices regarding careers and work in contemporary society. It addresses topics such as employability and/or entrepreneurship, the effect of contemporary technologies, internal/subjective vs. external/objective success, and work/life balance, among others.  Specific topics change from semester to semester. Students will be provided with the opportunity to contribute to their own and others’ research, teaching, and practice(s) of work and career. Students find this course beneficial for their research and teaching, as well as their other professional and career development goals.

 

TEXTBOOK:

Reading packet available online.

 

Open to all University of Texas graduate students.