** Please use the Fall and Summer 26 course schedule to find the unique numbers. Classes are subject to change at any time*
https://registrar.utexas.edu/schedules
CMS 081M – INTRO TO GRADUATE STUDIES IN COMMUNICATION
Rene Dailey (rdailey@austin.utexas.edu)
M 2:00 - 3:00 pm. CMA 7.160
The goals of this course are to: (1) introduce incoming graduate students to their cohort, other graduate students, the faculty, the college, and the university, (2) set students up for success in our program, and (3) socialize incoming graduate students to professional expectations in the field. Half the course includes attending department colloquia and the other half includes cohort-only sessions to discuss resources, milestones, mentoring, etc. Open to Graduate Students in The Department of Comm Studies ONLY.
CMS 386H Managing Health Communication
Erin Donovan (erindonovan@utexas.edu)
TH 03:30PM–06:30PM CMA 7.160
The purpose of this course is for students to become familiar with theories and research that examine why and how people seek, exchange, conceal, and otherwise interact with health-related information. We will explore the antecedents, processes, and outcomes of communicating about matters of health and illness, with a focus on implications for personal wellbeing, relational quality, and public health. An emphasis will be placed on contemporary scholarship from interpersonal health communication and allied fields that addresses disclosure, avoidance, information behavior, and uncertainty management in personal relationships and in health care settings.
CMS 386K 1- INTERPERSONAL COMM THEORY
Nik Palomares (nik@austin.utexas.edu)
M 03:30PM–06:30PM CMA 7.160
This survey course is designed to provide a comprehensive introduction to the predominant theories and topics regarding interpersonal communication. We will cover topics such as cognition and emotion regarding communication, nonverbal communication, information management (privacy, self-disclosure), conflict, and social support as well as in various contexts (e.g., romantic relationships, family relationships, health contexts). The objectives for this course are for students to become familiar with foundational and contemporary theories and topics, synthesize information regarding interpersonal theories and research, analyze and critique interpersonal theories and research, and articulate and support their original thinking and theorizing regarding interpersonal communication. Assessments include presentations, participation, leading class discussions, and a research proposal.
CMS 386N Computational Methods
Ashwin Rajadesingan (arajades@austin.utexas.edu)
TH 03:30PM–06:30PM CMA 6.174
This hands-on course introduces students to different computational methods that can be applied at scale to answer social science questions. The class will place particular emphasis on how to adopt certain data modeling techniques for classification and clustering, including deep learning and chatGPT, to study social phenomena. The course is structured to cover the complete data analysis pipeline including data collection, cleaning, exploratory data analysis, modeling, and interpretation. This class will use the Python programming language, however, no prior programming experience is required.
CMS 386N.1 QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS
Anita Vangelisti (vangelisti@austin.utexas.edu)
T 03:30PM–06:30PM CMA 7.160
The primary goal of this course is to give you an understanding of social scientific methods and their relationships to theory development and theory testing. The class will focus on the process of defining research problems, the logic of research design, and a limited number of techniques – for measurement, design and sampling, and analysis of data. Students will learn basic considerations in conducting questionnaire studies, experiments, field studies, moderately scheduled interviews, and structured observations. There are no pre-requisites for this course.
CMS 386P Non-Verbal Communication
Rene Dailey (rdailey@austin.utexas.edu)
TH 06:30PM–09:30PM CMA 7.160
This course is designed to provide an overview of nonverbal communication in interpersonal relationships. Theories and major research areas related to nonverbal communication will be covered. Specifically, the course will address topics such as channels of nonverbal behavior, methods used in nonverbal research, and the role of nonverbal behaviors in communication goals. Students will critique nonverbal research articles, give presentations on nonverbal communication articles, engage in example coding projects, and propose a study related to nonverbal communication. The readings and assessments for this course have been designed with the following objectives in mind:
- to become familiar with the various theories and topics related to nonverbal communication
- to synthesize, analyze, and critique research and theories regarding nonverbal communication
- to gain experience in conducting nonverbal research
- to articulate and support, through presentations and written assignments, original thinking and theorizing regarding nonverbal topics.
CMS 390P.1 - Decolonizing Communication
Stacey Sowards (stacey.sowards@austin.utexas.edu)
T 06:30PM–09:30PM CMA 7.160
This course will be an advanced reading course in rhetorical theories on decoloniality, postcolonial theory, globalization, modernity, race, ethnicity, gender, class, and sexuality.
CMS 390P Rhetoric and Democratic Theory
Mike Butterworth (michael.butterworth@austin.utexas.edu)
M 06:30PM–09:30PM CMA 7.160
In Inclusion and Democracy (2002), Iris Marion Young argues that “we have arrived at a paradoxical historical moment when nearly everyone favors democracy, but apparently few believe that democratic governance can do anything.” Young’s comments remind us that contemporary discourses of democracy tend to emphasize the installation of democratic institutions—e.g., voting—while simultaneously delimiting democratic practices. In the first two decades of the 21st century, democracy has been refigured by terrorism, the expansion of digital technologies, the rise of disinformation, heightened polarization, (re)emergent social movements, neoliberalism and regimes of austerity, global climate change, and more. In short, contemporary democracy is complicated, and its health is dependent on more than the presence of democratic institutions. A rhetorical approach to democracy demands an expansion of democratic expression and contestation and offers a means of communicating across differences and reaching provisional consensus on political matters. To this end, this course will engage various themes, including democratic citizenship, the public sphere, counterpublics, deliberative democracy, agonistic pluralism, and neoliberalism.
CMS 390S Social Networks
Jasmine Wu (jasminewu@austin.utexas.edu)
W 03:30PM–06:30PM CMA 7.160
This course introduces students to "network thinking" for understanding how social networks form and emerge, and how these networks shape behavior across individuals, groups, organizations, and broader collectives. Relational data are widespread in today’s information society, but analyzing and interpreting them meaningfully requires distinct theories and methods.
The course emphasizes how micro-level processes, such as individual choices, interactions, aggregate into macro-level network structures, and how these structures, in turn, influence information flow, collaboration, inequality, and collective behavior. Students will explore applications across diverse empirical settings, including organizations, online communities, digital platforms, and archival data.
Through hands-on analysis and conceptual discussion, students will develop familiarity with network theories and methods to understand network fundamentals, quantify structural properties, and examine network dynamics.
CMS 398T – SUPERVISED TEACHING
Maddie Holland (mholland@austin.utexas.edu)
M 03:30PM–06:30PM DMC 3.206
This course will give students an introduction to trends, techniques, and conversations in and around teaching in higher education settings. Regardless of whether students plan to pursue a career in the academy, industry, or elsewhere, this class will give them the skills they need to succeed in the program they find themselves in here and now. Students will learn how to build strong relationships with classmates and faculty colleagues through excellence in the classroom, and those contacts play a key role in securing employment after graduation. To achieve this, students will:
- Develop a basic understanding of current trends and practices in undergraduate education.
- Translate knowledge of these trends and practices into designing materials you can use in the classroom.
- Explore and evaluate strategies for creating an inclusive and equitable learning environment. *
- Cultivate self-reflection and feedback practices to promote continuous improvement in course design and delivery for yourself and others.*
- Deepen, expand, and interrogate your understanding of what it means to be a post-secondary educator, with an appreciation of the particularities of Communication Studies as a field.