** Please use the Spring 27 course schedule to find the unique numbers. Classes are subject to change at any time*
https://registrar.utexas.edu/schedules
CMS 386N.2 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS
Roselia Mendez-Murillo (roselia.mendezmurillo@austin.utexas.edu)
T 3:30 - 6:30 PM (CMA 7.160)
Through presentation of scholarly readings and immersion into in-depth research, this course explores a variety of qualitative research approaches, taking into account issues of epistemology (ways of knowing), methodology (ways of examining), and representation (ways of writing and reporting). We will examine interpretive theory, and several intellectual traditions that constitute this field of research including analytic induction, grounded theory, and ethnography. We will read exemplars of qualitative research that illustrate diverse theoretical traditions as well as examine key issues such as gaining access to research sites, forms of interactions with research subjects, interview tips, coding qualitative data, and research ethics.
CMS 386P LYING AND DECEPTION
Matt McGlone (matthew_mcglone@austin.utexas.edu)
TH 3:30pm-6:30pm (CMA 7.160)
Deception occurs in communication behavior across species, and lying (i.e., intentional deception) is a pervasive phenomenon in human communication. This graduate seminar will explore the complexities of lying and deception across various domains, including politics, advertising, personal relationships, law enforcement, and even interspecies communication. We will examine how deception manifests through doublespeak, political spin, white lies, false advertising, and forgery, and will critically engage with detection methods ranging from micro-expression analysis to content-in-context assessment to polygraph and fMRI testing. Students will dive into moral and ethical dimensions, self-deception, and organizational dishonesty, while developing their ability to scrutinize research on these phenomena across disciplines. Prepare to challenge assumptions, uncover hidden truths (lies too), and investigate the gray areas where deception thrives.
CMS 390P PRAGMATISM AND THE DEMOCRATIC EXPERIMENT
Scott R Stroud (sstroud@austin.utexas.edu)
T 6:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. CMA 7.160
This course focuses on the development of democracy and its rhetorical tensions in the American intellectual tradition. It pays particular attention to the diverse group of thinkers denoted by the label of pragmatism. What does pragmatism have to say about the nature of democracy? How does democratic community relate to rhetoric, truth, and ethics? By surveying thinkers such as William James, C. S. Peirce, John Dewey, Jane Addams, Mary Kingsbury Simkhovitch, Hu Shih, W.E.B. Dubois, Bhimrao Ambedkar, Richard Rorty, and more, we shall consider the range of the American experiences with democratic theory and practice. Along with primary sources, we will also engage the growing literature in rhetorical studies that emphasizes the contribution of these thinkers and traditions to the study of communication.
CMS 390R.7 THE SUBJECT
Josh Gunn josh_gunn@austin.utexas.edu
TH 6:30pm-9:30pm (CMA 7.160)
This course is a survey of contemporary theory in the humanities, from modernity to what some have described as "postmodernity." The class is designed to introduce you to those philosophical and theoretical works that inform contemporary fetishes and debates in communication studies. We will engage a number of foundational texts, as well as explore more recent theories that draw on these foundations.
Our focus will be on the concept of the subject (a paradigm person) and its theorization across Western intellectual thought. This anchor-point is not arbitrary, as the concern and theorization of the subject—what us a person? what is a human? how does the subject “know” the world?—can be read at the center of the history of intellectual thought. The companion course to this seminar, “The Object,” examines theory from the point of view of objects.
In this seminar, we will “read” each author on subjectivity in relation to the fundamental categories of transcendence, a logic of liberation, and immanence, a logic of internal reconfigurations. Toward this end we will be engaging foundational work on subjectivity by Judith Butler, Michel Foucault, Friederich Nietzsche, as well as newer theoretical work engaging affect theory, black feminism, performance studies, and queer theory.
CMS 390S WORK AND TECHNOLOGY
Craig R. Scott (craig.scott@austin.utexas.edu)
W 3:30pm – 6:30pm (CMA 7.160)
This class examines key challenges (and opportunities) at the intersection of communication technology use and the workplace. Through readings and discussions we will critically evaluate issues surrounding topics such as non-work related computing, privacy/ surveillance, digital harassment/bullying, telework, work-life balance, identity/image management, online complaints/whistleblowing, virtual collaboration, and digital work stress/overload as they relate to the use of new communication technologies in the workplace. Students will have two main assignments: (1) Literature review paper on a topic related to communication technology challenges in the workplace and (2) research project analyzing organizational policy documents or other texts/data related to communication technology challenges in the workplace.
CMS 390S.11 MEASUREMENT WORKSHOP
Dawna Ballard (diballard@utexas.edu)
M 3:30pm - 6:30pm (CMA 7.160)
This is a hands-on course that provides in-depth instruction on issues related to scale development and questionnaire design, ranging from establishing validity to increasing response rate. In addition to examining the relevant theoretical and practical literature on this topic, students will engage these issues, in part, through developing their own instrument. Therefore, this class is well-suited both for individuals already engaged in a specific line of research and poised to develop appropriate measurement instruments as well as those new to an area of scholarship who expect to need such tools in the future.