Spring 2023 Course Descriptions

New Courses this Semester:

 

CMS 367I  -  RISK COMMUNICATION

Roselia Mendez Murillo - roselia.mendezmurillo@austin.utexas.edu

TTH – 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM @ CMB 2.104
Flags: None
Minors: N/A

DESCRIPTION: Risk communication refers to two-way interactive “communication intended to supply laypeople with information they need to make informed, independent, judgments about risks to health, safety, and the environment” (Morgan et al., 2002, p. 4). Throughout this course, you will learn about risk assessments, risk perceptions, theories and models that aid in message design, channel options, and barriers to effective risk communication. Across all topics, you will be encouraged to consider how access to risk information, perceptions of risk, and responses to risk messages can vary depending on the audience’s race, ethnicity, immigration status, income, education, age, ability, sexual orientation, and geographical location.

 

CMS 367P  - SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICS

Ashwin Rajadesingan - arajades@austin.utexas.edu

MWF– 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM @ CMB 2.102
Flags: None
Minors: N/A

DESCRIPTION: Why would a country’s President/Prime Minister have a LinkedIn profile? Are they really looking for their next gig? How do political campaigns on Facebook and Twitter differ? Why do online political discussions between ordinary citizens seem angrier than offline ones? In this course, we explore answers to such questions about political communication on social media drawing on communication theories around self-presentation, imagined audience, affordances and identity. More broadly, the course will provide a necessarily incomplete view of how politicians, activists and ordinary citizens engage with politics on social media in the 21st century.

Spotlighted Courses:

 

CMS 352D  - THE DARK SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION

Craig Scott - craig.scott@austin.utexas.edu

TTH – 3:30 – 5:00 PM @ DMC 3.206
Flags: Independent Inquiry
Minors: N/A

DESCRIPTION: This course examines some of the problematic aspects of organizations we don’t always pay as much attention to as we should. The first half of the semester is focused on key organizational processes that often operate in the shadows through a communication-based approach (such as bullying, harassment, workplace violence, stress, wrongdoing, surveillance, and other ethical problems). The second half of class examines a variety of dark and otherwise hidden organizations in our society that communicatively conceal themselves and/or their members from key audiences. These include secret societies, anonymous support groups, cults, hacktivist organizations, crime rings, terrorist cells, special military units, aspects of the informal economy, and more. Class assignments for this independent inquiry course focus on creating practical and informative communication deliverables.

 

CMS 356T  - Organizational Transparency

Shiv Ganesh - shiv.ganesh@austin.utexas.edu

T – 3:30 – 5:00 PM @ CMA 3.214
Flags: Ethics

Minors: N/A

DESCRIPTION: This course will introduce students to the ethical complexities involved in transparent organizational communication, addressing a range of questions and issues, including: is transparency always ethical? Do organizations now have a choice to not be transparent? How is transparency related to corporate and state power? How is it related to the relentless visibility afforded by the digital age? How is transparency caught up in ethical issues surrounding surveillance, privacy and secrecy? What forms of ethical practice can transparency take? Students will address these questions in two parts. In the first part of the course, they will be introduced to fundamental dynamics of transparency, including how it operates as a form of ethical communication, its relationship with disclosure, trust, and surveillance. Next, students will analyze transparency in a range of contexts, including corporate performance, supply chains, environmental reporting networks, and activism and collective action. Throughout, we will focus considerably on environmental issues, but will also take into account other key ethical issues in transparency. The course carries an applied ethics flag.

 

CMS 362E  - Environmental Communication

Stacey Sowards - stacey.sowards@austin.utexas.edu

W – 1:00 – 2:00 PM @ DMC 4.212
MF – 1:00 – 2:00 PM @ Asynchronous
Flags: Writing
Minors: Leadership in Global Sustainability ('22-'24)

DESCRIPTION: This course is designed to explore various environmental theories as they relate to communication contexts. We will examine how communication plays a role in environmental issues such as journalism and news reporting, sustainability, consumerism, politics, environmental organizations, and tourism. We will also examine how environmental theories and communication contexts play out in local, national, and international debates and contexts, particularly as related to race, ethnicity, social justice, and globalization. This course is also designed to connect theories to environmental experiences in the world, through self and practical observations as well as intersections of race, gender, sexuality, ability, and class.

All Undergraduate Courses:

 

Lower Division:

 

CMS 306M - Professional Communication Skills

Instructor TBA

Various Sections, Hybrid & Web-Based options available
Flags: Ethics
Minors:

  • Communicating for Development & Philanthropy (REQUIRED)
  • Professional Sales & Business Development (REQUIRED FOR NON-BUSINESS MAJORS)
  • Science Communication (Elective)

 

CMS 307K - Internship

Instructor Approval Required

 

CMS 210 - Forensics Worshop

Randy Cox - mrcox@austin.utexas.edu

Brendon Bankey - brendon.bankey@austin.utexas.edu

Flags: None
Minors: N/A

 

CMS 310K - Team-Based Communication

Flags: None
Minors: N/A

 

CMS 313M - Organizational Communication

Flags: None
Minor: Science Communication (Elective)

 

CMS 314L - Language, Communication, & Culture

Flags: Writing
Minor: Global Communication (Elective)

 

CMS 315M - Interpersonal Communication Theory

John Daly - daly@austin.utexas.edu

DESCRIPTION: Relationships are all about communication. You build them, maintain them, and end them through communication. In this class, you’ll learn lots of interesting things about communication and relationships that you can use every day. We discuss topics like how to make sure people understand and remember what you say, meet people and develop relationships with them, make yourself more likeable and credible, build and maintain friendships, be a better story-teller, get others to change their minds and behaviors, argue effectively, use communication techniques that will make you happier, and handle challenges such as shyness and loneliness, unfair fighting, rumors and gossip, long distance relationships, jealousy, cheating, breaking up, and talking to people about death and dying.

Flags: None
Minor: Science Communication (elective)

 

CMS 316L - Interviewing Principles & Practices

Flags: None
Minor: Science Communication

 

CMS 317C - Speech in American Culture

Flags: Writing
Minors: N/A

Upper Division

 

CMS 321D - Communication for Development & Philanthropy 

Jennifer Jones Barbour - jonesbarbour@utexas.edu

Flags: Writing
Minors: Communicating for Development & Philanthropy (REQUIRED)

 

CMS 323R Rhetoric: East and West

Scott Stroud - sstroud@austin.utexas.edu

Flags: Global Cultures, Writing, Ethics
Minor: Global Communication (Elective)

 

CMS 330 - Interpersonal Health Communication

Erin Donovan - erindonovan@utexas.edu

Flags: Writing, Independent Inquiry 
Minor: Health Communication (Elective)

 

CMS 332D - Digital Ethics

Scott Stroud - sstroud@austin.utexas.edu

Flags: Ethics, Writing
Minors: N/A

 

CMS 332K - Theories of Persuasion

Brendon Bankey - brendon.bankey@austin.utexas.edu

Flags: None
Minors: 

  • Communicating for Development and Philanthropy (Elective)
  • Health Communication (Elective)
  • Professional Sales & Business Development (1 of 4 options)
  • Science Communication (Elective)

 

CMS 335 - Strategic Sales and Event Planning

Randy Cox - mrcox@austin.utexas.edu

Flags: None
Minor: Professional Sales & Business Development (1 of 4 options)

 

CMS 337 - Building Sales Relationships

Gerald Nemeroff - gerald.nemeroff@mccombs.utexas.edu

Flags: Ethics
Minors: 

  • Communicating for Development and Philanthropy (1 of 3 options)
  • Professional Sales & Business Development (1 of 2 options)
  • Science Communication (Elective)

 

CMS 338 - Leadership Stories

Joe Cutbirth - jcutbirth@utexas.edu

Flags: Cultural Diversity, Ethics
Minors: 

  • Communicating Social Issues (Elective *2022-2024 catalog)
  • Science Communication (Elective)

 

CMS 339K - Working Virtually - WB

Dina Ramgolam - dina.ramgolam@austin.utexas.edu

Flags: None
Minors: N/A

 

CMS 340K - Communication & Social Change

Joel Rollins - jd.rollins@utexas.edu

Flags: Cultural Diversity, Ethics
Minors: 

  • Communicating for Development and Philanthropy (Elective)
  • Communication & Social Change (Elective)
  • Communicating Social Issues (Elective *2022-2024 catalog)
  • Leadership in Global Sustainability (Elective *2022-2024 catalog)

 

CMS 341 - Digital Communications - WB

Dina Ramgolam - dina.ramgolam@austin.utexas.edu

Flags: None
Minor: Health Communication (Elective)

 

CMS 342C - Communication & Civic Participation

Sharon Jarvis - sjarvis@austin.utexas.edu

Flags: None
Minors: N/A

 

CMS 342K - Political Communication

Sharon Jarvis - sjarvis@austin.utexas.edu

Flags: Writing, Ethics

Minors: 

  • Communicating for Development and Philanthropy (Elective)
  • Communication & Social Change (Elective)
  • Communicating Social Issues (Elective *2022-2024 catalog)
  • Science Communication (Elective)

 

CMS 344K - Lying and Deception

Kyle Kearns

Flags: Ethics
Minors:

  • Communicating Social Issues (Elective *2022-2024 catalog)
  • Health Communication (Elective)
  • Professional Sales & Business Development (Elective)
  • Science Communication (Elective)

 

CMS 345P - Communication & Public Opinion

Natalie Stroud - tstroud@austin.utexas.edu

Flags: None
Minors: N/A

 

CMS 346 - Using Communication Technology at Work

Samantha Shorey - sshorey@utexas.edu

Flags: Independent Inquiry
Minors: N/A

 

CMS 347S - Communicating with Stuff - WB

Katie Bradford - katie.bradford@austin.utexas.edu

Flags: Independent Inquiry
Minors: N/A

 

CMS 348 - Communication Research Methods

Nik Palomares - nik@austin.utexas.edu

Flags: Quantitative Reasoning
Minors: N/A

 

CMS 353C - Communication for Innovation

Jeffrey Treem

Flags: None
Minors: 

  • Entrepreneurship (Elective)
  • Science Communication (Elective)

 

CMS 354 - Conflict Resolution

Lawrence Schooler - larry.schooler@austin.utexas.edu
Katie Bradford - katie.bradford@austin.utexas.edu

Flags: Writing, Independent Inquiry, Ethics
Minors: 

  • Communication & Social Change (Elective)
  • Communicating Social Issues (Elective *2022-2024 catalog)

 

CMS 355K - Intercultural Communication

Jürgen Streeck - jstreeck@austin.utexas.edu

Flags: Global Cultures
Minor: Global Communication (Elective)

 

CMS 356C - Collective Action

Shiv Ganesh - shiv.ganesh@austin.utexas.edu

Flags: Global Cultures
Minors: N/A

 

CMS 358 - Communication and Personal Relationships

René Dailey - rdailey@austin.utexas.edu

Flags: Independent Inquiry
Minor: Health Communication (Elective)

 

CMS 358C - Identity in Relationships

Madeleine Holland 

Flags: Cultural Diversity
Minor: Communicating Social Issues (Elective *2022-2024 catalog)

 

CMS 364K - Gender & Communication

Elin Hartelius - j.hartelius@austin.utexas.edu
Stacey Sowards - stacey.sowards@austin.utexas.edu

Flags: Cultural Diversity, Writing
Minor: Communicating Social Issues (Elective List *2022-2024 catalog)

 

CMS 366C - Celebrity Culture

Joshua Gunn - josh_gunn@austin.utexas.edu

Flags: None
Minors: N/A

 

CMS 366R - Religious Communication and Paranormalism

Joshua Gunn - josh_gunn@austin.utexas.edu

Flags: None
Minors: N/A

 

CMS 370K - Internships in Communication Studies - WB

Keri Stephens - keristephens@austin.utexas.edu

Flags: None
Minors: N/A

 

CMS 372D - Politics of National Memory - DC

Craig Scott - craig.scott@austin.utexas.edu

Flags: None
Minors: N/A

 

CMS 372K - Advanced Organizational Communication

Joshua Barbour - barbourjosh@utexas.edu

Flags: Independent Inquiry, Writing
Minor: Science Communication (Elective)

 

CMS 372T - Time Matters

Dawna Ballard - diballard@utexas.edu

Flags: Global Cultures
Minors: Health Communication (Elective List)

 

In-Depth Course Info Coming Soon!

Others Courses:

CMS 377K - Faculty-Led Research 

CMS 178K, 278K, & 378K - Student-Led Research

*Note: CMS 378K carries an Indepdent Inquiry Flag, not 178K nor 278K

CMS 379H Honors Tutorial