Graduate Course Offerings for Spring Semester 2004

Kalamazoo campus

COM 602 Communication Research Methods M 6:30-9pm, #32904 Lapinski

This course provides an overview of the social scientific approach to conducting communication research. Students will learn the fundamentals of research design and data analysis. Topics addressed in this course include: conceptualizing and operationalizing variables, internal and external validity of designs and measures, designing experimental and survey research, and quantitative data analysis techniques up to analysis of variance and correlation. Additionally, students will be provided with the skills to critically read and evaluate applied and scholarly research from the fields of communication and other social sciences.

COM 641 Technology and Communication Processes R 6:30-9pm, #64050 Kayany

Examines issues related to telecommunications and its effects on individuals, organizations, and society. Primary emphasis of this course will be on media effects theory and research, with a consideration of related ethical issues.

COM 670 Health Communication W 6:30-9pm, #64068 Lapinski

This course has been designed to expose students to a range of topics in the field of health communication. The content of the course will cover a history of the development of the field, the social and cultural influences on delivery of health services and on health behavior, and macro and micro level theories of health behavior change. We will also address the patient-provider relationship and the workings of health care systems. The
reading load for this course is designed to allow students in the class to thoroughly read and discuss each of the articles. Because of this issue as well as the extensive literature on health, we will not cover all the important aspects of the field. Therefore, if there is an area beyond the scope of this class about which you have an interest please talk to the
instructor about how you can pursue this interest.

COM 681 Group Communication Processes T 6:30-9pm, #64073 Propp

This course has two primary goals. First the course will facilitate students’ ability to think critically and self-reflexively as a member/leader of a group, including:
a) facilitating students’ knowledge about developing cohesion and relationships in decision-making teams, and b) facilitate students’ knowledge about enhancing communication and decision quality in decision-making teams. The second goal of the course is to provide students with a graduate-level overview of group communication
including: a) an understanding of the major concepts and research trends in small
group communication, b) an understanding of the major theories that guide small group
communication research, c) an understanding of the methods and techniques available for the study of group communication processes, and d) a general framework for synthesizing and critically evaluating small group communication research.

***Please note additional course offerings at the 500 level in course schedule books.

Grand Rapids

COM 682 Organizational Communication W 6-9pm, #68823 D. Shannon

Examination of traditional and contemporary theoretical perspectives and research in organizational communication. Demonstrates the contributions of intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives to the study of organizational communication.

Tentative Summer Course Offerings

SUMMER I
Kalamazoo

Com 670 Interpersonal Issues in the Organization J. Apker

This course addresses the major theories, assumptions, and relevant topics associated with the study of interpersonal communication in organizational contexts, that is, those behaviors and processes that affect individuals at work. The course specifically focuses on how communication affects organizations and their members. Areas to be addressed include: a) the communicative processes and behaviors that are involved and affect our perception and judgment of others; b) the communicative processes and behaviors that influence how people present themselves to others; c) the communicative processes and behaviors that are involved in entering and becoming accepted in an organization; and d) the communication processes and behaviors that are involved in establishing relationships with supervisors, coworkers, and others.

Grand Rapids

COM 680 Contemporary Issues in Organizational Communication L. Ford

The goal of this course is to integrate the current theorizing in feminist, critical, and postmodern perspectives on organizational communication with the issues and challenges facing contemporary organizations (e.g., socialization practices, workplace democracies, quality improvement programs, diversity management). In this effort, the nature of the contemporary problem and the strategies used to address that problem will be examined and critiqued. Further, the contributions of organizational and communication scholars to the resolution of the organizational problem will be evaluated

SUMMER II

Kalamazoo

COM 674 Theories of Interpersonal Communication M. Orbe

This graduate level seminar is designed to provide students with a thorough foundation in terms of existing interpersonal communication theories. Specifically, students will be engaged in the identification, analysis, application, and criticism of major theoretical approaches in the following areas: identity formation, cognitive processing, relational development, friendship, emotion, and persuasion. Additional attention will be given to how specific theories have emerged from within a distinct set of methodological assumptions/processes.