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Academic Requirements

Requirements

The Communication: Rhetoric and Communication (COMMRC) major gives students the opportunity to tailor their educational journey to align with their specific interests and aspirations. The plan of study major requires the completion of 33 credits, detailed as follows:

All majors must complete the three foundation courses and a skills course in Public Speaking. Beyond these essentials, students elect a second skills course and any six 1000-levels courses of their choosing. Among these, at least one must be a COMMRC writing-intensive course. Courses that count toward the major must be completed with a letter grade of C or better.

For the most current course requirements, please refer to the Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences Undergraduate Studies Department's Majors, Minors, and Certficates page to view all available Major Sheets. The major sheet for COMMRC is here. Please contact a department advisor  with any questions.

See below for a list of spotlighted COMMRC courses at the foundation, skills, and 1000-levels.

Foundation Courses

All majors must complete the three foundation courses.

COMMRC 0300 - COMMUNICATION AND SOCIETY

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
This course is an introduction to basic theories, models, and concepts in interpersonal, small group, organizational and intercultural communication.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Attributes: DSAS Social Science General Ed. Requirement

COMMRC 0310 - RHETORIC & SOCIETY

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
This is an introductory course designed to give students a sense of the role rhetoric plays in the construction of our social, political, and cultural worlds, and to introduce students to traditional and contemporary approaches to the analysis of rhetorical discourse. Students will prepare a series of short performances for presentation in the recitation sections.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Attributes: DSAS Literature General Ed. Requirement, DSAS Phil. Think or Ethics General Ed. Requirement, SCI Polymathic Contexts: Ethical/Policy GE. Req., SCI Polymathic Contexts: Humanistic GE. Req., Undergraduate Research

COMMRC 0320 - MASS COMMUNICATION AND SOCIETY

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
This course is designed to introduce students to the basic concepts of mass communication research and to the history and development of various media (TV., Radio, newspapers, magazines, etc.).
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Attributes: DSAS Historical Analysis General Ed. Requirement, DSAS The Arts General Ed. Requirement, SCI Polymathic Contexts: Humanistic GE. Req., SCI Polymathic Contexts: Soc/Behav. GE. Req., Undergraduate Research

Skill Courses

All majors must complete COMMRC 0520, Public Speaking, and any other 500-level class of their choosing.

COMMRC 0500 - ARGUMENT

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
This course introduces students to fundamental principles of argument, and develops argumentative skills through practice analysis and criticism.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Attributes: DSAS Creative Work General Ed. Requirement, DSAS Creative Work General Ed. Requirement, SCI Expression: Communication General Ed. Req., SCI Expression: Communication General Ed. Req., SCI Polymathic Contexts: Humanistic GE. Req., SCI Polymathic Contexts: Humanistic GE. Req.

COMMRC 0520 - PUBLIC SPEAKING

(Required)

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
This course is designed to help students develop increased skill in public speaking by means of theory and practice. This course covers research, organization, style, delivery, and criticism of informative, deliberative, and ceremonial speeches.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Attributes: DSAS Creative Work General Ed. Requirement, SCI Expression: Communication General Ed. Req., SCI Polymathic Contexts: Humanistic GE. Req.

COMMRC 0530 - INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to theories and models of human communication in the face-to-face communication context. Focus of learning is on skill development; lecture, discussion, and practice of communication skills are used to facilitate student learning.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis

COMMRC 0550 - SPEECH COMPOSITION

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
The course deals with the theory and practice of preparing manuscript speeches. Students will focus on several principles of speech composition, including stages of speech development, general analysis of the occasion, maintaining attention, sources of persuasion through argument and qualities of effective style.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Requirements: PREQ: ENG 0102 or ENGCMP (0002 or 0006 or 0020 or 0200 or 0203 or 0205 or 0207 or 0208 or 0210 or 0212 or 0213 or 0214) or ENGFLM 0210 or FP (0003 or 0006) *Applies to all WRIT Courses*
Course Attributes: Writing Intensive Course (WRIT)

COMMRC 0575 - INTRODUCTION TO RADIO PRODUCTION

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
This course is designed to cover basic theory and techniques of radio and audio production as well as some basic radio station practices. The course consists of lectures as well as studio sessions featuring equipment demonstrations and production exercises in a professional environment.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: Letter Grade

1000-level Courses

All majors must complete six (6) 1000-level COMMRC courses of their choosing. Not all of these courses are taught every semester. Please see the upcoming semester’s course listing for updated course offerings.

COMMRC 1067 - GLOBAL & US WOMEN'S RHETORIC

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
This course informs students of how global and US women use rhetoric (speeches, writings, symbols and images) to advance their rights and agenda. Students will first read about feminist foremothers' writings as touchstones for understanding how contemporary US women in sports, medicine, science and law negotiate gender equality and rights. Then students will learn about global women's rhetoric. For example, they will examine how women in Africa mobilize for liberation, how Chinese women mediate feminism in a market economy and how women in the Middle East wage everyday resistance against male dominance and clamor for self-autonomy. In addition to reading feminist critical theories and testimonial narratives, a variety of interdisciplinary objects of study such as theater, feature and documentary films, webinar, guest lecture, folk songs and poetry will be incorporated into the course.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Attributes: DSAS Diversity General Ed. Requirement DSAS Global Issues General Ed. Requirement DSAS Phil. Think or Ethics General Ed. Requirement SCI Diversity General Ed. Requirements SCI Polymathic Contexts: Ethical/Policy GE. Req. SCI Polymathic Contexts: Global&Cross Cul GE. Req. Asian Studies Human Rights and Social Justice Transatlantic Studies

COMMRC 1072 - KNOWING HUMANS: AN INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH IN THE HUMANITIES

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
Don't you just want to fix the world? Doesn't the world look broken in a thousand ways? Can't university researchers just tell us what to do to make all of this-once and for all-better? This course argues that research can provide no quick and final fixes. To be sure, research offers us lots of fixes, but then many of our fixes turn out to be problems in their own right, and we need to be better at recognizing and articulating the complexity of that kind of unintended consequence. In this course, you'll learn about how a cluster of disciplines called the humanities works on complexities of this kind. Why are our fixes so reliably unpredictable in their consequences? Because human beings and human societies are highly complex and because history compounds change. Created by the Co-Directors of Pitt's Humanities Center, this course wagers that the humanities deal with fields of inquiry where the relation between cases and rules is highly complex. In the real world, no rule can tell you definitively what to do in a particular case. In the real world, we're often called upon to recognize what's novel in an unusual case. And in the real world, we often have to create new rules of our own (where we're not just approximating laws of nature). Such work is both critical and creative: it critiques injustice, and it imagines things otherwise. We'll learn how different forms of humanities research push into these complexities of rules and cases: we'll learn how to work with archives, models, storytelling, feelings, genres, objects, play, games, fragments, commitments, and norms. You'll have the opportunity to articulate a humanities research question that matters to you. And you'll have the chance to develop that question into a research proposal that you can then explore in another class at Pitt or in a paid research opportunity that we'll mentor you toward-like the Humanities Center's own Undergraduate Fellowship.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Requirements: PREQ: ENG 0102 or ENGCMP (0002 or 0006 or 0020 or 0200 or 0203 or 0205 or 0207 or 0208 or 0210 or 0212 or 0213 or 0214) or ENGFLM 0210 or FP (0003 or 0006) *Applies to all WRIT Courses*
Course Attributes: DSAS Phil. Think or Ethics General Ed. Requirement Undergraduate Research Writing Intensive Course (WRIT) David C. Frederick Honors College Course

COMMRC 1101 - EVIDENCE

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
Basic elements of Brazilian Portuguese emphasizing a development of speaking, reading and writing skills Introductory course
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis

COMMRC 1102 - ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
Students in this course are provided with an overview of the relationship between communication and organizing processes. The course emphasizes theories, principles, and concepts of organizational communication. Students learn to analyze the communication which occurs in organizations to recognize sources of communication breakdown and develop an awareness of strategies for prevention and/or resolution of communication on breakdown.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Requirements: PREQ: (COMMRC 0300 or 0030 or 0100 or 0101 or 7300) and [ENGCMP 0200 or (ENGCMP 0203 or 0205 or 0207 or 0208 or 0250 or FP 0003 or 0006 or ENGCMP 0004 or 0006 or 0020 or ENG 0102)]
Course Attributes: SCI Expression: Communication General Ed. Req.

COMMRC 1103 - RHETORIC AND CULTURE

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
This course explores the constitutive role that rhetoric plays in the formation of culture. Cultural texts and events will be examined both as reflecting and signifying practices. The course focuses on rhetoric's relation to ideology, power, and desire, as well as to class formations and sexual divisions. Selecting two of the above perspectives, students will examine how cultural practices constitute and are constituted by rhetoric.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Requirements: PREQ: (COMMRC 0310 or 0320 or 0081 or COMM 0102) and ENG 0102 or ENGCMP (0002 or 0006 or 0020 or 0200 or 0203 or 0205 or 0207 or 0208 or 0210 or 0212 or 0213 or 0214) or ENGFLM 0210 or FP (0003 or 0006)
Course Attributes: Undergraduate Research, Writing Intensive Course (WRIT)

COMMRC 1104 - POLITICAL COMMUNICATION

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
This course examines the way methods of symbol use are employed in the political arena. Persuasive techniques will be studied as they are used in public debates over issues of policy. Rhetorical criticism will be the primary mode of analysis.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Requirements: PREQ: (COMMRC 0310 or 0320 or 0081 or COMM 0102) and [ENGCMP 0200 or (ENGCMP 0203 or 0205 or 0207 or 0208 or 0250 or FP 0003 or 0006 or ENGCMP 0004 or 0006 or 0020 or ENG 0102)]
Course Attributes: David C. Frederick Honors College Course

COMMRC 1105 - TELEVISION AND SOCIETY

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
This course explores the relationship between television and society. It familiarizes students with the history of the broadcast industry along with related legal, political, and economic issues. The course focuses on analyzing various television programs as constitutive of and constituted by social relations (class, gender, and race).
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Requirements: PREQ: (COMMRC 0320 or COMM 0102) and [ENGCMP 0200 or(ENGCMP 0203 or 0205 or 0207 or 0208 or 0250 or FP 0003 or 0006 or ENGCMP 0004 or 0006 or 0020 or ENG 0102)]
Course Attributes: Children's Literature

COMMRC 1106 - SMALL GROUP COMMUNICATION

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
Principles of small group communication are examined in this course. In particular, the examination will reveal the principles of group entry, group formation, group cohesiveness, group verbal and nonverbal message exchanges, group leadership, group problem solving and discussion, and group performance and satisfaction. Individual beliefs, attitudes and behaviors will be compared and contrasted with group beliefs, attitudes and behaviors.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Requirements: PREQ: (COMMRC 0300 or 0030 or 0100 or 7300 or COMM 0101) and [ENGCMP 200 or (ENGCMP 0203 or 0205 or 0207 or 0208 or 0250 or 0210 or 0212 or 0213 or FP 0003 or 0006 or ENGCMP 0004 or 0006 or 0020 or ENG 0102)]
Course Attributes: Urban Studies

COMMRC 1109 - NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
The purpose of this course is to examine the ways we communicate nonverbally. By nonverbal communication is meant that form of communication wherein messages are sent by virtue of an agent's physical characteristics, adornment, eye behavior, design and selection of environment, spatial relationships, utilization of time, touching behavior, body movements, the choice of objects to fill space, and vocal behavior. Principles and applications of nonverbal communication are discussed.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Requirements: PREQ: (COMMRC 0300 or 0030 or 7300 or COMM 0101) and [ENGCMP 0200 or (ENGCMP 0203 or 0205 or 0207 or 0208 or 0250 or FP 0003 or 0006 or ENGCMP 0004 or 0006 or 0020 or ENG 0102)]

COMMRC 1114 - FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND PRESS

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
The purpose of the course is to provide students with a critical understanding of the historical themes and contemporary issues involved in the debate over free speech. This course examines philosophies of expression from Plato through the most recent supreme court decisions. Study focuses on cases, major doctrines, and competing interpretations of the first amendment to explore the freedoms and limits of individual expression and regulation of communication industries.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Requirements: PREQ: (COMMRC 0310 or 0320 or 0081 or COMM 0102) and [ENGCMP 0200 or (ENGCMP 0203 or 0205 or 0207 or 0208 or 0250 or 0210 or 0212 or 0213 or FP 0003 or 0006 or ENGCMP 0004 or 0006 or 0020 or ENG 0102)]
Course Attributes: West European Studies

COMMRC 1115 - AFRICAN AMERICAN RHETORIC

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
This course focuses on race and the rhetoric of history in the United States, with an emphasis on Black freedom struggles in the 20th century. Readings and discussions will address radical activism in the interwar years, Black women's wartime organizing, mass mobilizing strategies in civil rights' "classical phase," and articulations of Black Power and Black feminism. Throughout, students will develop skills in archival analysis: composing and pursuing a research question, presenting selected findings, and reflecting on the experience of archival research.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis

COMMRC 1116 - RHETORIC OF THE AMERICAN COUNTERCULTURE

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
This course is concerned with social protest and the modern conception of the outsider, people and groups who choose to separate themselves, or are unwillingly separated, philosophically and ideologically from the society within which they live. One of the most recognizable examples of living the life of the outsider was embodied in the beat generation of the 1940's and 1950's, who embraced self-indulgence as well as literary themes of disenchantment and disengagement. A second example is the counterculture of the 1960's, the hippie generation, who tended to express themselves more in mass countercultural themes like student anti-war activism, popular, socially activist music, and film. Requirements include: discussion participation, 3 short papers (3 pages), 3 longer papers (8 pages), and one class presentation.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Requirements: PREQ: ENG 0102 or ENGCMP (0002 or 0006 or 0020 or 0200 or 0203 or 0205 or 0207 or 0208 or 0210 or 0212 or 0213 or 0214) or ENGFLM 0210 or FP (0003 or 0006) *Applies to all WRIT Courses*
Course Attributes: Writing Intensive Course (WRIT)

COMMRC 1117 - PROPAGANDA AND MISINFORMATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
This course explores propaganda, misinformation, and disinformation from a multidisciplinary argument perspective, including their historical development and current prevalence. Students will engage with a variety of primary texts and academic commentaries on topics such as conspiracy theories, hoaxes, scams, motivated reasoning, and scientific distortions.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: Letter Grade
Course Requirements: PREQ: (COMMRC 0310 or 0320 or 0081 or COMM 0102) and [ENGCMP 0200 or (ENGCMP 0203 or 0205 or 0207 or 0208 or 0250 or FP 0003 or 0006 or ENGCMP 0004 or 0006 or 0020 or ENG 0102)]

COMMRC 1120 - RHETORIC OF COLD WAR

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
Course examines selected moments in rhetorical aspects of the cold war with a focus on language, perceptions, arguments and the formation of public policy.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Requirements: PREQ: (COMMRC 0310 or 0320 or 0081 or COMM 0102) and ENG 0102 or ENGCMP (0002 or 0006 or 0020 or 0200 or 0203 or 0205 or 0207 or 0208 or 0210 or 0212 or 0213 or 0214) or ENGFLM 0210 or FP (0003 or 0006)
Course Attributes: Russian & East European Studies, Writing Intensive Course (WRIT)

COMMRC 1121 - HISTORY OF MASS MEDIA

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
This course provides an in-depth historical examination of U.S. Media (newspapers, magazines, radio, television and/or advertising). Emphasis is placed on the media's technological, political and cultural impact. Topics may vary depending on the particular historical period to be examined.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Requirements: PREQ: (COMMRC 0320 or COMM 0102) and [ENGCMP 0200 or (ENGCMP 0203 or 0205 or 0207 or 0208 or 0210 or 0212 or 0213 or 0250 or FP 0003 or 0006 or ENGCMP 0004 or 0006 or 0020 or ENG 0102)]

COMMRC 1122 - MEDIA CRITICISM

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
This course is designed to introduce students to major trends in media criticism (e.G., Psychoanalysis, genre analysis, feminist theory, and cultural studies). Course readings and discussions will focus primarily on television texts.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Requirements: PREQ: (COMMRC 0320 or COMM 0102) and ENG 0102 or ENGCMP (0002 or 0006 or 0020 or 0200 or 0203 or 0205 or 0207 or 0208 or 0210 or 0212 or 0213 or 0214) or ENGFLM 0210 or FP (0003 or 0006); MIN GRADE 'C' for all listed courses
Course Attributes: Children's Literature, DSAS Diversity General Ed. Requirement, Global Studies, Writing Intensive Course (WRIT)

COMMRC 1123 - RHETORICAL CRITICISM

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
The course on rhetorical criticism focuses on the history, methods, and practice of rhetorical criticism in American universities during the twentieth century. The course has been designed to help the student become acquainted with contemporary methods of rhetorical criticism through a combination of lectures, discussions, and practical applications. In addition, the course has been designed to help the student improve their writing abilities.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Requirements: PREQ: (COMMRC 0310 or 0520 or 0052 or 0081 or COMM 0104) and ENG 0102 or ENGCMP (0002 or 0006 or 0020 or 0200 or 0203 or 0205 or 0207 or 0208 or 0210 or 0212 or 0213 or 0214) or ENGFLM 0210 or FP (0003 or 0006)
Course Attributes: Writing Intensive Course (WRIT)

COMMRC 1125 - MEDIA THEORY

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
This course examines the major theoretical approaches in contemporary media studies. Emphasis is placed on understanding the basic tenets of these theoretical models and how they are applied in analyses of media texts.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Requirements: PREQ: (COMMRC 0320 or COMM 0102) and [ENGCMP 0200 or (ENGCMP 0203 or 0205 or 0210 or 0212 or 0213 or 0207 or 0208 or 0250 or FP 0003 or 0006 or ENGCMP 0004 or 0006 or 0020 or ENG 0102)]

COMMRC 1126 - MEDIA AND CONSUMER CULTURE

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
This course will examine consumer culture in the twentieth and twenty-first century us. It examines advertising, the rise of the brand, and their roles in the commercialization of mass media. Of particular importance will be the role that race, class, and gender have played in shaping consumer culture (and vice versa), as well as the significance of the shift from a society based on an understanding of citizens based on democratic practices to one based on consumerist practices.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Requirements: PREQ: (COMMRC 0320 or COMM 0102) and [ENGCMP 0200 or (ENGCMP 0203 or 0205 or 0207 or 0208 or 0250 or FP 0003 or 0006 or ENGCMP 0210 or 0212 or 0213 0004 or 0006 or 0020 or ENG 0102)]; MIN GRADE 'C' for all listed courses
Course Attributes: DSAS Diversity General Ed. Requirement, Undergraduate Research

COMMRC 1147 - THE RHETORIC OF SCIENCE

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
The course examines how scientists persuade and dissuade each other and broader publics in the creation and dissemination of knowledge. It addresses such topics as: rhetoric and the production of scientific findings, communication of scientific knowledge to various publics, persuasive influences on funding decisions, how the public might better understand or influence scientific processes, and the intersection of science and public policy. These will be studied in the context of major science-related controversies of the recent past.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Requirements: PREQ: (COMMRC 0310 or 0081) and ENG 0102 or ENGCMP (0002 or 0006 or 0020 or 0200 or 0203 or 0205 or 0207 or 0208 or 0210 or 0212 or 0213 or 0214) or ENGFLM 0210 or FP (0003 or 0006)
Course Attributes: Global Studies, Writing Intensive Course (WRIT)

COMMRC 1148 - RHETORIC AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
This course focuses upon discourse about human rights--both the affirmation and the denial of human rights. The course also examines the practice of rhetorical criticism.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Requirements: PREQ: (COMMRC 0310 or 0081) and ENG 0102 or ENGCMP (0002 or 0006 or 0020 or 0200 or 0203 or 0205 or 0207 or 0208 or 0210 or 0212 or 0213 or 0214) or ENGFLM 0210 or FP (0003 or 0006)
Course Attributes: DSAS Diversity General Ed. Requirement, DSAS Phil. Think or Ethics General Ed. Requirement, Global Studies, SCI Polymathic Contexts: Ethical/Policy GE. Req., Undergraduate Research, Writing Intensive Course (WRIT)

COMMRC - 1149 - AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTAL RHETORIC

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
The purpose of this course is to introduce upper division undergraduates to the most significant rhetorical arguments marshalled by all sides in contemporary American environmental controversies. The course is meant to focus primarily on the practical aspects of environmental controversy while connecting those aspects to the theoretical foundations of environmental rhetoric. Lecture with robust discussion is the preferred teaching method. This class is appropriate for upper division students with an interest in the environment from any discipline, not only Communication. Students should leave the course with a rigorous understanding of how and why contemporary environmental controversies arise and how they constitute one of humanity’s most critical challenges.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Requirements: COMMRC 0310

COMMRC - 1152 DIGITAL AND PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
In this course, students will examine and perform many different types of oral and written business communication. Special attention will be paid to communication ethics, leadership skills, and learning to work within a team.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis

COMMRC - 1154 REHETORIC OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
Through active reading, writing, participation in discussions, and analysis of messages (including speeches, posters, advertisements, slogans, films, and websites and other forms of digital rhetoric), students will be introduced to theory and research pertaining to persuasion, organized social advocacy and protest, and public life. Students will engage in critical thinking exercises while applying what they have learned in their studies of mass communication, rhetoric, and persuasion to the analysis of messages published by historic and current social movements. Students will also have the opportunity to produce their own social movement rhetoric and think together about its potential impacts on those who participate in the movement and those who do not.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Attributes: Human Rights and Social Justice

COMMRC - 1160 VISUAL RHETORIC

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
This course centers on research concerning visual rhetoric. It will concentrate primarily on a range of interpretive and critical approaches for studying instances of visual communication. Students will write three papers demonstrating their ability to analyze and interpret visual texts. The method of instruction includes lecture, discussion, film and practice workshops. Considerations of gender, sex, race, sexuality, and class will be interwoven throughout the course materials and discussions.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Requirements: PREQ: ENG 0102 or ENGCMP (0002 or 0006 or 0020 or 0200 or 0203 or 0205 or 0207 or 0208 or 0210 or 0212 or 0213 or 0214) or ENGFLM 0210 or FP (0003 or 0006) and (COMMRC 0310 or 0081)
Course Attributes: DSAS Diversity General Ed. Requirement Undergraduate Research Writing Intensive Course (WRIT) SCI Diversity General Ed. Requirements

COMMRC - 1161 COMMUNICATION ETHICS

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3

Contemporary society offers a wide variety of topics for ethical consideration: deception, lying, fidelity in relationships, hate speech, harassment, privacy, intellectual property, pornography and many others. This class examines the ethical dimensions of communication through the prism of case studies. Students are introduced to traditional forms of ethical reasoning as well as emerging concerns raised by the internet and digital media. One major question that the course addresses is the following: do the internet and new information technologies represent qualitatively new ethical challenges or are these versions of traditional ethical dilemmas? The bulk of class time uses discussion and case studies to emphasize the practice of ethical deliberation and the ability to reason about ethical issues and problems.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Requirements: 
PREQ: ENG 0102 or ENGCMP (0002 or 0006 or 0020 or 0200 or 0203 or 0205 or 0207 or 0208 or 0210 or 0212) or ENGFLM 0210 or FP (0003 or 0006) *Applies to all WRIT Courses*
Course Attributes: Writing Requirement Course

COMMRC 1170 - CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
The world seems to be in constant flux: ideological dissimilarities, ethnic strife and intercultural conflicts. One poses the question: are there any common grounds peoples from different traditions, cultures and society can seek? The answer is yes. It will require us to develop cross-cultural communication competence - respect differences, listen compassionately, be empathetic, cooperate and have an open mind. This class attempts to help students establish these skills. Examining an array of cross-cultural issues, it helps students establish cross cultural competence, an instrument that resolves conflicts and achieves understanding. Students will have an opportunity, in addition to attending lectures and reading books and articles, listen to guest lectures, write and present book reports, watch multimedia materials and design diversity posters.This class fulfills DAS General Education Cross-Cultural Awareness requirement. It is a 1000-level upper level communication course counting toward a major in communication. It is cross-listed with Global Studies program, earning credits toward a certificate in global studies or global health.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Attributes: DSAS Cross-Cult. Awareness General Ed. Requirement SCI Polymathic Contexts: Global&Cross Cul GE. Req. Asian Studies Global Studies Undergraduate Global Health

COMMRC 1181 - HEALTH COMMUNICATION

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
This course provides a broad introduction to the emerging field of health communication. Students will become cognizant of some of the critical issues in health-related interactions.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Attributes: Undergraduate Global Health

COMMRC 1182 - MEDIA RELATIONS

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
Today's public relations professionals should understand and be competent in many areas of communication--and one of the chief areas is media relations. This course will focus on what defines media relations professionals: Who are they? What do they do? How do they get their stories? What tools are needed in today’s media environment? You will learn how to best engage, connect and tell clients’ stories and brand messages to a multitude of media outlets, using a wide variety of strategic multimedia tactics and methods. One critical skill both expected and developed in media relations is the ability to write well since most of the work communicating with journalists and other publics involves clear, concise, and persuasive writing.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis

COMMRC - 1520 ADVANCED PUBLIC SPEAKING

 

COMMRC 1730 - SPECIAL TOPICS IN COMMUNICATION

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
This course teaches students advanced skills needed in the preparation, delivery, and evaluation of formal public address. Advanced public speaking extends what was learned in the introductory public speaking course by examining more advanced theories and strategies of public address, critically evaluating public discourse in a variety of settings and sharpening the extemporaneous delivery skills of the student
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Requirements: COMMRC 0520

COMMRC 1731 - SPECIAL TOPICS IN RHETORIC

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
This course covers a specialized topic in rhetoric. Topics vary every semester.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Requirements: PREQ: (COMMRC 0310 or 0081) and ENG 0102 or ENGCMP (0002 or 0006 or 0020 or 0200 or 0203 or 0205 or 0207 or 0208 or 0210 or 0212 NEED TO ADD IN THE DESCRIPTION: or ENGCMP 0213 or ENGCMP 0214) or ENGFLM 0210 or FP (0003 or 0006)
Course Attributes: African Studies, Undergraduate Research, Writing Intensive Course (WRIT)

COMMRC 1732 - SPECIAL TOPICS IN MASS COMMUNICATION

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
This course covers a specialized topic in mass communication. Topics vary every semester.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Requirements: PREQ: (COMMRC 0320 or COMM 0102) and ENG 0102 or ENGCMP ( 0002 or 0006 or 0020 or 0200 or 0203 or 0205 or 0207 or 0208 or 0210 or 0212 or 0213 NEED TO ADD IN THE DESCRIPTION: or ENGCMP 0213 or ENGCMP 0214) or ENGFLM 0210 or FP (0003 or 0006)
Course Attributes: Undergraduate Research, Writing Intensive Course (WRIT)