Communication Courses
COMM 110: Introduction to Communication
Communication is a word that encompasses a wide range of human activity. This course will introduce students to: the over-arching theoretical considerations that define the field of communication, fundamental questions about how best to go about the practice of communication inquiry, keystone works in the history of the field of communication, and philosophical considerations that undergird the contemporary study of communication. The course is dedicated to the two animating themes in 91心頭利's Department of Communication: media studies and rhetoric. Readings, written assignments, and class discussion will involve these two themes and the numerous points of contact between them. Limited to first- and second-year students. Juniors and Seniors must have permission from the instructor to enroll.
COMM 135: Rhetoric and Speech
Preparation and criticism of both formal and informal public speeches, including exposition, narration, description, argumentation, and persuasion. (This course satisfies Speaking Intensive.)
COMM 212: Visual Rhetoric
We are surrounded by visual communication in our daily lives, yet the ubiquity of visual imagery makes it difficult for us to critically evaluate the images we see. In this course we will approach visual artifacts as texts, paying particular attention to their relationship to the political, social, and economic climate in which they reside. Throughout the semester we will develop a lexicon of visual terms, engage a variety of visual texts, such as monuments, advertisements, photography, typography, and architecture, and practice evaluating visual arguments. No prerequisites. (This course satisfies Humanities.)
COMM 250: Classical Rhetorical Tradition
This course is an historical survey of theorizing about the role of public discourse in human affairs from ancient Greece and Rome. We consider how the functions and nature of public discourse is understood, whether its skillful use can be taught, and the relationship between public argument and reaching social consensus about issues of truth and ethics. We will apply these ancient concepts to contemporary ideas in order to explore how concepts from different periods in time can aid us in evaluating contemporary persuasive messages in public life. (This course satisfies Humanities.)
cross listed: CLAS 250
COMM 251: Rhetorical History of the U.S.
A historical survey of rhetorical artifacts focusing on how interested parties use discourse to establish, maintain or revive power. (Cross-listed as American Studies 251.) (This course satisfies Humanities.)
cross listed: AMER 251
COMM 253: Argumentation and Advocacy
This course offers an introduction to the theory and practice of argumentation. We will consider how arguments are created, presented, reframed, and refuted in contexts ranging from interpersonal disagreements to public controversies. In order to recognize how different strategies of argumentation change depending on the context, we will explore the important public dimension of argumentation and advocacy, recognizing skill in advocacy as a fundamental element of effective democracy. (This course satisfies Humanities.)
COMM 255: Communication Criticism
In this course we consider how texts work rhetorically to persuade audiences. The course introduces students to the fundamental concepts and tools for describing, analyzing, interpreting and evaluating a variety of forms of persuasive discourse communicated through different media. Communication Criticism is designed to provide students with knowledge about the nature, function and effects of persuasive communication, as well as to develop the skills necessary to produce analytical critiques of public discourse. Prerequisite: COMM 110 with a grade of C or better. (This course satisfies Humanities and Speaking Intensive.)
COMM 256: Communication Research Methods
This course presents students with a wide variety of qualitative and quantitative research methods for doing research in communication, in scholarly and professional contexts. In the course of a semester, this course covers the philosophical rationales undergirding these varied research approaches. With this established, the course gives students a hands-on sense of communication research methods, including: survey research, content analysis, experimental approaches, interviewing, discourse analysis, field research, and historical methods. The course will at all times involve careful attention to how the field of communication requires a heightened sense of circumspection regarding its own methods of study. Prerequisite: Comm 110 or consent of the instructor. (This course satisfies Social Science and Writing Intensive.)
COMM 274: Visual Chicago
This course is a special adaptation of COMM 212: Visual Rhetoric to be taught in the College's "In the Loop" program. In this course we will approach visual artifacts as texts, paying particular attention to their relationship to the political, social, and economic climate in which they reside. Throughout the semester we will develop a lexicon of visual terms, engage a variety of visual texts, such as monuments, advertisements, photography, typography, and architecture, and practice evaluating visual arguments. What makes this course different from COMM 212 is that our visual texts and assignments will focus on Chicago based visual artifacts. Not open to students who have already completed COMM 112, COMM 212, or COMM 370. No prerequisites. (This course satisfies Humanities.)
COMM 281: Media and Society
In this course, we examine the major theories and social critiques developed in response to systems of mass media and communication, including film, radio, television, and a national press. These theories and critiques range in concern from the democratic potential of mass media, to their role in manufacturing and mediating cultural values. Students engage with the major schools of thought that have become the foundation for contemporary mass communication and media research, including: early sociological approaches to communication theory, the strong and limited media effects traditions, the technology-oriented theories of the Canadian School, the Frankfurt School, British Cultural Studies, and American Cultural Studies. Students examine how definitions of mass media and communication have changed over time, and how these concepts continue to evolve alongside our interactions with modern media and communication technologies. (This course satisfies Social Science.)
COMM 283: Race, Class, Gender, and the Media
Race, class, and gender occupy important places in the contemporary study of the media. This course explores the connections between race, class, and gender through the exploration of the intersections between these important components of social structure and ideology. The motivating goal in this course is to show students how social structure and meaning become intertwined elements in how we experience race, class, and gender. An important element in this course will be the emphasis on the identities and positions of relatively less empowered groups in contemporary society. This will be done through a focused consideration of structural and ideological elements of contemporary culture as found in: the media industry, journalism, social constructions of reality, music, film, television, radio, and the internet. (This course satisfies Social Science and Domestic Pluralism.)
cross listed: AFAM 283
COMM 285: Modern Media History
This course provides a broad overview of the history of the media of communication. This is done through use of a chronological treatment of: face-to-face communication, writing, printing, telegraphy, telephony, motion pictures, radio, television, and the internet. Though the course begins with a review of ancient communication media, the focus here is placed on the media in Western society from the 19th through the 21st centuries. The most important goal in this course is to consider how media of communication relate to: culture, social structure, the economy, politics, and knowledge. (This course satisfies Humanities.)
COMM 287: Media Systems and Institutions
Behind our favorite movies, TV programs, websites, and songs exist powerful media institutions. Disney, Fox, Warner Brothers, Google, and Apple are just a few of the media industry giants upon which we have grown increasingly dependent for our everyday entertainment and information needs. In this course we examine these media institutions, including their historical development, organizational structure, and methods of production and distribution. We also analyze and compare the various types of media systems that exist in the U.S. and worldwide, including commercial, public, and state-controlled media models. Finally, we consider the issues of globalization and digital convergence, and the ways these phenomena are changing the organization and function of modern media industries. (This course satisfies Social Science.)
COMM 350: Topics in Communication
Intensive study of selected subjects within the field of communications. Topics vary by semester.
COMM 370: Feminism and Pop Culture
This course examines the ways women and female presenting people have been portrayed and are currently portrayed in the media: in television and movies, in popular music, on the internet, in print sources like magazines and other cultural phenomena. Additionally, we will examine how feminism has been enacted, defined and denigrated over time in an attempt to understand the cultural tensions within this concept as depicted in popular culture and academic texts. With readings ranging from critical theory to popular non-fiction by and about women, we will speculate on the impact of and source for popular portrayals of women and what they might be telling us about womens roles in society. Issues of race, class, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, and physical ability will be important as we critically examine the forms and functions of women in popular culture. Prerequisite: Comm 255, or another 200-level Communication course approved by the Department Chair, or consent of the instructor. (This course satisfies Domestic Pluralism.)
cross listed: GSWS 370
COMM 371: Communication in the Age of AI
This course examines the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a phenomenon that interweaves the persuasive power of rhetoric with the transformative influence of modern media. We examine how AI can influence public opinion and shape political discourse, recognizing its role in redefining how media content is produced, distributed, and consumed. Students explore the ethical and regulatory challenges posed by AI through the disciplines of rhetoric and media studies. By embracing this integrated perspective, students develop a comprehensive understanding of AI's dual role as both a medium and a subject of public discourse. By examining topics such as algorithm-driven newsfeeds, targeted marketing, virtual news anchors, deepfakes, and misinformation, students gain a more nuanced view of the relationship among AI, communication, and their broader societal context. Prerequisite: COMM 255, or another 200-level Communication course approved by the Department Chair, or permission of instructor
COMM 372: Rhetoric of Economics & the Market
In this course we consider the relationship between rhetorical discourse and economics. Do economists merely present empirical conclusions or do they use the techniques of persuasion to create both disciplinary and public understandings of their subject? Is the free market an 'invisible hand' that works to stabilize society or is it a construct of persuasive discourse? Finally we will examine the value of public deliberation regarding complex economic policies. Prerequisite: COMM 255 or permission of instructor.
COMM 373: Cultural Theory and Media Studies
In this course students examine a variety of advanced communication theories now current in the field of communication studies, including reception theory, Marxist materialism, political economy, public sphere theory, ritual theory, technological approaches, and production of culture theory. A central goal of this course is to help students contextualize and critique political, social, and economic constructions of culture. Prerequisite: Comm 255, or another 200-level Communication course approved by the Department Chair, or consent of the instructor.
COMM 374: Rhetorical Chicago
The Second City, the City with Big Shoulders, The Windy City, City in the Garden, Hog Butcher to the World, the City that Works: these are just some of the nicknames for the City of Chicago. This seminar examines the City of Chicago as both the site and source of rhetoric by using rhetorical theory and skills to explore art, architecture, geography, emblems, music, theater, sports, holidays, politics, media, museums, controversies and important rhetorical events including William Jennings Bryan's 1896 Cross of Gold speech, FDR's 1932 nomination acceptance, and Obama's 2008 victory speech. This course takes advantage of 91心頭利's proximity to the City of Chicago in order to explore two key concepts in communication: the discursive construction of place and the impact of place on rhetoric. Prerequisite: Comm 255 or permission of instructor
COMM 375: Rhetoric of Humor
Comedy is a persuasive form of communication, and this course will provide the analytical and theoretical tools with which to evaluate humor. Each student will select their own humorous text of choice, be it a single instance or comedic series, and write a series of papers over the term that will be combined to form a major research paper. This sustained analysis will stem from readings and discussions relating to various rhetorical theories (ranging from the classical to the contemporary) regarding the persuasive potential of comedy. Students will discuss their projects in small groups to allow for analyses of different modes of humor transmission (i.e. print, television, movies), as well as various types of comedy (i.e. satire, physical, jokes). Prerequisite: Comm 255 or another 200-level Communication course approved by the Department Chair, or consent of the instructor.
COMM 376: Queer Cinema
This course will focus on queer cinema--films that not only challenge prevailing sexual norms, but also seek to undermine the categories of gender and sex. Gender and sexual norms are perpetuated and challenged through notions of visibility, a key tactic in the fight for societal acceptance and civil rights. How sexuality is made visible and invisible will serve as a central focus in our analysis of queer film and media, focusing primarily on explicit representations of GLBTQ characters. Through feminist and queer theory, film theory and cultural criticism, we will analyze the contested relationships between spectators and texts, identity and commodities, realism and fantasy, activism and entertainment, desire and politics. Prerequisite: COMM 255, COMM 275, or permission of instructor. (This course satisfies Domestic Pluralism.)
cross listed: GSWS 376, CINE 376
COMM 378: Communicating Science and Medicine
In this course we examine how communication norms and practices shape our understanding of science, health, and medicine. By delving into a variety of case studies such as the Covid-19 pandemic, vaccination policy, pharmaceutical marketing, biotechnology, and mental health diagnosis and treatment, the course emphasizes how science and medicine are products of a culture and not just the work of individuals in a laboratory or a hospital. Through these engagements, students develop the conceptual knowledge and rhetorical fluency necessary to evaluate a scientific controversy of their choice; generate socially-relevant and research-driven arguments; and identify the ways in which we can help to influence policy and shape public understanding of issues related to science, medicine, and human values.
COMM 381: Hist & Theory Freedom of Expression
(History and Theory of Freedom of Expression) This course explores the origins of the concept of free expression and draws out the varying philosophical assumptions that influence the discussion of free expression in the contemporary world. The course compares and contrasts classical liberal and romantic theories of expression. We examine both philosophies as they are reflected in historical examples of debates concerning freedom of expression, with a special emphasis on freedom of the press, but also addressing issues related to censorship, propaganda, pornography, and hate speech. The course culminates with a consideration of how arguments about freedom of expression come to rely on the precepts of these philosophies. Prerequisite: Comm 255, or Jour 320, or consent of instructor.
COMM 382: Women's Rhet & Feminist Critique
(Women's Rhetoric and the Feminist Critique) Traces the development of women's oratorical tradition and the feminist critique by looking at how U.S. women argued for the right to speak before they had the vote and then how they continue arguing for equality once the right to suffrage had been established. (This course satisfies Domestic Pluralism.)
cross listed: GSWS 382
COMM 383: New Media & Society
This course offers students a wide array of theoretical lenses for understanding what is often called 'the information society.' The course begins with a sustained consideration of the utopian myths associated with novelty as it relates to technology. After this, the focus moves to different ways to understand how new media (always a treacherous term) relate to: the public and political engagement, journalism, interpersonal communication, popular culture, the forces of political economy, surveillance, consumption, and religion. Prerequisite: Comm 255, or another 200-level Communication course approved by the Department Chair, or consent of the instructor.
COMM 384: Rhetorical Presidency 2024 Election
(The Rhetorical Presidency: 2024 U.S. Presidential Election) This course examines the rhetorical nature of the office of the President of the United States. Prerequisite: Comm 255, or another 200-level Communication course approved by the Department Chair, or consent of the instructor.
cross listed: AMER 384
COMM 385: The Public Sphere
In this course we take up the issue of the 'public sphere' to consider its value and operation in modern society. The classic public sphere concerned public debate that took place in small coffeehouses where locals would meet to discuss the issues of the day. Now, public debate can be found strewn across the media: in entertainment, theater, music, art, schools, and of course in journalism. The course is framed by key questions such as: What counts as 'public' and 'private'? What is the role of the public? What voices are excluded in the public sphere? What are the best ways to be public? What role do journalism, photography, film, literature, and sports have in a public sphere? Prerequisite: Comm 255 or Jour 320 or by permission of instructor.
COMM 386: Reading Popular Culture:Television
Focusing on how culturally we are both producers and products of our popular culture we will try to answer the question: 'are we, as a culture, using the potential of television wisely'?
cross listed: AMER 386
COMM 387: Rhetoric of Law
This course will introduce students to the idea that the US legal system is rhetorical in that it shapes and is shaped by discourse. We will begin by considering what is rhetorical about the law and will then focus our attention on the rhetorical effects of legal discourse. Bearing in mind that the law is particularly performative- that is, it has the power to produce the effects that it names- we will consider the role that the actual language of the law plays in doing the work of the law. We will examine a variety of legal texts and contexts including the courtroom, the trial transcript, appellate opinion, legal textbooks and the Supreme Court opinion in order to understand how prior legal discourses affect the outcomes of legal questions. To do so we will learn about and apply particular critical lenses to our texts including rhetorical culture, critical legal studies, narrative and the law as literature movement, and discourse analysis. In addition to reading trial transcripts and legal opinions, students will be expected to visit a courtroom and watch the proceedings during the course of the semester. Prerequisite: Comm 255, or consent of the instructor.
COMM 388: Rhetoric and Public Memory
Ancient rhetoricians such as Aristotle, Cicero and Quintilian have made memory central to the study and teaching of rhetoric. However, recent work by contemporary scholars goes beyond examinations of memory as mnemonic aid to consider memory, and its construction, as rhetorical activity. The primary interest in this respect is the persuasive and communicative features of memory and memory-making. This course examines the rhetoric of collective memory by focusing on how the past is constructed to serve the present. We will explore the communicative bases of public memory and its role in experiences of place and understandings of identity. We will consider how rhetoricians have addressed the issue of memory, paying close attention to how they discuss the materiality of memory, the social and cultural politics shaping the construction of memory, and the theoretical concepts and methods used to rhetorically analyze texts and sites of memory. Prerequisite: COMM 255 or permission from instructor.
COMM 389: Political Economy of Media
This course introduces students to critical theories concerned with the political and economic authority of modern media industries. We discuss the potential impact of the consolidation of media ownership on the diversity and localism of media; the gatekeeping and agenda-setting functions of globalizing and corporatized media; the increasingly influential role of multinational media corporations in international policy and trade negotiations; the importance of institutional structure as it relates to the world of journalism; the struggle between public and commercial interests to define and control the infrastructure, content, and interactive spaces of new media; and the possibilities and pitfalls of past and present media reform movements. Prerequisite: Comm 255, or Jour 320, or consent of the instructor.
COMM 390: Internship
Off-campus professional work experience. One credit acceptable, but two credit internships preferred. (This course satisfies Experiential Learning.)
COMM 420: Senior Seminar
Focus of seminar changes frequently.
Fall 2023 Seminar: Fashion, Identity, Power. Fashion is among the most visible and meaningful ways in which we express ourselves. In addition to being "what we wear," it is a mode of communication and a reflection of the historical moment. Changes in clothing and discourses surrounding clothing indicate shifts in relationships and reflect tensions between groups of people. In this seminar we will explore the various social, cultural, economic, political, and personal meanings associated with fashion and consumption, while using media and cultural theory to trace the implications of sartorial style for the production and reproduction of gender norms from the 18th century to the present moment.
Spring 2024 Seminar: Communication and Sports. This course functions as a senior capstone in rhetoric and media studies by examining sports as the exigence, context, content, evidence and form of communication. While investigating case studies ranging from the first ancient Olympics (776 BC), and continuing past Brittney Griners release from a Russian Prison (December 2022) we will explore sports as religious ritual, show of power, identity construction, dissent, nationalism, metaphor, entertainment, pedagogy, advertisement, and opportunity.
COMM 480: Rhetoric of Civil Rights
(Senior Seminar: Rhetoric of Civil Rights) The Civil Rights Movement, like other historical moments, events and eras, is continually undergoing a process of interpretation and reinterpretation. As historians discover new primary sources, uncover new angles of African American organizing traditions, and reexamine old evidence, they have rethought the timeline, the trajectory, and the nature of the Black Freedom Movement. Their views about when and why the movement began, the role of women, the issues that preoccupied activists, as well as what gave the movement its strength, are increasingly being seen in a new light. The standard narrative of the civil rights movement is linear, using King and other national, male leaders as central and defining figures. It focuses primarily on the South, the strategy of nonviolence and goal of integration. It minimizes local, grass roots efforts and activists organizing in other parts of the country. It truncates the timeline of the movement by not taking into account those who organized prior to the Montgomery Bus Boycott as well as those who continued to be active after King's assassination. It glosses over competing views among activists, writing out of the history those who advocated self-defense and those who pushed for economic change. And it downplays the role of women in the struggle for social change. This course examines primary source documents and personal narratives to uncover the persuasive strategies employed during the most powerful mass protest movement in modern US history. In addition to viewing documentaries, analyzing speeches and examining key events in order to discern and evaluate the rhetorical practices employed both discursively and demonstratively, the course will focus on a comparison/contrast of the strategies used by a variety of individuals and groups, including how the media covered this movement. Our attempt will be to both understand and expand the mythical narrative of the civil rights movement as being relegated to the past. As a final project, students will produce a comprehensive research paper focused on a contemporary text, demonstration or event that speaks to the ongoing efforts of groups advocating for their civil rights in our current public sphere. Prerequisites: COMM 110 and senior standing or permission of instructor.