COMM 501 COMMUNICATION RESEARCH AND WRITING (3-0-3) (F).  A critical overview of leading theoretical and research traditions in communication studies, with special emphasis on epistemological issues.  The course will also examine the application of research to professional environments, civil society and other contexts. 

COMM 505 THEORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF COMMUNICATION (3-0-3) (S).  An overview of communication studies.  The course will emphasize the metaphysical, epistemological, ethical and aesthetic dimensions of various schools of communication thought.

COMM 506 INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION (3-0-3) (F).  This course examines the range and variety of theories and research in areas such as attraction, relational development and maintenance, friendship and courtship, inter-racial and same-sex relationships, and relationship decline.   

COMM 507 ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION (3-0-3) (S).  Graduate-level survey of contemporary theory and research as applied to the study of all types of organizations.  This course explores the role of communication in the creation and constitution of organizational reality. 

COMM 508 MEDIA THEORY AND PRACTICE (3-0-3) (F).  The course examines a broad range of theoretical perspectives on media institutions, practices, and effects.  Emphasis is given to the implications of media theory and research for citizens, members of civic and professional organizations who work with media, as well as media practitioners.  Course topics may include theory and research regarding the media's role in education, persuasion, entertainment, socialization, social structure, politics, psychological effects, and business. 

COMM 509 LEGAL AND ETHICAL ASPECTS OF COMMUNICATION (3-0-3) (S).  Advanced examination of ethical and legal issues facing practitioners and the public.  Topics may include First and Fourth Amendment, the right to privacy, censorship, libel and slander, copyright, and media and national security considerations.   

COMM 510 COMMUNICATION, COMMUNITY AND POLITICS (3-0-3) (F).  This course concentrates on the intersections among theory and practice in communication studies, community organization and political science.  It looks at all three in terms of the exercise of power, and the conflicts between autonomy and control in a range of social settings. 

COMM 511 CRITICAL THEORY (3-0-3) (S).  A seminar on the work of the German Frankfurt School and its role in the communication theory of society.  Special emphasis on critical epistemology as social theory, the political economy of culture, and discourses growing out of twentieth-century and twenty-first century debates over modernity. 

COMM 512 CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION (3-0-3) (F).  Advanced studies in current issues and theoretical perspectives in the study of rhetoric, communicative relationships, the art and performance of communication, and intercultural communication.  Topics include the history of the terms “culture” and “communication,” and the historical evolution of theoretical perspectives on both terms.

COMM 513 PUBLIC RELATIONS (3-0-3) (F).  Advanced studies in public information, investor relations, public affairs, corporate and nonprofit communication, marketing or customer relations, with emphasis on how public relations also helps shape organizations and the way they work.  Topics include the history of public relations and the role of research, feedback and evaluation in the design of effective campaigns and messages in an information-rich society.