Course Information
Below are the approved courses offered by the Department of Communication. Not all courses offered below will be available every semester. Make sure to check course offerings on the registration portal for each upcoming semester.
Course Descriptions
COMM 100
Communication in Everyday Life
Units: 3
Communication in Everyday Life is an introductory course examining the principles of communication, and the role of communication in various contexts and modalities. This course surveys perception, listening, nonverbal communication, and persuasion within the contexts of interpersonal, group, organizational, and mediated communication. Students will develop media literacy skills, practice analyzing public discourse, and the influence of culture and power on communication. This introductory course is a prerequisite for COMM 300, fulfills the social and behavioral inquiry (ESBI) and Domestic Diversity Level 1 (FDD1 Foundation requirements in the core curriculum.
COMM 101
Introduction to Human Communication
Units: 3
An examination of the principles and contexts of human communication. Some of the principles surveyed are perception, listening, nonverbal communication, and persuasion. The primary contexts examined include interpersonal, group, organizational, and public communication. This course is a prerequisite for many upper division communication courses, and fulfills core curriculum requirements in social and behavioral inquiry and oral communication competency.
COMM 103
Public Speaking
Units: 3 TO 4
An introduction to several forms of public communication. Emphasis is placed on the development and practice of public speaking about salient political, cultural, and social issues. Students are taught an audience-sensitive approach to the invention, arrangement, and delivery of public messages. Fulfills a core curriculum requirement in the social sciences.
COMM 130
Introduction to Media Studies
Units: 3 TO 4
This course offers an introduction to the examination of media and media literacy. Students learn about the origins, history, and development of mass media. Additionally, the present structure, characteristics, and challenges in the areas of print, radio, television, film, and digital media are addressed. Fulfills the core curriculum requirement in social and behavioral inquiry.
COMM 200
Communication Inquiry
Units: 3
Communication Inquiry aims to introduce students to the methods of study most prominently used to investigate questions about communication. This course will highlight contemporary topics to examine how to ask questions related to communication phenomena, the approaches that we can use to answer these questions, and the differences between the approaches we might use. Communication Inquiry will focus on three approaches to addressing communication questions: critical, qualitative, and quantitative. By the end of the semester, students should have a clear understanding of how these approaches differ and when to use each approach given the question. This foundation will guide students’ selection of their required upper division course in communication methods, which will focus more on application of a particular approach.
COMM 210
Topics in Communication
Units: 3
COMM 210 allows students to explore an area of study or specific topic of inquiry within the field of communication. Topics will change regularly. Topics will cover a wide range of communication foci, examining historical contexts, current events, critical issues, and societal debates that can be articulated through communication theory, research, and practice.
COMM 220
Journalism & Public Relations Writing
Units: 3
This course is a general introduction to the skills and strategies needed to write effective, ethical news stories and [public communications, including media releases.] Students are exposed to methods of news gathering, reporting, writing, and editing, with additional focus on the elements of news stories, interviewing, and the news conference. Students are also exposed to methods of writing and packaging press releases and pitches for optimum coverage across media platforms as public relations practice.
COMM 221
Introduction to Video Production
Units: 1
An introduction to video production skills. This course teaches students the skills and strategies employed to collect, edit, and present information through audiovisual means. This course prepares students interested in visual media and broadcast journalism using hands-on, collaborative training. The objective is to teach students how to tell a story using audio and video. Topics covered include camera angles, shooting techniques, audio capture, composition, and video editing.
COMM 230
Topics in Communication as a Social Science
Units: 3
COMM 230 allows students to explore an area of study or specific topic of inquiry within the field of communication from a social and behavioral science perspective. Topics will change regularly. Topics will cover a wide range of communication foci, examining current events, critical issues, and societal debates that can be articulated through communication theory, research, and practice. All sections offered as COMM 230 fulfill the social and behavioral inquiry (ESBI) requirement in the core curriculum.
COMM 240
Topics in Domestic Communication Diversity
Units: 3
COMM 240 allows students to explore an area of study or specific topic of inquiry within the field of communication with an emphasis on domestic diversity. Topics will change regularly. Topics will cover a wide range of communication foci, examining current events, critical issues, and societal debates that can be articulated through communication theory, research, and practice. All sections offered as COMM 240 fulfill the domestic diversity level 1 (FDD1) requirement in the core curriculum.
COMM 250
Topics in Global Communication Diversity
Units: 3
COMM 250 allows students to explore an area of study or specific topic of inquiry within the field of communication with an emphasis on global diversity. Topics will change regularly. Topics will cover a wide range of communication foci, examining current events, critical issues, and societal debates that can be articulated through communication theory, research, and practice. All sections offered as COMM 250 fulfill the global diversity level 1 (FDG1) requirement in the core curriculum.
COMM 260
Topics in Communicating Data
Units: 3
COMM 260 allows students to explore an area of study or specific topic of inquiry within the field of communication with an emphasis on quantitative analysis. Topics will change regularly. Topics will cover a wide range of communication foci, examining current events, critical issues, and societal debates that can be articulated through communication theory, research, and practice. All sections offered as COMM 260 fulfill the quantitative reasoning (CQUR) requirement in the core curriculum.
COMM 265
Introduction to Research Methods
Units: 3
An introduction to communication research methodologies. Students are exposed to the prevailing paradigms of qualitative and quantitative research. The interpretive, descriptive, and explanatory foundations of research methodologies will be examined. Ethical principles governing the process of research will also be explored. Fulfills the core curriculum requirement in quantitative reasoning.
COMM 294
Special Topics in Communication
Units: 0.5 TO 4
The course will introduce students to various topics within the field of communication. Course may be repeated as topics vary.
COMM 298
Communication Training
Units: 0.5
The course offers students credit for participating in a professional communication-related field during the summer. The course is appropriate for students who are interested in learning new skills and gaining professional experience to complement their coursework, but who have not yet completed COMM 300 or those who do not have second-semester sophomore standing. To qualify, students must have completed at least one lower division communication course and have declared a communication major. This course is offered pass/fail.
COMM 300
Communication Theory
Units: 3
Communication Theory provides a comprehensive survey of the various theories that comprise the communication discipline. Students are exposed to the dominant philosophical, conceptual, and critical perspectives relevant to communication as a distinct academic pursuit. This class is intended to help students develop a deeper understanding of communication inquiry as an overview of the various traditions of inquiry within communication, and is recommended prior to all upper division courses in communication. Prerequisites: COMM 100 or COMM 101
COMM 302
Quantitative Communication Research
Units: 3
Quantitative Communication Research prepares students to analyze and explain communication questions from a deductive, social scientific approach. Students will design research questions and/or hypotheses and conduct a quantitative research study. This course will introduce content analysis, survey, and experiments, and how to systematically collect and analyze quantitative data. Students will also learn to evaluate quantitative research to draw conclusions about communication. This course fulfills the advanced writing competency (CADW), information literacy (CILT), critical thinking (CCTH), and quantitative reasoning (CQUR) requirements in the core curriculum. Prerequisite: COMM 200
COMM 304
Qualitative Communication Research
Units: 3
Qualitative Communication Research prepares students to analyze and explain communication questions from an inductive, interpretive approach. Students will design research questions and conduct a qualitative research study. This course will introduce ethnography, participant observation, interviewing, and how to systematically code and analyze qualitative data. Students will also learn to evaluate qualitative research to draw conclusions about communication. This course fulfills the advanced writing competency (CADW), information literacy (CILT), and critical thinking (CCTH) requirements in the core curriculum. Prerequisite: COMM 200
COMM 306
Communication Criticism
Units: 3
Communication Criticism prepares students to employ interpretive methods of analysis to communication questions. Students will apply rhetorical, critical, and cultural theories to texts, as a means of better understanding how people are moved to think and act. Students will enhance their understanding of the relationships between interpretive theories by applying different communication criticism methods to a variety of texts, as well as evaluating the differences between popular and scholarly criticism of public messages. This course fulfills the advanced writing competency (CADW), information literacy (CILT), and critical thinking (CCTH) requirements in the core curriculum. Prerequisite: COMM 200
COMM 320
Contemporary Print Journalism
Units: 3
This course is designed to develop students’ research, reporting, analytical, and writing skills. Students will also investigate the nature and significance of the evolution of print journalism, how changes in the media environment alter journalists’ behaviors and responsibilities, and how audiences read and interpret the news in modern society. Ethical pressures of contemporary journalism practices are also addressed. Prerequisites: COMM 220.
COMM 321
Advanced Video Production
Units: 3
This course provides students an opportunity to learn production skills while incorporating discussions of aesthetics, film theory, and ethics. Students are introduced to three phases of broadcast production: preproduction (concept, writing, scheduling, and planning); production (principle photography and audio recording), and post-production (editing and sound design). By the end of the course, students will produce a short video that is a culmination of production principles applied over the course of the semester.
COMM 325
Interpersonal Communication
Units: 3
This course examines the dynamics of relational communication. Humanistic and social scientific theories of interpersonal relationship development will be emphasized. Topics include impression management, attraction, love, conflict, and the dark side. Prerequisite: COMM 100 or 101.
COMM 326
Nonverbal Communication
Units: 3
This course draws upon and scrutinizes the intersection of nonverbal and verbal communication channels, with an emphasis on the influence of nonverbal channels on communicator competence in interpersonal, media, organization, intercultural, and group contexts. Examples of specific topics include scholarship on the theory and application of nonverbal codes (and subsequent functions) vocal variation, nonverbal channels, and context-specific communication style. Prerequisite: COMM 100 or 101.
COMM 330
Media Processes And Effects
Units: 3
This course examines the process of media production and the theories related to the effects media have on audiences. A historical approach is used to analyze and explain the development of the field of mass communication. Other topics include the functions media perform for individuals and society. Analysis and application of media theory is emphasized.
COMM 333
Podcast Storytelling
Units: 3
This course teaches professional skills in audio recording, sound mixing, and storytelling. Students will improve their audio broadcasting skills, including research, writing, interviewing, delivering, and editing podcast stories. Focus is also placed on changemaking, investigating complex social issues and community engagement through the medium of podcasting.
COMM 335
Media Law and Policy
Units: 3
This course examines various legal and policy issues of communication and media technologies in the past, present, and future. Topics include free speech and free press, fake news and content moderation, copyright, data privacy and surveillance, competition and antitrust, representation and identity, and digital divide and algorithmic discrimination. Students will analyze the power dynamics of governments, corporations, and civil society manifested in rulemaking, lobbying, and social movements. The course will focus on exploring the intersection of media policy and social justice to critically understand how communication technologies are regulated and our rights are protected. This course fulfills the core requirement for Domestic Diversity level 2 (FDD2). Previous completion of COMM 100 is recommended, but not required.
COMM 338
Media and Conflict
Units: 3
This course examines the role media play in the progression and public perceptions of conflict. Relevant topics will include media and military intervention, portrayals of protest movements, and news and entertainment coverage of crime, rumors, domestic politics, violence, and ethnicity. It is recommended but not required that students complete COMM 130 before enrolling in this course. Fulfills the foundations in domestic diversity (level 2) core curriculum requirement.
COMM 340
Health Communication
Units: 3
This course explores communication issues relevant to health, disease, and illness. Topics covered include the role of language, provider-patient communication, social support, diversity, culture, and spirituality in health, information processing, health care teams, public health campaigns, and mass media. The course explores how communication shapes and is shaped by personal, institutional, and cultural constructions of health and how such concepts are created, maintained, and transformed in communication. Course content includes critiques of Western perspectives on health, illness, disease, and wellness and their influence on communication by investigating issues of race, class, gender, and sexism that exist in health practice, policy, and institutional structures. COMM 101 or COMM 300 are recommended, but not required.
COMM 350
Small Group Communication
Units: 3
An examination of theories and principles of group communication. Students study interactional and attitudinal variables which influence the nature of group dynamics. Topics include group norms and roles, leadership, motivation, coalition formation, communication networks, and decision making. Prerequisite: COMM 100 or 101.
COMM 353
Organizational Communication
Units: 3
This course examines the form and function of messages within organizations, with special emphasis on business communication. The course will focus on the role of communication in developing productive work relationships, human-resource practices, and organizational cultures. Topics include past and current management practices, communication networks and technologies, interpersonal relationships in organizations, public communication, and organizational communication assessment. Prerequisite: COMM 100 or 101.
COMM 356
Strategic Communication
Units: 3
Students in this course will learn key concepts and strategies in advertising, public relations, and promotions. Students will refine their ability to identify and understand problems and develop and execute solutions in the marketing-communication environment. The course will cover aspects of strategic research, media planning and management, the principles of branding, advertising design and management, and public relations strategies. This is meant to be a survey course on different aspects of strategic integrated communication, in which students are exposed to different stages of strategic planning, execution, and evaluation. Students can expect to be better equipped to initiate, participate in, and improve strategic campaigns after completion of this course.
COMM 358
Public Relations
Units: 3
Public Relations offers a comprehensive exploration of the critical elements involved in communication between institutions, individuals, and their publics by examining theoretical frameworks, case studies, and practical applications. Students will examine corporate communication, crisis communication, ethics, media relations, reputation management, and mission-driven communication related to diversity, equity, and inclusion; environmental sustainability; and corporate social responsibility. Students will develop the knowledge base and skill sets needed to navigate and excel in public relations. Students may not receive credit for both COMM 358 and MKTG 355. Prerequisite: COMM 220
COMM 360
Public Relations and Community Advocacy
Units: 3
This is a critical PR class. The course offers critical, historical, and practical perspectives on public relations industries. Students examine the current and historical dependency of news media outlets on the PR world as sources of information. While the course has a critical view of corporate public relations, it also offers concrete skill-building opportunities for students interested in working to promote diversity, inclusion and social justice through critical public relations. The practical side of the class focuses on the use of communication and public relations strategies for advancing causes such as fair representation of minorities in media, economic justice, community development, workers' rights, environmental justice, and other pressing social issues.
COMM 370
Rhetoric
Units: 3
In this class, students will learn how the art of rhetoric creates social change. Students will study the forces that make audiences alter their beliefs and spark collective action. They will be equipped with tools for understanding the ways emotion, reason, and values compel audiences to act. Topics will include the creation of meaning, the interrogation of truth, the contestation of power, and the shaping of public memory. Prerequisite: COMM 100 or 101.
COMM 380
International Media
Units: 3
This course examines media systems, uses, and social impact around the world, with an emphasis on trans-national comparisons of media development. Topics to be addressed include globalization of the media environment, media and national identity, communication for social change, and the influence of U.S. media on cultures around the world. Fulfills foundations in global diversity (level 2) in the core curriculum requirements.
COMM 384
Media and the Marginalized
Units: 3
This course will utilize theories, concepts, and empirical social scientific research to highlight how media depict social groups, why media messages depict social groups in particular ways, and the effects of those messages on audiences’ perceptions of their own identities and their understanding of outgroup others. The course will focus on racial minorities, gender, gender identity, sexual identity, religious minorities, and disability within a U.S. media context. Fulfills the foundations in domestic diversity (level 2) core curriculum requirement..
COMM 397
Advanced Integration in Communication
Units: 1 TO 4
Cross-listed, inter-disciplinary team-taught offerings that are approved as INST courses and treat a special topic, genre, or author. See departmental list of course offerings each semester.
COMM 403
Advanced Public Speaking
Units: 3
This course offers intensive training in the types of public speaking that are germane to social, political, and business communication. Through instructor and peer critique, students will gain proficiency in extemporaneous and impromptu speaking, and debate. Special attention is given to the critique and engagement of public controversy. Prerequisite: COMM 103 or 203.
COMM 421
Multimedia Journalism
Units: 3
This course will provide students with foundational skills needed to report, write, produce, edit, and distribute news stories across multiple platforms for diverse audiences. Students will engage in digital storytelling by engaging with the fundamentals of reporting, news judgment, and interviewing. The role of social media newsgathering is also covered. Prerequisite: COMM 220.
COMM 422
Family Communication
Units: 3
This course provides an examination of family communication theory as it applies to interaction and cognition within the rich context of our earliest group membership. Role formation, identity development, and a range of family structures across the life span will be emphasized in both historical and modern contexts. Students will apply theory to understand and analyze their own and others’ familial communication experiences. Prerequisites: COMM 101.
COMM 432
Film and Cultural Politics
Units: 3
This course looks at the role of film in responding to and defining culture and politics. It focuses on mainstream, commercial, and narrative film, and includes a focus on historical and ideological approaches to film criticism. Students will be encouraged to appreciate historically significant movies, learn sophisticated methods of film criticism, and assess the contributions contemporary films make to students’ understanding of themselves and others. It is recommended that students complete COMM 336 before enrolling in this course.
COMM 433
American Independent Cinema
Units: 3
This course is an examination of the history, forms, and functions of American independent cinema. The course will introduce students to important films and filmmakers instrumental in the independent genre while comparing and contrasting the aesthetic and content of independent cinema with the traditional practices of Hollywood studios. The course will also focus on independent cinema as a vehicle of social and political change including representations lacking in mainstream film production and inclusion of a wider spectrum of voices and experiences.
COMM 434
Documentary Film
Units: 3
This course is an examination of the form and content of documentary film. The course will focus on American documentaries but will include some exposure to international films as well. Students will develop a critical approach to documentary film viewing and expand their appreciation of nonfiction film.
COMM 437
Writing for Screen Media
Units: 3
This course introduces students to the skills and strategies associated with writing and production in various screen media production industries. Course material surveys the industry standards media professionals bring to their work, as well as academic criticism of these practices. Students will learn how to design and write a variety of media texts, including commercial, documentary, and film scripts. Prerequisites: COMM 220.
COMM 440
End of Life Communication Issues
Units: 3
This course explores various end of life contexts and issues through the communication discipline. Students will study the ways in which personal and public communication about dying and death influence attitudes about, and practices, at the end of life. This includes communication within the family, in healthcare settings, in public discourse, and the media. The goal is not a morbid or voyeuristic one; a close examination of dying and death can influence how we live, how to make life meaningful, as well as how we die. Communication at and about the end of life also shapes, and is shaped by, law and policy that dictate living and dying well, ethics, and justice. This class will interrogate the concept of a good death and investigate how we communicate about dying well.
COMM 442
Critical Whiteness and Communication Practices
Units: 3
In this course students will think critically about whiteness by studying the communication practices that create and sustain power differentials in society. The course explores the social construction of whiteness in the foundations of the US, maintenance of citizenship, legal definitions of race, property ownership, neighborhoods, educational systems, technology, and media, emphasizing the way this history shapes our communication practices today. Students will emerge from the course with a thorough understanding of the ways white supremacy has shaped their social geography and will be equipped with tools for disrupting it.
COMM 445
Gender Communication
Units: 3
This course examines gender from a communication perspective, focusing on the construction of gender and gender-relevant issues. Communication styles of women and men are discussed. Attitudes and beliefs concerning female and male cultural stereotypes as they are manifested through communication are also investigated. It is recommended but not required that students complete COMM 101 before enrolling in this course.
COMM 455
Interviewing and Negotiating
Units: 3
This course is an examination of methods and techniques applicable to a variety of interviews and negotiations. Students prepare, participate in, and critique employment, journalistic, and appraisal interviews. Students also learn techniques and principles of negotiating, including alternative dispute resolution, distributive bargaining, and principled negotiations. Prerequisite: COMM 100 or 101.
COMM 456
Digital Campaigns
Units: 3
Students in Digital Campaigns will learn how to formulate a data-driven, digital strategy plan. Digital strategy requires students to collect, analyze and report on digital media analytics, and present them as a means of guiding decision making. This course is designed to be practice-oriented, while also engaging critically with the technical, legal, moral, and practical challenges that shape strategic interactions on the web and social media.
COMM 458
Crisis Communication
Units: 3
Crisis Communication will examine key concepts in risk communication, issue management, crisis response, and image repair, focusing on how organizations can effectively prevent and manage crises. Through a combination of case studies, media simulations, and crisis communication planning, students will learn how to communicate under pressure in today’s complex, fast-paced digital environment. Emphasizing strategic decision-making, the course challenges students to analyze and respond to high-stakes situations involving both traditional and social media. By the end of the course, students will be equipped with the skills to craft clear, ethical, and impactful crisis responses, enabling them to serve as effective communicators during times of organizational turbulence. Prerequisite: COMM 220
COMM 460
Persuasion and Influence
Units: 3
This course is an examination of various forms of persuasion. Through understanding rhetorical, behavioral, and cognitive theories of persuasion students will learn to both create and ethically critique persuasive messages. Fulfills core curriculum requirement in social and behavioral inquiry.
COMM 462
Political Communication
Units: 3
A survey of the centrality of communication processes in substantive areas of political activity. Areas of study include political speeches, election campaigns, debates, government and media relations, advertising and propaganda, and political movements. Special emphasis is placed on the relationship between public opinion and the use of rhetorical strategies, imagery, and symbolism.
COMM 463
Communication and Sports
Units: 3
This course examines the numerous aspects of communication and sports in the U.S., where many of the global trends and developments in sports communication have occurred. Drawing perspectives from popular criticism and scholarly research, the course surveys the development of sports media, the coverage and business of sports media, sports media audiences and fanship, and contemporary issues in sports media, the overage and business of sports communication, sports media audiences and fanship, and contemporary issues in sports communication.
COMM 475
Intercultural Communication
Units: 3
This course allows students to explore intercultural communication theory and research within both broad and interpersonal contexts. Topics include similarities and differences in values, language, power dynamics, interethnic/intergroup communication, identity negotiation and adaptation. Students will enhance flexibility and intercultural bias to advocate for self and others. This course fulfills the core requirement for Global Diversity Level 2 (FDG2). It is recommended but not required that students complete COMM 100 and 300 before enrolling in this course.
COMM 480
Advanced Topics in International Media
Units: 3
This upper-division elective provides students an opportunity for an in-depth analysis and examination of media systems in a particular region of the world and/or transnational connections around a particular international cultural practice. Topics will vary according to the instructor and interest. General themes may include Latin American media systems, British media systems, Asian cinema or global youth culture. Course may be repeated as topics vary. It is recommended but not required that students complete COMM 130 and COMM 380 before enrolling in this course.
COMM 481
International Topics in Human Communication
Units: 3
This upper-division elective provides students an opportunity for an in-depth analysis and examination of human communication in a particular region of the world. Topics will vary according to the instructor and interest. Fulfills the foundations in global diversity (level 2) core curriculum requirement.
COMM 482
Children and Media
Units: 3
This course is an overview of the relevant research on the role of electronic media in the lives of children. Topics include media violence, sex role stereotypes, advertising and materialism, media and the family, and new technology in the lives of children. Students will also explore the positive influence of media, including media use for pro-social and educational purposes. It is recommended but not required that students complete COMM 130 and COMM 330 before enrolling in this course.
COMM 483
Teens and Popular Culture
Units: 3
This course aims to examine the complex relationship between teenagers and the popular media. Focusing primarily on American teens, various important issues we be considered, such as: how media portray teens, how corporations target teens as a market, how teens make active choices about which media they attend to and how, and how teens themselves actively create their own media and culture. Our goal is to resist simple speculation about media’s effects on youth, and to instead engage with why media use is pleasurable and meaningful to young people, and how it operates in their lives. It is recommended but not required that students complete COMM 130 and COMM 330 before enrolling in this course.
COMM 488
Global Team Development
Units: 3
This course is designed to further students’ understanding of intercultural and small group theory, development, and research and explore how groups develop into teams. Students will have the opportunity to work in multicultural and virtual teams providing basic diversity training and development, and research. The course emphasizes a wide range and scope of topics related to teams and teamwork by addressing issues such as finding alternative solutions to problems, reaching decisions, making recommendations, and understanding the process of team and organizational development as a whole.
COMM 492
Communication Seminar
Units: 3
Communication Seminar offers communication majors in their final year the opportunity to articulate how their coursework in communication can integrate with other disciplines, contribute to solving humanity’s urgent challenges, and prepare students for their post-graduate journey. Students will examine the communication discipline by working on a project that draws on prior coursework and focuses on the students' declared concentrations within the major. Communication Seminar both challenges students to critically reflect on the communication discipline and prepares students for careers in communication. This course fulfills the advanced integration (CINT) requirement in the core curriculum. Prerequisite: COMM 300
COMM 493
USD Media Practicum
Units: 1
Student media participants can register to receive credit and work in a multi-media environment. The lab will facilitate collaboration between USD’s media outlets as student learn to navigate the convergent media environment. The lab will emphasize industry best practices. Student may retake course for up to a total of 3 units.
COMM 494
Special Topics in Communication
Units: 0.5 TO 4
Selected topics in communication will be examined. The course may be repeated as topics vary.
COMM 495
Senior Project
Units: 1 TO 3
This seminar is a capstone course in which seniors produce an original research or creative project. The course addresses research methods, critical thinking, and the writing process. Students will present the results of their work. Recommended for students planning on pursuing graduate studies.
COMM 496
Research Experience
Units: 1 TO 3
The goal of research experience is to provide communication majors with an opportunity to assist a faculty member conducting original academic research. Students will meet with a faculty member on an on-going basis to discuss the research project, assess the student’s role and responsibilities, and to discuss the process of conducting scholarly research. Students may participate in a range of research activities, including but not limited to literature searches, study design, project management, participant solicitation, data collection, fieldwork, data entry, data analysis, critical analysis, and writing instruments and manuscripts. Students must register with a specific faculty member with whom they complete a contract outlining the roles and responsibilities of the student and faculty member. Prerequisite: COMM 265
COMM 498
Communication Internship
Units: 2 TO 3
Communication Internship weaves the communication discipline into the workplace experience. Communication Internship serves as a companion course for communication majors who are earning credit for an internship experience, wherein students will articulate how their coursework in communication can integrate with other disciplines, contribute to success in their internship experience, and prepare students for their post-graduate journey. Students will examine the communication discipline by working on a capstone project that draws on prior course work and their internship experience, culminating in an electronic portfolio. This course fulfills the advanced integration (CINT) requirement in the core curriculum.
COMM 499
Independent Study
Units: 1 TO 3
Students interested in completing an independent research project with guidance from a faculty member may consider independent study. Students should consult a faculty member who has expertise in their interest area and be prepared to explain their intended project or research question(s). The student and instructor agree upon specific requirements. Registration is by consent of instructor and requires the completion of the independent study form.