Semiotics is the study of meaning within society. It deepens our understanding of culture, communication and philosophy, and provides us with a theoretical and practical framework for analyzing the world. The course will introduce and develop the semiotic approach, using literature, politics, film, TV, music, and our everyday surroundings and conversations.

An examination of the art, craft, and business of screenwriting from theoretical and practical perspectives. Topics include screenplay format and structure, story, plot and character development, dialog and scene description, visual storytelling, pace and rhythm, analysis of professional and student scripts and films.

This two-semester, 8-credit Capstone Course will explore the intersections of food, community, identity and justice from a wide variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives, and will teach students community based research skills toward their culminating thesis project. The course is open to all (honors and not honors) senior students interested in food issues and who have the desire and ability to conduct a yearlong research project.

This course draws together theory and research from the discipline of Communication, skills and interdisciplinary understandings developed through students' various general education courses, and their own insights as students, emerging leaders, and collaborators in the Peer Advising Program.

This course is designed to welcome first years in to the major and inform them of opportunities for their advancement in the department and beyond. The course introduces students to the subject area clusters of courses offered in the major and the faculty members in the department who teach in each of the clusters. It provides a brief overview of the field of communication and the major issues and topics that motivate the inquiries conducted in courses and in research.

This course provides an introduction to the major ideas and concepts of rhetorical and performance studies and their contributions to social action. Students will be introduced to the thinkers and movements in rhetoric and performance most significant to how we understand ourselves: the ways we represent and remember our pasts, live our presents (presence), and imagine our futures. Theories of rhetoric and performance will be connected to each other and to our communication practices to examine how theories can be deployed as part of the art of living our lives.

Exploration of the types of writing associated with the discipline of communication. Development and improvement of the student's writing, research, and critical thinking skills. Fulfills Junior Year Writing requirement.

The entertainment industries are inordinately focused on young people as they represent tremendous market force. How do the imperatives of this market-driven media culture correspond with principles of democracy? Topics to be considered include commercialism & youth identity, culture jamming, global youth protests, race/class inequities, generation debt, urban youth, strategies for organizing youth resistance - all with an eye towards visioning a media system truly guided by principle of democracy.

This course applies a communication perspective to the study of health, disease and illness. The course will introduce, investigate and explore the nature of communication processes that influence and/are influenced by health and health care contexts. Communication theories and practices will be applied to a variety of health issues including the physician-patient relationship, the design of health media campaigns, the influence of health promotion on human behavior, health literacy, Western and cultural expressions of health and the use of interactive technology.

Not available at this time