Communication Program Course Descriptions

COM 101 Public Speaking -- This is a course in public speaking with emphasis on informative, argumentative and persuasive skills along with the sharpening of student’s ability to listen and analyze.

COM 102 Introduction to TV Production -- This course offers basic skills that would be invaluable to the prospective news broadcaster - including camera work, presentation, and editing with a specific focus on journalistic techniques. .

COM 201 Theories of Mass Communication --  This course is designed to introduce the fundamentals of mass communication, acquainting students with theories of how the mass media shapes both ourselves as individuals and the world in which we live. It offers an introduction to research methods and the history of the discipline, examines the theories and perspectives that research has generated, and explores important social and ethical questions revolving around media effects, including the impact of the portrayal of sex and violence.

COM 202 Visual Communication -- Students receive a broad introduction to the distinct theories and perspectives involving visual communication, while addressing important issues of visual literacy. It spotlights the use of images in marketing and public relations, and in news.

COM 203 Introduction to Journalism -- Extends and reinforces the foundation of communication theory offered in Theories of Mass Communication, while more specifically illuminating journalistic working practices and exploring how news is constructed through varying perspectives of journalism research  – e.g. history, sociology, semiotics, linguistics, literary studies.

COM 204 Introduction to Public Relations --  This gives students a valuable insight into the work of public relations, a profession that works closely with news-workers, and one into which many journalists eventually move. This course covers the development of the public relations industry from its historical beginnings to contemporary application, including the relationship between theory and practice.  While reviewing many specific areas of the field including media relations and crisis communication, the course highlights the core of utilizing public opinion and persuasion, as well as the arena of strategic counsel. 

COM205 Media Technology -- This course introduces students to practical applications in video, audio, and multimedia technology. Students will examine innovations in new forms of media, information, and communication technology.

COM 206 PR Writing -- This course delivers the basis for a multitude of written public relations materials, respecting the fact that exceptional writing in the industry is the most widely noted and requested skill. The courses reviews news-writing style and how it parallels PR writing, grammar, lead writing, and additional fundamentals. Students develop personalized portfolios which include such items as print and electronic news releases, media alerts and advisories, feature stories and public service announcements.

Prerequisite: Introduction to Public Relations (or can be taken simultaneously with special approval)

COM 301 Feature and Magazine Writing --  Feature writing demands a unique combination of talents – the accuracy and techniques of the busy reporter and the literary skills of the creative writer. This course is designed to help students achieve those abilities with theoretical and practical training in writing feature articles for newspapers, magazines and broadcast. Students should learn to develop ideas for articles, carry out research, conduct interviews and write the articles themselves, with the course also suggesting strategies for selling written work on a freelance basis.

COM302 Media Ethics -- In this course, students examine ethical standards and practices in mass media, as well as the key ethical issues confronting mass communicators today.  Case studies, ethical decision-making models, and industry standards will be used to show the impact of decisions media professionals make.

COM 400 Advanced Journalism --  This course will be built around the student newspaper, The Gwynmercian. On one hand the campus publication and its Internet version will be employed to teach advanced skills in news selection, writing, headline creation, editing and layout, both in print and on the Web. At the same time, producing The Gwynmercian will be used to prompt exploration and discussion of issues surrounding the reporting and publication of news. This course would replace ENG 109 Journalism Practicum.

COM 401 Broadcast Journalism -- Explores the variety of skills required to communicate effectively through radio and television. The course emphasizes the performance techniques, creativity, writing and analytical skills needed to communicate effectively using various formats such as interviews, editorials, commercials and newscasts.

COM 405 Internship --  Allows students to experience communication-related fields in an applied context outside the classroom, usually in (but not restricted to) news organizations, media outlets, publication houses and web design companies.

COM 4000 Capstone -- This capstone course is designed for students to demonstrate and apply the knowledge and skills gained in all communication courses.  A presentation and submission of an e-portfolio of materials culminates the course.

ENG 105 Grammar Review -- This class reviews the basics of traditional grammar – classes of words and sentences, inflections and functions of English, syntactical relationships and
usage – and examines alternative grammar systems.

ENG 217 American Literature II -- This course concentrates on major figures in America’s literature from the Colonial Period through the Age of Transcendentalism.
Prerequisite: ENG 101

ENG 230 History of English -- This course surveys origins of the development of the English language from the Proto-Indo-Europeans of Central Europe through the development of the
Danish, Saxon and Germanic tribes to the present-day status of the English
language.
Prerequisite: ENG 101

ENG 240 History of Rhetoric -- This course explores classical texts, as well as their influence on contemporary principles and philosophical perspectives and the production of written, oral, visual, and digital texts today.  Students will discuss important developments in the history of rhetoric and use rhetorical theory to consider issues related to oral, written, and visual discourse.

ENG 301 World Masterpieces I -- Beginning at the ancient epics of eastern and western cultures and ending in the late Renaissance, this course focuses on major writers of world literature.
Prerequisite: ENG 101

ENG 448 Writing Seminar -- The process of writing creative research papers, essays and other nonfiction materials is reviewed. The course combines the tools of research with
the appropriate organizational method and emphasizes peer-evaluation,
revision, and market research toward publication.
Prerequisite: ENG 101