Course Syllabus

COMM 1010 Introduction to Communication

Course Description

This introductory course investigates principles of communication theories and how to use these theories in practical application. The course content encourages students to analyze, assess and evaluate communication principles. Students will develop skills and techniques essential to effective communication in settings that include: intrapersonal (with oneself), interpersonal (face-to-face), small group and public speaking. Students will develop the ability to look at the big picture of human communication and how it affects each individual's perception, cultural traditions and human philosophy.

Justification

Communication is found in all areas of one's life. Whatever the activity, the ability to articulate one's own thoughts clearly into constructed messages, and to interpret others' messages, will give power to unlock solutions some of life's greatest challenges. These thoughts and messages are sent and received in many ways and channels; i.e. verbal communication, non-verbal communication, and through technology. The purpose of this course is to give students an introduction into the world of communication. Students will be encouraged to critically analyze communication. This course fulfills a Humanities General Education credit at most USHE institutions, including SUU and is very similar to COMM 1050, Introduction to Communications, at UVU and COMM 2050, Perspectives in Communications, at SLCC. All of which are HU credits. This class requires writing in the context of both exploratory and academic writing, as well as critical reading skills, all of which are essential skills developed through the Humanities Division course offerings. The Humanities are a group of academic disciplines that study the many ways by which humans have attempted to understand themselves and their world. At Snow College, the Humanities focus on cultural traditions that are expressed largely through text or which have a strong textual component: languages, literature, and philosophy. The methods by which the Humanities study culture are at once analytical and interpretive, objective and subjective, historical and aesthetic.

General Education Outcomes

1. A student who completes the GE curriculum has a fundamental knowledge of human cultures and the natural world. Students will read and discuss a selection of oral and written communication related texts-including some of the well-known advertising campaigns, famous speeches, literary works, and stories from a variety of cultures - focusing discussion on the ways these works have influenced the way humans attempt to understand themselves and their world. Students will demonstrate their knowledge on these topics through class discussions, written assignments, and quizzes/exams.
2. A student who completes the GE curriculum can read and research effectively within disciplines. Students will read a variety of primary texts and will be required to respond to the content. These texts will vary in nature to include some aspects of rhetorical campaigns through a variety or mediums, famous speeches, literary works, stories, and/or others. Students will be able to read, understand, and engage with these texts, but will also evaluate, respond, and work to apply relevant theoretical approaches to further their own understanding and application. Students will demonstrate constructive and critical responses through essay exams and writing assignments.
3. A student who completes the GE curriculum can draw from multiple disciplines to address complex problems. Students will identify and discuss interpretations and applications of the primary texts in class, both in small groups and in open discussion. Students will also be required to write in an effective, convincing, and informed manner concerning the big questions addressed throughout the class. They will be asked to analyze and evaluate the complex interaction between communication patterns and society. Students will demonstrate an ability to write effectively through frequent and varied written assignments encouraging students to think independently about the nature of media influences. Written assignments will be returned with suggestions for improving the student's writing skills. Students will be assessed through discussion questions, essay exams, oral assignments, and written assignments.
4. A student who completes the GE curriculum can reason analytically, critically, and creatively. Students will critically evaluate the ideas and themes of media campaigns, famous speeches, literary works, communication patterns, and stories by identifying differences between their values and the values of the culture being studied. Students will be able to read and analyze communication influences, understand the place of communication in society, and make connections within the larger realm of past, and present. Students will look at communication ethics and its influences on society and culture. Students will demonstrate their ability to read and think critically about communication patterns, understand its context, and interpret meaning through essay exams, papers, and class discussion.
5. A student who completes the GE curriculum can communicate effectively through writing and speaking. Students will deliver several prepared oral presentations. Students will study the principles of speech preparation and delivery by learning proper topic selection, written organization, credibility, confidence, and presentational delivery methods. Students will demonstrate their ability to communication effectively through the delivery of prepared speeches with full content outlines.

General Education Knowledge Area Outcomes

1. Students will engage in a selection of theoretical and philosophical readings in which communication theory will be applied to a broad spectrum of human thought, themes of rhetorical and semiotic theory, philosophy, and experience. This class is more about questions than answers, and students are asked to wrestle with some big questions: What is communication? Why does communication matter? How do perceptions influence reality within the communication field? Does technology influence communication patterns? What are the biggest challenges with communications on a global level? How does one distinguish truths within communication? What is real?Students will demonstrate their ability to respond to primary texts, understanding and applying the theory therein through a variety of assignments, such as written assignments, oral assignments, class discussion, and essay exams. Students will engage in a selection of theoretical and philosophical readings in which communication theory will be applied to a broad spectrum of human thought, themes of rhetorical and semiotic theory, philosophy, and experience. This class is more about questions than answers, and students are asked to wrestle with some big questions: What is communication? Why does communication matter? How do perceptions influence reality within the communication field? Does technology influence communication patterns? What are the biggest challenges with communications on a global level? How does one distinguish truths within communication? What is real?Students will demonstrate their ability to respond to primary texts, understanding and applying the theory therein through a variety of assignments, such as written assignments, oral assignments, class discussion, and essay exams.
2. Understand how knowledge is created through the study of language systems, literature, and/or philosophy. Communication outlets are oral, visual, and written language to persuade, influence, and alter human experience. As students analyze language and literature they can see that language does not just reflect the world, it shapes it. Students will understand how language, literature and philosophy work together to establish and maintain norms in a variety of contexts. Students will be asked to analyze and interpret rhetorical devises in several texts and their use in discovering how communication largely shapes knowledge of self and others. they will demonstrate their ability to rhetorically analyze through class discussion, debates, written assignments and quizzes/exams.
3. Understand cultural traditions within an historical context and make connections with the present. Introduction to Communication looks at the influence of communication from a view that emphasizes the individual. There are traditions, literary works, art, media productions and texts that are handed down from generation to generation. Each generation leaves a creative legacy, the sum of its ideas and achievements in that specific media era. Students will be taught to critically think about social and cultural history of communication. Students will explore a variety of texts and will be able to study a text historically and culturally. They will be able to articulate connections to the present. This outcome will be evaluated through written assignments, exams, and classroom discussions.
4. Critically read and respond to primary texts (original, uninterpreted) from a Humanities’ perspective. Students will be able to read, interpret, analyze, and respond to a representative selection of primary texts, which may include the works of Plato, Aristotle, Saussure, Burke and contemporary ethical case studies in communication and other famous literary works in history. Students will be asked to consider cultural assumptions including moral, ethical, political, and faith perspectives. They will be able to perform a critical analysis of primary texts to analyze if these methods of communication represent truth. Reading strategies, discussion, group work, written assignments, and exams will allow students to demonstrate an ability to read critically in order to understand, explain, and apply literary works to communication case studies.
5. Write effectively within the Humanities discipline to analyze and form critical and aesthetic judgments. Through written assignments, and exams, students will demonstrate their ability to analyze communication messages by analyzing the cultural impact media messages have on humanity including the creation and dissemination of moral, ethical, political, and religious messages and the influence these messages have had on human thought and experience. As students read a variety of texts, such as rhetorical and semiotic theories, historical speeches, literary works, advertisements, and media messages, a focus will be placed on ways in which these texts impact cultural perspectives and viewing the self, others, and the world. Students will demonstrate their ability to construct an argument that relies upon strong thesis, textual support, critical thinking and will do so through written analyses of philosophical arguments and of contemporary issues in communication.

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Ask and explore a variety of philosophical and theoretical questions about human thought and experience.
2. Understand how knowledge is created through the study of language systems, literature, and/or philosophy.
3. Understand cultural traditions within an historical context and make connections with the present.
4. Critically read and respond to primary texts (original, uninterpreted) from a Humanities’ perspective.
5. Write effectively within the Humanities discipline to analyze and form critical and aesthetic judgments.

Course Content

This course is designed to introduce students to a variety of primary texts and communication theory. They will be asked to analyze and evaluate the complex interaction between communication and the individual. They will be encouraged to think independently about the nature of communication, to analyze primary texts, to critically think about how communication influences one’s perceptions. This course will focus on a variety of readings, primary text analysis, historical influences, interpretation, critical thinking and writing. The following topics will be covered in this course: - Effective communication methods in interpersonal interactions; - Broad study of communication theories and ethics; - Effective conflict resolution strategies - Effective methods for oral presentations including improving confidence, credibility, organization, delivery and developing persuasive argumentation. - Effective listening strategies that help and employ critical thinking skills to create meaningful dialogue. - The differences between verbal and nonverbal cues through which relational messages are often sent.- A variety of philosophical and theoretical questions about how communication shapes human thought and experience through various means of communication mediums.- the study of semiotics and language systems and the impact on literature and/or philosophy. - Intercultural communication traditions and how a variety of perspectives make connections with the present and consider the evolution of these traditions in the future.