Communication (B.A. and Minor)
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MAJOR IN COMMUNICATION
Communication at Aurora emphasizes courses of study that feature a combination of practical skills and flexible critical thinking. There are basically two tracks towards a 30 credit major in communications. The first track emphasizes a media studies approach to analyzing and writing about the major forms of media representation which occur in our culture. This track also features the opportunity for extensive practical engagement with forms of video, audio and multimedia communication. The second major track is centered around the idea of professional practice and communication. In this track, applied forms of writing such as journalism and corporate communication are emphasized alongside exposure to courses like organizational communication and the various theories of persuasion. A third, more flexible, general communication track can be developed by the student and advisor drawing together units from the two basic tracks in a way that best fits the student’s academic and professional requirements. All tracks include a required core component of 15 credit hours that stresses basic theories of communication, uses of technology, and speech/communication in the context of a diverse culture. All majors are required to complete a capstone project-based senior seminar course.
One of the prime attractions of communication as a major and minor subject is its versatility with regard to career opportunities. Besides the obvious jobs in areas such as public relations, journalism and media, effective communication and writing skills are in demand across just about every area of the modern economy. Internships are encouraged and supported.
A total of 30 credit hours, 15 of which must consist of the 5 courses in the core component. A major stressing the media studies track will draw 15 credits from that list. A major stressing the professional practice track will draw 15 credits from that list. A combination major is available which allows students to draw a total of 15 credits from either track, in addition to the core units.
Required Core Courses: 15 semester hours
COM1500 Human Communication/Public Speaking (3)
COM2400 Computer Technology and Communication (3)
COM3500 Cross Cultural Communication (3)
COM4000 Critical and Theoretical Perspectives in Communication (3)
COM4990 Senior Seminar in Communication (3)
Media Studies Track (majors emphasizing this track must select at least 5 courses from this list)
COM1600 TV and Visual Literacy (3)
COM2140 Media Writing (3)
COM2300 Introduction to American Film (3)
COM/ART2670 Photography (3)
COM2800 Mass Communication and American Culture (3)
COM3610 Video Production I (3)
COM3620 Video Production II (3)
COM3800 Popular Culture (3)
COM3810 Special Topics in Media Studies (3)
COM3840 Advanced Topics in Video Production (3)
Professional Practice Track (majors emphasizing this track must select at least 5 courses from this list)
COM/ENG1140 Journalism (3)
COM/ENG2040 Technical and Professional Writing (4)
COM2330 Communication in Small Groups and Teams (3)
COM2520 Interpersonal Communication (3)
COM3000 Organizational Communication (3)
COM3200 Persuasion (3)
COM3510 Corporate and Professional Communication (3)
COM3540 Graphic Communication (3)
COM/ART3600 Media Technology for Instructional/Corporate Settings (3)
COM3810 Special Topics in Professional Practice (3)
Combination Communications Track
Any mix of five courses (15 credits) from the above two tracks in addition to the required core units may be selected in consultation with communication advisor.
NOTE: The Bachelor of Arts in Communication is also available at the George Williams College of Aurora University in Williams Bay, WI. The combined communication track is offered so that students complete the required core courses listed above and select 15 semester hours from the two selected tracks.
MINOR IN COMMUNICATION - 18 semester hours (This is only available at George Williams College in Williams Bay, Wisconsin)
Communication also makes a very flexible and adaptable minor that works well in combination with majors like business, education and even history and English. A communication minor can be made up out of any combination of courses within the department totaling 18 credits. However, students will be encouraged to think carefully about the how the mix of courses that they pick will affect their career plans. For example, a future educator intending to teach some communication courses in high school would be well advised to lean toward courses in the media studies track rather than courses in professional practice.
NOTE: The minor in communication is available at George Williams College in Williams Bay, Wisconsin.
COMMUNICATION COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
Classes in the Communication Program at AU cover a wide range
topics that are significant to the field, but all emphasize the
development of strong writing and critical thinking skills.
COM/ENG1140 Journalism 3 semester hours
Fundamentals of news and feature writing, editing, and broadcast news. Standard forms of journalistic writing are introduced through practice, discussion, and critiques by professional journalists.
Prerequisite: ENG1020.
COM1500 Human Communication/Public Speaking 3 semester hours
Examines the foundations and basic processes of communication in small group, interpersonal and public speaking contexts. Students will apply these basic principles though the preparation and delivery of individual and group presentations. Emphasizes audience analysis, group interaction, research, organization, and effective delivery style.
Prerequisite: ENG 1020.
Meets General Education “Observation of Ourselves and Others” Group A requirement.
COM1600 Television and Visual Literacy 3 semester hours
The course analyzes the ways in which stories presented on television help to create and circulate understandings about how American society is organized as well as how they are implicated in the construction of our personal identities. Students should complete the class with the ability to critically evaluate the interplay between the aesthetic, economic, regulatory, social and political factors at work in the production and consumption of TV shows.
No prerequisites.
Meets General Education “Aesthetic and Philosophical Expression” Group B requirement.
COM/ENG2040 Technical and Professional Writing 4 semester hours
Crosslisted with ENG2040. For description see ENG2040.
COM2140 Media Writing 3 semester hours
Writing for visual and aural presentation in print, broadcast, and interactive media with emphasis on program continuity, commercials, public relations, and promotional campaigns. Students will plan, develop, and write scripts and feature stories intended for publication or broadcast.
Prerequisite: ENG/COM1140 or consent of program.
COM2300 Introduction to American Film 3 semester hours
A survey course outlining some of the principal theories and aesthetic techniques associated with American feature films from their inception at the end of the 19th century to present-day blockbusters. Evaluation of the “art” of film will be combined with a focus on the historical, social, industrial, and legislative contexts of the times in which the films appeared.
No prerequisites.
Meets General Education “Aesthetic and Philosophical Expression” Group B requirement.
COM2330 Communication in Small Groups and Teams 3 semester hours
This course will provide students with a solid grounding in the theories, principles and strategies of small group communication as it is applied in social and organizational contexts. Students will gain familiarity with relevant research and applications as well as the practical strategies and techniques of working in small groups/teams and will participate in coursework that relates to a wide variety of real-life communication situations and settings. The central premise of this course supports that cooperation in small groups and teams has been generally proven superior to competition.
No prerequisites.
COM/ART2670 Introduction to Photography 3 semester hours
Crosslisted with ART2670. For description see ART2670.
COM2400 Computer Technology and Communications 3 semester hours
This is a hybrid studies/practical class that introduces students to some of the foundations, theory and history of computers and communication. Students will perform exercises and a final research and production project that tests their facility with combining graphics, document, research, multi-media and web components into a coherent whole.
No prerequisites.
COM2520 Interpersonal Communications 3 semester hours
Students will explore the nature of interpersonal communication in all contexts of their lives. Special emphasis will be placed on the impact of interpersonal communication in the personal, social and organizational relationships of individuals and on society at large. This course will provide an overview of the communication, psychological and sociological literatures and theories that have been important in understanding how humans communicate with one another.
No prerequisites.
COM2800 Mass Communication and American Culture 3 semester hours
Survey of the mass media: newspapers, magazines, books, internet, radio, recordings, television, and film. The separate histories of each medium are traced into their convergence in modern society. Critically examines effects theories, ethical, economic and legal perspectives to further appreciate mass media’s impact on American and global cultures.
No prerequisites.
Meets General Education “Aesthetic and Philosophical Expression” Group B requirement.
COM3000 Organizational Communication 3 semester hours
Interpersonal communication in organizational settings, the nature of group process and leadership in organizational contexts, and how formal and informal communication networks operate in the development of a variety of organizational cultures. Surveys interpersonal, small group and organizational theories, perspectives and applied practice.
No prerequisites.
COM3200 Persuasion 3 semester hours
Theoretical approaches to the ways attitudes are formed and changed, the relationship between attitudes and behavior, and how messages transmitted personally and through the mass media are shaped to influence attitudes and behavior. Students study the rhetoric of persuasion established by Aristotle, which is foundational to our modern persuasive practices and applications in areas such as public address, politics, propaganda, advertising, and public relations.
No prerequisites.
COM3500 Cross Cultural Communication 3 semester hours
The course focuses on effective communication of ideas, theories and practices in a diverse multi-cultural world. Differences in perception, worldviews, and values will be explored, and both verbal and nonverbal messages will be examined. Direction will be toward the discovery and analyses of experiences that occur when people from international cultures in general and U.S. cultures in particular share ideas, feelings and information. Pedagogical methods will be text, field experience, literacy models and analysis involving the self and others.
No prerequisites.
Meets General Education “Aesthetic and Philosophical Expression” Group B requirement.
COM3510 Corporate and Professional Communications 3 semester hours
Application of concepts of persuasion to creating informative and promotional copy for brochures, newsletters, grants, proposals, press releases, direct mail, and display advertising. Students develop presentation skills necessary for effective communication in corporate and professional settings. The course culminates in the presentation of a portfolio that covers work done in the course.
Prerequisite: ENG1020.
COM3540 Graphic Communication 3 semester hours
An introduction to typography and layout, as well as the technologies and techniques of interactive multimedia production. Students will use computer technology to create effective informational and promotional materials.
Prerequisite: ENG1020.
COM/ART3600 Media Technology for Instructional/
Corporate Settings 3 semester hours
Cross-listed with ART3600. For description see ART3600.
COM3610 Video Production I 3 semester hours
This is a field shoot, computer edit-based class. Students, working in pairs, pre-produce and shoot either a documentary or narrative based project to be edited on a personal computer MiniDV system. A useful course for anybody, especially educators, many of whom will be expected to be conversant with the basics of camcorders and computer editing when they teach in schools later in their careers.
No prerequisites.
COM3620 Video Production II 3 semester hours
This is an advanced field shoot, edit-based class. Students will work in “crews” of four working on each other’s documentary or narrative based projects. This class will delve much further into areas such as lighting, staging and scripting.
Prerequisite: COM3610.
COM3800 Popular Culture 3 semester hours
Students critically analyze aspects of popular culture such as magazines, television genres, sports, fashion, music, and subcultural styles. The course stresses the need to scrutinize the constant struggle between the economics of the culture industries on the one hand and the desires and behavior of audiences on the other. Students will be introduced to the rudiments of discursive theory and asked to apply those understandings in a paper dealing with a chosen area of popular culture.
No prerequisites.
COM3840 Advanced Topics in Video Production 3 semester hours
This is a periodic advanced field shoot, edit-based class. Students will work in “crews” of four working on each other’s collaborative projects of choice. Class will stress cross-departmental collaboration and production of shows for festival or cable access viewing.
Prerequisite: COM3620.
COM3810 Special Topics in Media Studies or
Professional Practice 3 semester hours
Periodic course reflecting faculty research interests.
Prerequisites: will vary with special topic.
COM4000 Critical and Theoretical Perspectives in
Communication 3 semester hours
Critically examines ethical, cultural, political, legal and economic perspectives in a variety of communication contexts. Emphasizes study of human and mass-mediated communication from theoretical vantage points such as: rhetorical criticism, cultural studies, semiotics, and content analysis. Students will apply basic principles of quantitative and qualitative research
No prerequisites.
Meets General Education “Aesthetic and Philosophical Expression” Group A requirement.
COM4990 Senior Seminar in Communication 3 semester hours
This capstone course is required of all communication majors in their senior year. Students will complete individual term projects that will demonstrate their ability to integrate theoretical and practical aspects of their chosen area of communication. Seminar will center on project development and student-led discussions of the issues and research indicative of their selected communication areas.
Prerequisite: Major or minor in communication.
Please Note: The information listed on this page is current according to the 2006-2008 Undergraduate Catalog, unless otherwise noted.
‡ This information has been added since the printing of the 06-08 Undergraduate Catalog.
§ The name of this course has been changed since the printing of the 06-08 Undergraduate Catalog.
±This information is additional information specific to the Web site, not provided in the Undergraduate Catalog.
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