Course Listing

Course Listing COM 101: Public Speaking

3 credit hours; Professional Readiness (PR) credit The ability to compose and deliver an effective speech to an audience will enable you to succeed personally and professionally. In this course, you will learn how to overcome the nervousness or “stage fright” that everyone experiences when asked to speak in public. You’ll also develop your analytical thinking by learning how to analyze an audience and write a speech for that audience using effective informational and persuasive strategies. Finally, you will practice effective verbal and non-verbal techniques that will help you comfortably deliver the message in any situation. Offered fall and spring.

COM 105, 106, 205, 206, 305, 306, 405, 406: The Peace Times

1 credit hour Co-requisite or prerequisite: COM 230 or permission of instructor Put your growing communication skills into practice, have your work published, add to your portfolio, and have an impact on the University community – that’s what this course is all about. Students organize themselves into a working staff that publishes regular issues of the student newspaper, The Peace Times. There’s a lot to do, and staff members do it. Offered fall and spring.

COM 108: Full Frame Documentary Film Festival

1 credit hour Students attend three days of documentary film showings at the annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival and reflect on the stories and experience. Offered spring.

COM 200: Media and Culture

3 credit hours; CTC credit This is the big picture, a broad overview of the many media that make up “the media.” The subject matter is as familiar as our car radio and as fresh as last night’s Web surfing. Examining the Internet, magazines, Hollywood moviemaking and lots of other industries, the course is aimed at consumers and potential practitioners of the media. Various perspectives, including historical, cultural, legal, and economic, are explored. Offered fall and spring.

COM 220: Design and Typography I

3 credit hours This course introduces you to the basic elements of design and the fundamental principles of visual composition. We’ll cover electronic typesetting and page layout using software specific to the graphic design industry in a Mac-based environment. You will learn a wide range of techniques and materials for design making and develop fundamental skills in design processes. Offered fall and spring.

COM 230: Media Writing

3 credit hours; CTC credit Good writing is fundamental to any communication enterprise, as it is for almost any undertaking in our information society. In this course, you will learn to recognize and apply different kinds of media writing, from print journalism to broadcast journalism to public relations. Also emphasized are key concepts such as accuracy, objectivity, and attribution. Offered fall and spring.

COM 240: Introduction to Public Relations

3 credit hours; CTC credit Public Relations are a broad subfield in communication and touches every industry. This introductory course gives you an overview of the field of PR, including history, theory, and principles. We’ll also explore how PR fits in as an important function in all organizations. Offered fall.

COM 270: Digital Media Convergence

3 credit hours Technology has transformed traditional mass media. In this course, we help prepare you for working in a converged media environment. You’ll create multi-media content to produce effective media for streaming video on websites and for your own digital portfolio. Offered fall and spring.

COM 300: Communication Research

3 credit hours Prerequisite/Co-requisite: MAT 201 Much of our research in the communication field centers on understanding the audience. Who are they and how do we reach them? During this course, you’ll learn the basics of conducting applied communication research, including why we do it and how research helps us. You will collect data and learn how to analyze and present your findings. Offered fall.

COM 311: Interactive and Social Media

3-4 credit hours Prerequisite: COM 230 or ENG 112 and COM 200 Online, interactive and social media is a dominant force in the mass media landscape. In this course, students will learn how to write and report for the Web and social media, as well as how to use sites like Twitter and Facebook for marketing. You will become a local expert in a subject and an owner and regular contributor to a blog and social media accounts. Offered fall and spring.

COM 317: Design and Typography II

3 credit hours Prerequisite: COM 220 Typography communicates a message. In this course, you’ll learn about the issues of contemporary and traditional typographic principles and practices. This includes issues of hierarchy, typographic formats, specifications/organization of space, working with type and type/image relationships in constructing messages, and the use of technology in typographic design. Special emphasis will be placed on developing your analytical, technical, visual, and creative thinking skills. Offered spring.

COM 329: Imaging

3 credit hours Prerequisite: COM 220 In this course, you’ll explore a wide range of techniques and stylistic approaches to illustration and image making for graphic design. Emphasis will be placed on conceptual thinking and distinctive personal solutions through a series of projects that use collage, digital photography, and computer illustration. Offered spring.

COM 340: Public Relations Techniques

3 credit hours Prerequisite: COM 240 In this course, you’ll work with a range of tools public relations practitioners use in their day-to-day activities to create materials for print, broadcast and social media. You’ll gain project management tools to help you plan special events, prepare your organization for crisis, and track ongoing issues or trends. Offered spring.

COM 390: Multimedia Editing

3 credit hours Prerequisite: COM 270 In this class, we will learn how to assemble all of the video, stills, graphics, special effects, transitions, natural sounds, and music into a media production extraordinaire. We use the industry-leading editing software to

create effective storytelling and compress the finished product for the big screen, internet, or mobile delivery. Offered fall.

COM 410: International Communication

3 credit hours Prerequisite: Junior or senior status The rapid spread of communication technologies has paved the way for globalization, a modern-day phenomenon that sparks geopolitical wrangling and radical activism. Does international communication foster freedom and cross-cultural understanding or does it promote a new kind of imperialism through which developed nations exploit the Third World? These and other timely issues, such as mass media’s role in spurring national development, are addressed in this research course.

COM 417: Advanced Graphic Design Studio

3 credit hours Prerequisite: COM 317 The goal of this course is to help you develop your graphic design skills. We apply communication principles to solve problems through basic principles of typography, color theory, and visual composition. Some projects will be taken from concept to actual production as we work with clients from the campus and local communities to diagnose and solve real-world communications problems. Offered spring.

COM 420: Motion for the Screen

3 credit hours Prerequisites: COM 329 or COM 390 Although designers still communicate messages by integrating form, image, color, and type, the basic media of visual communication are changing. Designing for these new media requires new design strategies, as well as new technologies. In this course, you’ll begin to incorporate motion, interactivity, and digital video along with traditional typography and image making. Offered spring.

COM 465: Strategic Communication Campaigns

3 credit hours Prerequisite: COM 340 This course will give you the opportunity to do professional client work with organizations in the community. This capstone course combines a collaborative learning model with service learning, allowing you to work with a small team to address a communication-related problem or opportunity. You’ll see your efforts and ideas make a difference. Offered spring.

COM 475: Creating the Documentary

3 credit hours Prerequisite: COM 270 and junior or senior status The course is designed to give upper-level Communication students an opportunity to produce a quality, non-fiction documentary. The course expands on the production skills covered in Digital Media Convergence and Multimedia Editing, providing more in-depth analysis and experience with the storytelling process. You’ll create a documentary on a subject relating to social and/or cultural issues of the community. Offered spring.

COM 480: Communication Agency

3 credit hours Prerequisite: Senior standing or permission of instructor

Through this course, you’ll have the opportunity to apply everything you’ve learned so far in your communication coursework while preparing for the transition into the professional environment or graduate school. This course serves as the senior seminar for the major. Offered Spring.

COM 295/395/495: Special Topics

1-4 credit hours A course whose content may vary from term to term according to the needs of the academic department, student demand or the interests of the faculty member.

COM 392/492: Directed Study

1-4 credit hours Prerequisite: Junior or senior status A course of study addressing a specific topic or problem of interest to a student, designed collaboratively by the student and faculty member(s), and resulting in a paper, report, critiqued performance or production, or other assessable evidence of value added to the student’s educational experience. A contract of expectations by the student and by the supervising faculty member(s) must be approved by the advisor, Department Chair, and the Vice President for Academic Affairs prior to registration. No more than six (6) semester hours toward the baccalaureate degree can consist of directed study credit.