SC&I Courses

(Below are some topics courses that have been offered in the last few years)

Work and Technology
This class examines key issues at the intersection of communication technology use and organizational worksites, including privacy/surveillance, collaboration, virtual work, and work-life balance. Special emphasis is given to organizational and technology policies in these areas.

Understanding, Designing, and Building Social Media
Now offered as 17:610:587

This course will introduce students to quantitative, qualitative, and interpretive methods for doing research on digital media (online media, mobile media, and social media) and ethical ways of employing those methods. Students will learn about how to apply quantitative, qualitative, and interpretive methods to studies of digital media creation, content, and use, and students will also learn about how digital media companies use research and analytics. At the end of this course, students should have a basic understanding of several general research methods used by digital media scholars and have gained an appreciation for the ethical considerations in conducting human subjects research.

International public relations is practiced by all types of private, public, nonprofit, activist, non-governmental organizations and institutions.

This graduate course includes content and discussions on global issues affecting the public relations profession, the PR professional and the engagement of stakeholders at the home, host, and transnational levels.

This course will survey how global public relations strategies are developed and implemented to support advocacy efforts, emphasizing successful case studies and failures. For instance, the course includes an evaluation of the various factors that determine the profession’s evolution and practice in different countries.

Also, this graduate course aims to introduce and analyze the main concerns affecting the management of the public relations function, such as transnational crises; coordination and control mechanisms trends; practitioners’ roles, responsibilities, and competencies in a global context

Leaders are often in the position of bringing about change. In the study of organizations and leadership, change is a critical topic. Change does not happen naturally in most organizations, it is a leader-led process. This course takes two perspectives. The first is that organizations are made up of processes. Every day, these processes run and regenerate themselves. Examining them for ways to improve can lead to redesign and ultimately gains in cost saving, customer satisfaction, and improved morale. The second perspective is that a metaphorical force field called culture organizes and shapes organizations. We breathe the air of culture in our work lives each day. Analyzing culture enables us to consider its impact on organizational effectiveness and ability to reach goals.

The course will weave together these four critical elements in change – organizational culture, leadership, communication and internal processes.

This class is designed to give an overview of the major fields of study in the area of health communication. This includes the areas of health communication campaigns, multicultural health communication, physician-patient communication, and communication among health professionals. The ultimate goal of health communication is to increase health and satisfaction by encouraging healthier behaviors, medical compliance, and more efficient communication of medical information.

(Below are some sample topics courses that have been offered in the past few years)

Health Campaigns
This graduate-level course provides an overview of theory and research concerning the role of communication campaigns in health promotion efforts. Whereas "traditional" approaches to the study and application of public health communication campaigns focus almost exclusively on the design of persuasive messages and the use of effective channels, the approach taken in this course is more firmly grounded in the concept and principles of social marketing. By blending theory and practice, this course affords students an opportunity to experience first-hand the process of designing, implementing,and evaluating public health communication campaigns.

Interpersonal Health Communication
This course focuses specifically on the role of interpersonal and dyadic interaction in health settings. In this course, you will 1) gain an understanding of theories used in the field of health communication; 2) learn to analyze health communication research; 3) better understand programs of research in health communication.

E-Public Health
e-Public Health encompasses the use of web-based health communication in the promotion of health and prevention of disease at the individual, community, or population levels. This course provides a theoretical and methodological  foundation in the survey of communication processes and the strategic use of communication in the planning, design, implementation and evaluation of web-based public health information, resources, and interventions, or e-Public Health.

This course considers the intersections of science, media, and society. With a focus on both theory and practice, we will explore the media’s role in how we understand and communicate about the most critical science issues of our day. Course topics include: public understanding of science; representations of science in journalism and popular culture; the media’s influence on public engagement with science; the strategic uses of media to communicate about science. Special emphasis will be given to understanding the media’s role in shaping perceptions of controversial science issues.

The course is divided into two major units. During the first part of the course, we will study the psychological, social, cultural, and political underpinnings of public opinion about science issues. In other words, we will try to understand, through the lens of various social scientific theories, why people believe what they do about issues such as climate change, and vaccine safety; why their beliefs sometimes conflict with the best available scientific evidence on the topic; and why these beliefs can be so difficult to change. During the second part of the course, we will survey the science media landscape, and use the theories and concepts covered in the first part of the course to evaluate the implications of media for public engagement with science. We will examine science journalism, online media, media campaigns and activism, and representations of science in entertainment and popular culture.

In this class, small group interaction is examined in depth, including observation, interpersonal activity, group systems, conflict resolution, and listening.  The focus is on practical, business, and organizational group activities in real-world situations to prepare students to understand, effectively participate in, and control group dynamics.

Readings, lecture, discussions, case study and small group exercises will be utilized to master conceptual material necessary for leadership excellence.  The goal of this course is to help the student improve their teaming and communication skills, as effective team membership becomes an even more critical professional and career competency.

This course provides an overview of theory and research related to the role of the media in promoting public health efforts and advances. The course reviews theories of health behavior change and message effects, and discusses applications of these theories to media-based health initiatives. Through the course, the students will examine the interplay among theory, research and practice and further discuss how theory informs practice and how research aids in theory construction and refinement.

This course considers the design, implementation, and evaluation of public health communication programs that aim to influence the health-related behaviors of individuals, groups, and communities. The first part of the course reviews the theoretical foundations of public health communication campaigns, including key theories of health behavior change and communication theories that augment them. The second part introduces students to key planning and design considerations of successful public health communication campaigns. The third and final part of the course engages students with the versatile communication strategies and skills that health communication professionals employ routinely to influence people’s health-related decisions and behaviors.

By blending theory and practice, this course (a) provides a starting point for developing knowledge of health campaigns, (b) encourages thoughtful criticism of past campaigns based on solid theoretical ideas, and (c) equips students with creative problem-solving skills that can be applied to the design of actual campaigns. Through a series of individual and group assignments, students have an opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills they acquire in this class to the formulation, design, and evaluation of a communication campaign addressing a health problem of their choice.