SC&I Courses

Topic to be determined each semester

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

Corporate Social Responsibility 
Focuses on communication in the business-society relationship and the practice of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The seminar examines the communication, information, and media issues emerging along with global transformations in the relationship among business, society, and government.

Conflict and Collaboration
This course examines the role of communication in conflict and collaboration. The course focuses on theories and methods for describing, assessing, and diagnosing complex situations to understand the nature of conflict and the possibilities for collaboration among groups, organizations, and communities.

Communication and Civil Society Organizations
This course provides a critical examination of the particular communication problems encountered by the nonprofit organization. Among the topics that are explored: Superior subordinate relationships in volunteer-based organizations, interactions with special stakeholders (e.g., volunteer boards, funding agencies, community groups, under-served client populations), inter-organizational coordination efforts within communities of nonprofits, image and representation of nonprofit organizations, formal and informal structure within non-profits, and planned change implementation in the context of multiple stakeholder relationships.

Communication and Organizational Change
This course will serve as a broad introduction to theories, perspectives, and empirical evidence related to organizational change and how communicative processes are involved in this phenomenon. We will examine traditional topics of organizational development, implementation, and stakeholders' responses to change programs. Embedded in those discussions will be exploration of issues of vision, leadership, channels used for communication, interaction among stakeholders, strategic messages for implementation, emotional aspects of change, and trust and fairness among others.

Organizational Communication Networks
This course is an introduction to the theory, concepts, procedures, methods, and analysis of social networks with an emphasis on theory and its applications in organizational communication. The goal of the course is to provide you foundational knowledge about communication networks and their implications for organizations. Students will develop a working knowledge of relevant social networks theories, concepts, and methods used to describe and understand relationships in and among organizations. The objective of this course is to help students understand and articulate network theory, its applications, and implications for audiences including researchers and practicing professionals.

Dynamics of Global Organizations
This course aims to provide deeper insight into the contested phenomenon of globalization and its implications for organizations and processes of organizing. Topics covered include globalization theory and theoretical perspectives, global management, culture and cross-cultural issues, the role of technology, global and virtual teams, outsourcing, network organizations, knowledge management, identification, and social justice. Students taking this course will gain awareness of the complexities of organizing across national boundaries and the role of communication in this process, as well as assessing the implications of globalization for today's organizations, including both corporations and non-profits, governmental and private.

Organizational Culture
This seminar is designed to expose students to the vast arena of literature on organizational culture and cultural approaches to studying organizations. Course readings and discussions cover dominant theoretical frameworks for studying culture in organizations and various approaches taken (interpretive, ethnographic, narrative, and social scientific), as well as current issues facing the field. The goal is for students to be conversant with the breadth of the literature as well as to be able to conduct original cultural or interpretive research in organizational settings.

This course gives students hands-on instruction in how to use digital media tools to produce interactive and media rich online stories. Students will learn key concepts and design principles in Web technologies & programming (e.g., XHTML, CSS, JavaScript), Video editing and Animation. Students will develop a website that presents a multi-part investigative story, using slideshows, videos and animations. Students will learn how to capture engaging photo & video footage to create an effective multimedia experience in post-production.

Students develop a professional e-portfolio that showcases: a resume; academic work, professional development courses, certifications and/or military service; social media and other digital assets; relevant audio/video material; professional, community, and school activities; and writing samples.

Students use emerging digital technology to develop and test innovations in journalism and media.  Emerging technologies are applied to journalism and media to create and test new storytelling formats, production techniques, media management strategies, and social media approaches.  Students consider how these innovations can engage citizens across time and space, provide much-needed context and customization to content, interactive entertainment, and new business models to support and sustain journalism and the media in a fragmented, and mobile, digital future.

This course examines the role of communication in society. Taught with a special topics focus in each semester, the course will examine the important impacts that communication processes, relationships, and messages have in society. Topics of focus include corporate social responsibility; community networks; community health campaigns; political communication; communication in civil society organizations among others.  (Offered every fall semester)

This course will serve as a broad introduction to theories, perspectives, and empirical evidence related to organizational communication in a wide range of organizations (e.g., non-profit, for-profit, governmental, communal) and in a variety of contexts (e.g., industry, educational, social services, advocacy). Students will learn about historical, current and future issues; changes and challenges facing organizations; and the communication-relevant aspects of these issues. They will gain practice in applying theoretical perspectives and concepts to actual organizational situations and settings.  

Communication plays a central role in organizations. It can enable organizational members to persuade, motivate, lead, mislead, collaborate, or resist, and it may enhance or undermine relationships. Communication is also central to processes of organizing, such as teamwork, decision-making, knowledge sharing, organizational culture, socialization of employees, the implementation of new technology, member loyalty and turnover, as well as to external stakeholders and interorganizational relationships. The purpose of this course is to augment your understanding of the relationship between communication and organizations (e.g., corporations, non-profit agencies, sports teams, political parties, universities, or volunteer groups). (Offered every spring semester)

(formerly Mediated Communication [pre-2024])

Drawing on existing theory and research, this course examines issues of usage, adoption, and performance of new and established communication technologies in the workplace and other contexts. The course also considers opportunities and challenges that mediated communication presents for both users of these tools and society more generally. The course will expose students to a range of new technologies used by people to coordinate, collaborate, and communication with one another.  (Offered every spring semester)

The MCM Graduate Experience course is a non-credit course that helps new MCM students get acclimated to the MCM Program and Graduate education. It will offer insights in what is expected in the program, writing at the graduate level, introduction to APA and an overview of research. It also helps in understanding what is expected of MCM students in the classroom, both on-campus and online.

This course is will introduce students to a set of social science research methods that are used in the communication discipline and in workplace and organizational contexts. At the end of this course, students should have a basic understanding of several general research methods used by communication scholars and have gained an appreciation for the ethical considerations in conducting human subjects research. Students will gain knowledge and practice of collection methods such as questionnaires, experiments, structured interviews, focus groups, structured observations, and content analysis.  (Offered every fall semester)