Communication Studies Minor

Minor - Communication Studies (Minor)

College Humanities & Sciences

Catalog Year: 2014-2015

Degree Specific Credits: 20

Required Cumulative GPA: 2.0

Note: Once admitted to earn a minor, the student must complete a minimum of 20 credits in COMX courses, with at least 9 credits in courses numbered 300 and above.


Lower Division Core Courses

Rule: Must complete all of the following:

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description COMX 111A - Intro to Public Speaking
Offered every term. Preparation, presentation, and criticism of speeches. Emphasis on the development of public speaking techniques through constructive criticism. Credit not allowed for both COMM 111A and COM 160A.
3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 3 Total Credits Required

Electives

Rule: Must complete 17 credits from the following:

Note: A maximum of 6 credits in COMX 312 may count toward a minor in communication studies.

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description COMX 115S - Intro to Interpersonal Communc
Offered autumn and spring. An overview of the process of human communication with special emphasis on analyzing communication patterns and improving interpersonal communication skills. Credit not allowed for both COMM 110S and COM 150S.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 140L - Intro to Visual Rhetoric
Offered autumn and spring.  An introduction to the persuasive nature of visual symbols as texts. Readings will include historical to contemporary rhetorical criticisms on advertising, billboards, bodies, cartoons, memorials, and photography.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 191 - Special Topics
(R-9) Offered intermittently. Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one-time offerings of current topics.
1 To 9 Credits
Show Description COMX 192 - Independent Study
(R-6) Offered intermittently. Course material appropriate to the needs and objectives of the individual student.
1 To 6 Credits
Show Description COMX 202S - Nonverbal Communication
Offered yearly. Nonverbal code systems and how they function in human communication including gestures, facial expressions, personal space, and others.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 204X - International & Dvlpmnt Comm
Offered yearly. International Communication is concerned with information exchange across national borders while Development Communication focuses on the historical, current, and prospective role of communication technologies in social change, improving living conditions, and enhancing life prospects-mainly in developing countries.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 210 - Communication in Small Groups
Offered autumn and spring. Theory and research related to communication roles, collaboration, cohesion, leadership, and decision-making. Experiences provided in task oriented groups and field analyses of group processes.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 212X - Intro to Intercultural Com
Offered intermittently. This course provides students with an introduction to communicating across cultures. Local and global case studies and theories will be explored. Students will explore the influence of immediate communication and social media on large scale social issues.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 217A - Oral Interpretation of Lit
Offered spring. Introduction to orally presenting literature to an audience. Focus is on analyzing and performing prose, drama, poetry, and children’s literature to express point of view.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 219S - Survey of Children's Comm
Offered autumn. Focus on communication processes and contemporary communication environments of children and adolescents. Topics include language development and the brain, nonverbal communication development, media, contracting, bullying, and gender.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 220S - Intro to Organizational Comm
Offered yearly. Theory and research on communication in organizations. Focus on topics such as productivity, power, culture, socialization, technology and globalization covering a wide range of organizations including corporations, government, educational institutions, non-profit agencies and media organizations.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 222 - Professional Communication
Offered intermittently. Explores communication skills needed in business and professional contexts. Focus on developing a working knowledge of theory and skills for interpersonal communication, group communication, and business writing. Concepts include communication processes, diversity in the workplace, nonverbal communication, technical communication, communication with customers, and employment communication. 
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 240H - Intro to Rhetorical Theory
Offered yearly. An overview of rhetorical theory including an exploration of classical rhetoric, British and Continental rhetorical theory, and contemporary theories of language and persuasion.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 241 - Persuasive Communication
Offered yearly. The use of communication in attitude and behavior change as experienced in personal, organizational, and public contexts.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 242 - Argumentation
Offered autumn and spring on the Mountain campus, offered intermittently on the Missoula College campus. Development of argumentation skills and critical judgment in decision-making and debate. Includes criticism, construction, presentation, and refutation of spoken and written arguments.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 250 - Intro to Public Relations
Offered autumn and spring. Introduction to the origin, scope, and nature of public relations activities. Investigation of policies, strategies, and procedures available to an organization in establishing and controlling its communications. Course will explore the impact of public relations and media through case studies and writing exercises.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 291 - Special Topics
(R-6) Offered intermittently. Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one-time offerings of current topics.
1 To 6 Credits
Show Description COMX 292 - Independent Study
(R-6) Offered intermittently. Course material appropriate to the needs and objectives of the individual student.
1 To 6 Credits
Show Description COMX 311 - Family Communication
Offered yearly. Not open to PCOM. Prereq., COMX 115 or consent of instructor. An examination of communication in husband-wife, parent-child, and extended family relationships. Topics include intimacy, power, decision-making, problem solving, identity formation, and interpersonal perception.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 312 - Forensics/Honors
(R-12) Offered every term. Preparation and participation in competitive speech and debate, including Lincoln/Douglas and Parliamentary debate. The team travels to regional competitions and hosts on-campus and intramural debates and speaking events. Up to 6 credits may apply toward a major or minor in communication studies.
1 To 3 Credits
Show Description COMX 343 - Persuasive Speaking and Critic
Offered yearly. Prereq., COMM 111A or consent of instructor. Not open to PCOM. The persuasive process through the criticism and creation of speeches and other rhetorical artifacts emphasizing the role persuasion plays in creating and shaping our culture.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 347 - Rhetoric Nature & Environmtlsm
Offered every other year. Same as ENST 377. Not open to PCOM. Survey of rhetorical texts that shape public understanding of nature and environmental issues. Analysis of a range of historical and contemporary environmental texts using theoretical concepts from the rhetorical tradition.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 349 - Comm Consump & Climate
Offered every other year. Same as CCS 379. Not open to PCOM. Analyzes consumption as a communication practice, investigates discourses that promote consumption, and illuminates environmental impacts on consumption.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 351 - Principles of Public Relations
Offered yearly. Not open to PCOM. The many uses of communication in the endeavor of public relations. Communication theories and models including interpersonal communication, organizational communication, and mass communication are applied to explore the internal and external communication behavior associated with public relations.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 352 - Public Relations Portfolio
Offered yearly. Not open to PCOM. Writing documents such as press releases, fact sheets, brochures and speeches to create relationships between organizations and their publics.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 380 - Gender and Communication
Offered yearly. Not open to PCOM. The meaning of gender in our culture. Examines how gender is displayed and perpetuated through social institutions such as the media and through our private and public verbal and nonverbal interactions.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 391 - Special Topics
(R-9) Offered intermittently. Not open to PCOM. Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one-time offerings of current topics.
1 To 9 Credits
Show Description COMX 398 - Internship
(R-6) Offered autumn and spring. Not open to PCOM. Prerequisite, consent of instructor. Extended classroom experience that provides practical application of classroom learning during placements off campus. Prior approval must be obtained from the faculty supervisor and the Internship Services office. A maximum of 6 credits of Internship (398, 498) may count toward graduation. Offered C/NCR only.
1 To 6 Credits
Show Description COMX 412 - Communication and Conflict
Offered autumn and spring. Not open to PCOM. Conceptual and practical discussions of communication and conflict in interpersonal relationships, organizational settings and overall cultural milieu. Topics include culture, power, styles, negotiation and bargaining, mediation, dissent, dispute systems, and crisis communication. Credit is not allowed for both COMM 413 and COMM 412.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 413 - Comm & Conflict-Writing
Offered yearly. Not open to PCOM. Conceptual and practical discussions of communication and conflict in interpersonal relationships, organizational settings and overall cultural milieu. Fulfills Upper-Division Writing requirement for Communication Studies majors. Credit is not allowed for both COMX 413 and COMX 412.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 414 - Comm in Personal Relationshps
Offered yearly. Prerequisite, COMX 115S or consent of instructor. Not open to PCOM. An examination of the functions, types, and historical context of close personal relationships with an in-depth study of the role of communication in friendships and romantic relationships.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 415 - Intercultural Communication
Offered autumn and spring. Not open to PCOM. Communication principles and processes in cross-cultural environments. Non-Western cultures are emphasized by contrasting them to Western communication norms.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 421 - Comm in Non-Profit Organizatns
Offered yearly. Not open to PCOM. Focuses on issues in nonprofit organizational communication at macro and micro levels. Topics include: organizational identity, change processes, public relations, fund-raising, advocacy, socialization, stress and burnout, board management and professionalization.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 422 - Communication and Technology
Offered every other year. Not open to PCOM. This course takes a critical look at the influence of communication technologies on organizational communication. Students will examine how the world of work is changing due to new technologies and explore the social and ethical implications of technical innovation, adoption and use.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 423 - Org Comm Consult
Offered every year. Prerequisite, COMX 220S or consent of instructor. Not open to PCOM. Emphasis on the theoretical and practical issues involved in communication training and consultation. Overview of theoretical models followed by the "nuts and bolts" of communication training, development, and assessment. Students will carry out a training or consultation project (e.g., planning, execution, and evaluation) to sharpen the issues explored.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 424 - Risk Crisis & Comm
Offered every other year. Not open to PCOM. This course explores the communicative dynamics that both prevent and cause organizational crisis. Through case studies, the class examines how people plan, communicate and make good decisions in high-risk situations, as well as how to manage crisis public relations effectively.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 425 - Comm in Health Organizations
Offered every other year. Not open to PCOM. This course explores the key issues at the intersection of health communication and organizational communication by considering communication processes that occur in a number of distinct contexts of health organizations. Through case studies and health campaigns students explore contemporary concerns and theory in the area of health communication.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 445 - Rhetorical Criticism and Theor
Offered yearly. Not open to PCOM. Introduction to study of rhetorical criticism and theory. Current theoretical and methodological issues and approaches including traditional criticism, experiential criticism, dramatism, narrative criticism, feminist criticism, postmodern criticism.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 447 - Rhetorical Constrctn of Woman
Offered every other year. Not open to PCOM. Explores the rhetoric surrounding contemporary women's social "activism" in the U.S. Topics include women's rights, women's liberation, consciousness raising as a rhetorical form, reproductive rights, sexuality, and intersections between gender, race, and class.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 449 - Rhetoric of Women's Activism
Offered every other year. Not open to PCOM. Explores the rhetoric surrounding contemporary women's social "activism" in the U.S. Topics include women's rights, women's liberation, consciousness raising as a rhetorical form, reproductive rights, sexuality, and intersections between gender, race, and class.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 460 - Research Methods
Offered autumn and spring. Open only to majors in COMM. Prereq. grade of C- or better in EDU 421 or EDLD 486 or PSYX 222 or SOCI 202 or STAT 216. Introduction to the major types of communication research and the foundations of quantitative research methods.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 461 - Communication Research Seminar
(R-9) Offered autumn and spring. coreq., COMX 460. Application of quantitative and qualitative research methods to specialized contexts. Emphasis on direct student involvement in research activities.
1 To 3 Credits
Show Description COMX 485 - Communication and Health
Offered yearly. Not open to PCOM. Theory and research on the health correlates of human interaction.
3 Credits
Show Description COMX 491 - Special Topics
(R-9) Offered intermittently. Not open to PCOM. Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one-time offerings of current topics.
1 To 3 Credits
Show Description COMX 492 - Independent Study
(R-9) Offered every term. Prerequisite, consent of instructor. Offered C/NCR only.
1 To 9 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 17 Total Credits Required