Communication Studies Department

Steve Schwarze, Chair

Communication Studies engages in both social-scientific and humanistic approaches to the analysis, understanding and improvement of human communication. The discipline traces its roots to ancient Greek and Roman studies of the functions of public discourse in society, but in the twentieth century communication came to embrace the studies of interpersonal and small group interaction, human relations in organizations, media and society, and intercultural interaction. Although interdisciplinary in spirit, the discipline has a core of knowledge, theory, and concepts concentrating on such things as symbols, messages, interactions, networks, audiences, and persuasive campaigns. Uniting the field is the belief that the role of communication in human experience is basic to comprehending complex situations and problems in the modern world. The discipline has roles in both the broad traditions of liberal arts education and in the development and refinement of practical skills.

The Department of Communication Studies at the University of Montana-Missoula focuses on three broad areas of study: interpersonal interaction and human relationships, organizational communication, and rhetoric and public discourse. The knowledge and skills the student may acquire in each of these areas are important to functioning effectively in one's personal life, at work, and as a citizen of the larger society in a rapidly changing world.

The program in Communication Studies helps to prepare students for such diverse professions as: public relations officer, marketing analyst, human resources or personnel manager, community mediator, political speech writer, health communication trainer, social services director, or student services coordinator. Also, undergraduate and graduate study can assist the student in pursuing advanced studies for law, the ministry, and higher education.

Undergraduate Degrees Available

Subject Type Option Track
Communication Studies Bachelor of Arts Comm & Human Relationships
Communication Studies Bachelor of Arts Organizational Communication
Communication Studies Bachelor of Arts Rhetoric and Public Discourse
Communication Studies Minor

Department Faculty

Professor

  • Betsy Wackernagel Bach, Professor
  • Sara Hayden, Professor
  • Gregory Larson, Professor
  • Steve Schwarze, Professor & Department Chair
  • Alan Sillars, Professor
  • Stephen Yoshimura, Professor

Associate Professors

  • Joel Iverson, Associate Professor
  • Christina Yoshimura, Associate Professor of Communication Sutides (M.A., Ph.D.) and Mental Health Counselor (M.A.)

Adjunct Instructor

  • Lucy Beighle, Adjunct instructor
  • Phyllis Ngai, Adjunct Associate Professor

Lecturer

  • David Airne, Director of Debate

Course Descriptions

Communication

  • COMX 111A - Intro to Public Speaking

    Credits: 3. 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.
    Course Attributes:
    • Expressive Arts Course

  • COMX 115S - Introduction to Interpersonal Communications

    Credits: 3. 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.
    Course Attributes:
    • Social Sciences Course

  • COMX 191S - Special Topics

    Credits: 1 TO 9. (R-9) Offered intermittently. Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one-time offerings of current topics.
    Course Attributes:
    • Internships/Practicums
    • Social Sciences Course

  • COMX 202S - Nonverbal Communication

    Credits: 3. Offered yearly. Nonverbal code systems and how they function in human communication including gestures, facial expressions, personal space, and others.
    Course Attributes:
    • Social Sciences Course

  • COMX 204X - International & Dvlpmnt Comm

    Credits: 3. 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.
    Course Attributes:
    • Indigenous and Global

  • COMX 210 - Communication in Small Groups

    Credits: 3. 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.

  • COMX 220S - Intro to Organizational Comm

    Credits: 3. 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.
    Course Attributes:
    • Social Sciences Course

  • COMX 222 - Professional Communication

    Credits: 3. 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. 

  • COMX 240H - Intro to Rhetorical Theory

    Credits: 3. 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.
    Course Attributes:
    • Historical & Cultural Course

  • COMX 241 - Persuasive Communication

    Credits: 3. Offered yearly. The use of communication in attitude and behavior change as experienced in personal, organizational, and public contexts.

  • COMX 242 - Argumentation

    Credits: 3. 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.

  • COMX 311 - Family Communication

    Credits: 3. Offered yearly. Not open to PCOM. An examination of communication in marriage/romantic partnership, parent-child, and extended family relationships. Topics include intimacy, power, decision-making, problem solving, identity formation, and interpersonal perception.

  • COMX 312 - Forensics/Honors

    Credits: 1 TO 3. (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.

  • COMX 343 - Persuasive Speaking and Critic

    Credits: 3. 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.

  • COMX 347 - Rhetoric Nature & Environmtlsm

    Credits: 3. 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.
    Course Attributes:
    • Writing Course-Advanced

  • COMX 349 - Comm Consump & Climate

    Credits: 3. Offered every other year. Same as CCS 349. Not open to PCOM majors. Analyzes consumption as a communication practice, investigates discourses that promote consumption, and illuminates environmental impacts on consumption.

  • COMX 351 - Principles of Public Relations

    Credits: 3. 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.

  • COMX 352 - Public Relations Portfolio

    Credits: 3. 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.

  • COMX 380 - Gender and Communication

    Credits: 3. 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.

  • COMX 391 - Special Topics

    Credits: 1 TO 9. (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.

  • COMX 398 - Internship

    Credits: 1 TO 6. (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.
    Course Attributes:
    • Internships/Practicums
    • Internship graduation limit 6

  • COMX 412 - Communication and Conflict

    Credits: 3. 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.

  • COMX 413 - Comm & Conflict-Writing

    Credits: 3. 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.
    Course Attributes:
    • Writing Course-Advanced

  • COMX 414 - Comm in Personal Relationshps

    Credits: 3. 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.
    Course Attributes:
    • Writing Course-Advanced

  • COMX 415 - Intercultural Communication

    Credits: 3. 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.

  • COMX 421 - Comm in Non-Profit Organizatns

    Credits: 3. 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.
    Course Attributes:
    • Writing Course-Advanced

  • COMX 422 - Communication and Technology

    Credits: 3. 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.
    Course Attributes:
    • Writing Course-Advanced

  • COMX 423 - Org Comm Consult & Train

    Credits: 3. 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.

  • COMX 424 - Risk Crisis & Comm

    Credits: 3. 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.
    Course Attributes:
    • Writing Course-Advanced

  • COMX 425 - Comm in Health Organizations

    Credits: 3. 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.

  • COMX 445 - Rhetorical Criticism and Theor

    Credits: 3. 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.
    Course Attributes:
    • Writing Course-Advanced

  • COMX 447 - Rhetorical Constrctn of Woman

    Credits: 3. 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.
    Course Attributes:
    • Writing Course-Advanced

  • COMX 449 - Rhetoric of Women's Activism

    Credits: 3. 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.
    Course Attributes:
    • Writing Course-Advanced

  • COMX 460 - Research Methods

    Credits: 3. 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.

  • COMX 461 - Communication Research Seminar

    Credits: 1 TO 3. (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.

  • COMX 485 - Communication and Health

    Credits: 3. Offered yearly. Not open to PCOM. Theory and research on the health correlates of human interaction.

  • COMX 491 - Special Topics

    Credits: 1 TO 3. (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.

  • COMX 492 - Independent Study

    Credits: 1 TO 9. (R-9) Offered every term. Prerequisite, consent of instructor. Offered C/NCR only.

  • COMX 510 - Sem Personal Relationships

    Credits: 3. (R-6) Offered yearly. Examines theory and research on the process and functions of communication in personal relationship contexts. Interdisciplinary readings illuminates the dynamics of communication in the development, maintenance, and deterioration of romantic relationships, friendships, and family relationships. Discussion and assignments center around theoretical, methodological, and practical issues in research on communicative activities and events in personal relationships. Level: Graduate

  • COMX 511 - Survey Interpersonal Comm

    Credits: 3. Offered every other year. Survey of theories and research in interpersonal communication including definitions of interpersonal communication, its place in the field of communication, and methodological issues. Overall emphasis on foundational readings and recent research developments. Level: Graduate

  • COMX 512 - Sem Comm Conflict

    Credits: 3. (R-6) Offered intermittently. A review and discussion of current research regarding conflict in different levels and contexts of communication. Level: Graduate

  • COMX 514 - Alt Dispute Resolution

    Credits: 3. Offered yearly. Same as LAW 614. A study of the varieties of dispute resolution vehicles outside the court process. Focus on a 40-hour component of practical skills training for the mediation practitioner. Topics include the mediation model, interest-based negotiation and effective communication. Level: Graduate

  • COMX 515 - Enviro Negotiation Mediation

    Credits: 3. Same as NRSM 515 and ENST 515. This course prepares students to effectively engage in multiparty negotiation on natural resource and environmental issues. It is grounded in theory and provides an opportunity to develop practical skills in both negotiation and facilitation/mediation. Guest speakers, case studies, and simulations allow students to develop, test, and refine best practices. The course is face-paced, highly interactive, and serves as the second of three required courses in the Natural Resources Conflict Resolution Program. Level: Graduate

  • COMX 520 - Sem in Organiz Communication

    Credits: 3. (R-6) Offered every other year. Introduction to theories and research in organizational communication. Topics include culture, networks, structure, technology, identity, power, resistance, gender, and globalization. Overall emphasis on foundational readings and recent research developments. Level: Graduate

  • COMX 540 - Sem Instructional Comm

    Credits: 3. Offered every other year. Instruction in the theories, concepts, principles, and skills employed university level classroom communication and instruction. Level: Graduate

  • COMX 541 - COMM Teaching Methods

    Credits: 2. (R-8) Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., consent of instr. Restricted to Communication majors only. Offered C/NCR only. Level: Graduate

  • COMX 555 - Sem Rhet Crit & Theory

    Credits: 3. Offered annually. Introduction to contemporary issues in rhetorical criticism and theory.  Methods reviewed include classical criticism, dramatism, close textual analysis, ideographic criticism, narrative criticism, feminist criticism, and postmodern criticism. Level: Graduate

  • COMX 561 - Qual Research Methods

    Credits: 3. Offered every year. An emphasis on the philosophy and practice of qualitative inquiry, the development and use of descriptive frameworks, and gathering and testing qualitative data to develop human communication theory. Level: Graduate

  • COMX 572 - Family Law Mediation

    Credits: 3. Offered autumn. Same as LAW 672. Interdisciplinary course on advanced mediation skills with a focus on family mediation including divorce and other types of family problems. Psychological issues for both children and parents, power balancing, gender issues and interest-based negotiation model. Level: Graduate

  • COMX 575 - Sem:Rhet&Env'l Controversy

    Credits: 3. Offered every other year. Same as ENST 575. The study of how advocates use symbols to influence meaning and action in environmental controversies. Rhetorical theory is used to identify, analyze, and evaluate persuasive strategies and tactics. Level: Graduate

  • COMX 585 - Comm Across Sciences

    Credits: 3. Offered yearly. Focus on communication practices that facilitate interdisciplinary interactions across the sciences and result in more competent communication. Offered only to graduate student trainees enrolled in the M-EID program. Level: Graduate

  • COMX 591 - Special Topics

    Credits: 1 TO 9. (R-9) Offered intermittently. Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one-time offerings of current topics. Level: Graduate

  • COMX 593 - Professional Paper

    Credits: 1 TO 3. (R-6) Offered every term. Prereq., consent of instr. Preparation of a professional paper appropriate to the needs and objectives of the individual student. Level: Graduate
    Course Attributes:
    • Faculty-Led Study Abroad

  • COMX 594 - Topical Seminar

    Credits: 1 TO 2. (R-6) Offered intermittently. Prereq., consent of instr. A review and discussion of current research. Topics vary. Level: Graduate

  • COMX 595 - Special Topics

    Credits: 1 TO 9. (R-9) Offered intermittently. Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one-time offerings of current topics. Level: Graduate
    Course Attributes:
    • Internships/Practicums

  • COMX 596 - Independent Study

    Credits: 1 TO 9. (R-9) Offered every term. Prereq., consent of instr. Course material appropriate to the needs and objectives of the individual student. Level: Graduate
    Course Attributes:
    • Service Learning/Volunteer

  • COMX 599 - Thesis

    Credits: 1 TO 9. (R-9) Offered every term. Prereq., consent of instr. Preparation of a thesis or manuscript based on research for presentation and/or publication. Level: Graduate