COM 200 is an introduction to theories about the process of communication, including verbal and nonverbal communication, messages, and the contexts of relational, group, organizational, public, intercultural, and mass communication.
Reading will come from two textbooks:
Infante, D. A., Rancer, A. S., & Womack, D. F. (1993). Building
communication theory (2nd ed.). Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland.
(Hereafter referred to as "I")
Griffin, E. (1994). A first look at communication theory
(2nd Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
(Hereafter referred to as "G")
and the following readings on reserve at the library:
some chapters from Farb. P. (1973). Word play. New York:
Knopf.
a chapter on Greene's action-assembly theory from the first edition
of Griffin's book.
a transcript called the B-K conversation, from Craig, R. T., &
Tracy, K. (Eds.). (1983). Conversational coherence. Beverly
Hills: Sage.
an excerpt from Schein, E. H. (1970). Organizational psychology
(2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
two chapters from Hall, E. T. (1976). Beyond culture. New
York: Doubleday.
Course requirements consist of the following:
1 - Two in-class essay exams, each worth 20 points. The first
will be on October 24, the second during finals week.
2 - Three 3 to 4 page papers, each worth 10 points. The first
is due October 15 at the latest, the second November 19 at the
latest, and the third December 10.
3 - A group presentation, worth 15 points, on October 3.
4 - A group project, worth 15 points, due November 26.
Whereas many students seem to believe that they start with an A in a class and then work their way down if they "do something wrong," the reverse is true in Communication Department courses. Students begin with a zero and work their way up if they "do something right." The grading scale is as follows:
| A+ 98-100 | B+ 88-89 | C+ 78-79 | D+ 68-69 | F 0-59 |
| A 92-97 | B 82-87 | C 72-77 | D 62-67 | |
| A- 90-91 | B- 80-81 | C- 70-71 | D- 60-61 |
Opportunities for extra credit through participation in departmental
research may occur. If so, they will be announced in class.
There will be no other opportunities to acquire points in the
class.
Attendance for exams is mandatory except under the following circumstances:
1 - When I have excused you prior to the exam.
2 - Illness or family emergency substantiated in writing. In this
case I expect to be notified as soon as possible, and no later
than before the next class meeting.
Any unexcused or unsubstantiated absence will mean an automatic
zero on the examination.
| Sept 5 | What is theory? | I, chap 2 |
| Sept 10 | What is communication? | I, chap 1 |
| Sept 12 | Phonetics/semantics/syntactics | Farb, chaps 13,14; I,pp.220-221 |
| Sept 17 | Speech act theory | Farb, intro. & chaps 2,4: I, pp. 233-237 |
| Sept 19 | Conversational coherence | Farb, chap 5;I,pp.237-241 |
| Sept 24 | Group day |
| Sept 26 | Types | I, pp. 248-252, 259-279 |
| Oct 1 | Functions | I, pp. 252-259; G, chap 7 |
| Oct 3 | Group presentations |
Part 4 - Messages
| Oct 8 | Interactional approach | G, chap 15; I, pp. 89-93 |
| Oct 10 | Cognitive approach | I, pp. 229-231; Greene |
| Oct 15 | Reinforcement approach | G,chap 13,16;I,pp.296-306 |
| Oct 17 | Cognitive approach | G,chap 11,14;I,pp.288-296 |
| Oct 22 | Marriage and friendship | I, p. 459; G, chap 17 |
| Oct 24 | First exam |
| Oct 29 | Group process | G, chap 21; I, pp.342-343 |
| Oct 31 | Group decision making | I, pp. 333-335 |
| Nov 5 | Election day, vote early and often | |
| Nov 7 | Groupthink | G,chap 22; I,pp.335-339 |
| Nov 12 | Classical and human relations | Schein |
| Nov 14 | Human resources and contingency |
| Nov 19 | Classic views | G,chap 18-19;I,pp.192-197 |
| Nov 21 | Modern views | G, chap 20;I,pp.200-207 |
| Nov 26 | Cultural approaches | Hall,chap 6,7; I,pp.432-433;G, chap 35 |
| Nov 28 | Happy Turkey | |
| Dec 3 | A cognitive approach | G, chap 34; I, 435-439 |
| Gender differences | G, chaps 36, 37; | |
| Dec 5 | Learning approaches | I, pp. 225-22 |
| G,chap 29,31;I,pp.415-418 |
| Dec 10 | Cognitive approaches | G, chap 32; I, pp. 399-400, 403-412 |
| Dec ? | Third exam |
The following are a list of possible paper topics. Each paper
should be three to four pages long, and is worth 10 points. Ideally,
grades will be based only on the content of the papers. However,
it is important to proofread papers for mistakes in spelling and
grammar (spellcheck programs are not sufficient as they do not
catch homonyms). Therefore, I will take off 1/2 point for every
spelling error after the third, and 1/2 point for every grossly
nongrammatical sentence. If I find that there are consistent problems
with grammar, I will recommend a visit to the Writing Center,
and if these problems persist, I reserve the right to assign a
Communication Condition. I also take due dates seriously, and
will deduct 1 point for each class period the paper is late.
1 - Choose one of the three methods we use to organize conversation (local topical, global topical, and local functional). Do an analysis of the B-K conversation, based on examples where the two conversationalists make their utterances relevant using the method you have chosen.
2 - Go to a public setting and take notes about the nonverbal interaction that you see. Analyze what you observe based on the functions that nonverbal communication plays in interaction.
3 - Do an analysis of the dominance/submission patterns of the two conversationalists in the B-K conversation. Where is the conversation symmetrical and where is it complementary? Where it is complementary, which conversationalist dominates?
4 - Describe situations with friends in which the dialectics described by Rawlins were significant.
5 - Describe the interaction between a married couple you are familiar with according to Fitzpatrick's theory of marital types. Which type does that couple appear to be, and why?
6 - Describe a group decision-making discussion that you have participated in in which you believe groupthink occurred. Describe which causal factors were present, which symptoms you noticed, and the outcomes.
7 - Analyze an organizational experience you have had (paid job, volunteer, student organization, whatever) based on the claims of the classical, human relations, and human resources approaches. Which aspects of the experience are and are not consistent with each of the three approaches?
8 - Watch several television commercials. Describe their content, and analyze them according to elaboration likelihood theory.
9 - Analyze one or more situations in which you attempted to gain compliance from another person. How did you do so? Which of the two theories best accounts for the strategy you used?
10 - Use either Ting-Toomey's or Gudykunst's theories to analyze an interaction you have had with a person from another culture.
11 - Spend a night watching television. Describe the extent to
which what you saw was consistent with the basic themes that the
cultivation theorists claim underlie television content.
Recommendations for success in college:
1 - Unless you are sick or have some pressing responsibility,
always go to class. Getting someone else's notes can never replace
being there.
2 - When in class, become a secretary. Write down as much of the discussion/lecture as you can. Don't worry about how well they are organized.
3 - As soon after class as you can, rewrite your notes into an organized study guide. When doing so, combine the material from your notes with relevant material from readings. Note areas that are confusing to you, or where you may have missed something important. Also note areas in which there are discrepancies between notes and readings - these could be honest disagreements between different viewpoints or they could be errors.
4 - Try to get clarifications as soon as possible about confusing areas or discrepancies. (I once had a student in a large lecture course who e-mailed questions to me after almost every class).
5 - Use these rewritten notes as the basis for studying for exams. Try to study with other people in the class who have prepared in ways similar to yourself. See if there are any important differences between your and their notes. Try to guess what sort of questions you may get on exams (this is easier after the first exam, when you have experienced the professor's style). Make up possible exam questions and ask them of one another. Make sure you can answer your own exam questions.
6 - Be prepared to put in an average of about eight hours per course per week outside of class. Clearly the exact amount will vary depending on the class schedule - you will spend more before exams and paper due dates. The point is that if you have excess time try to get ahead; in particular, start working on any papers if you can.