May 19, 2024  
2019-2020 Academic Catalog 
    
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2019-2020 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Course Descriptions

Course Numbering System

The following lists include all courses normally offered at Albion College. However, not all courses are offered every year. When possible, courses offered in alternate years are designated. For details, students should consult the Class Schedule for each semester, available online at: www.albion.edu/registrar. The College reserves the right to add or withdraw courses without prior announcement, as conditions may require.

Unless otherwise stated, 100 level courses are intended for freshmen, 200 level for sophomores, 300 and 400 level for juniors and seniors.

A list of courses which meet the core and category requirements, organized by departments, is available online at www.albion.edu/registrar.

Further information may be obtained at the Registrar’s Office in the Ferguson Student, Technology, and Administrative Services Building.
 

Communication Studies
  

  • COMM 101: Introduction to Human Communication

    (1 Unit)
    An introduction to the study of communication. Students investigate communication theory, models, symbols and signs, verbal and nonverbal communication, interpersonal communication, group communication, organizational communication, mass communication, communication ethics and new communication technologies. Staff.
  

  • COMM 187: Selected Topics

    (1/4 Unit)
    An examination of subjects or areas not included in other courses. Staff.
  

  • COMM 188: Selected Topics

    (1/2 Unit)
    An examination of subjects or areas not included in other courses. Staff.
  

  • COMM 189: Selected Topics

    (1 Unit)
    An examination of subjects or areas not included in other courses. Staff.
  

  • COMM 202: Interpersonal and Family Communication

    (1 Unit)
    An investigation of the role communication plays in the formation, maintenance and dissolution of interpersonal and family relationships. Topics include the nature of communicators and communication environments, interaction rules, rituals and intimate dialogue in family systems. Erlandson.
  

  • COMM 203: Small Group and Organizational Communication

    (1 Unit)
    An overview of research and theory in small group and organizational communication from a historical and cultural perspective. Particular attention will be paid to communication and decision-making, and communication and organizational culture. Staff.
  

  • COMM 205: Mass Communication

    (1 Unit)
    An introduction to the different modes of mass communication–from the printing press to the Internet–from historical and cultural perspectives in order to understand the impact of mass communication on society. Topics include mass communication’s production and reproduction of cultural mores and values, and the controversy surrounding media “effects.” Staff.
  

  • COMM 207: Communicating Gender

    (1 Unit)
    An exploration of the ways in which gender and communication interact. Students are introduced to research in the field and observe and analyze the ways in which our cultural construction of gender impacts on how we communicate and judge the communication of others. Erlandson, Staff.
  

  • COMM 209: Sport Communication

    (1 Unit)
    An examination of the role of communication in sports contexts. Students investigate communication theory and models and consider how communication in sports functions within a contemporary culture. Includes exploration of the media environment as well as culture in and around sport. Boyan.
  

  • COMM 213: Intercultural Communication

    (1 Unit)
    An exploration of the role communication plays in defining and sustaining culture both globally and locally. By applying current research and theories in intercultural communication, students are introduced to major topics pertaining to communication between cultures. Topics include, but are not limited to: the way a culture’s deep meaning structure impacts the way people communicate, culture-specific verbal and nonverbal norms, advice on verbal and nonverbal behavior when doing business internationally, adjusting to culture shock and exploring various subcultures in the United States. Erlandson.
  

  • COMM 215: Social Media

    (1 Unit)
    An Examination of social media and the role in communication today.  Students investigate social media elements, media and interpersonal communication theories, communication stratigies, and socio-cultural implications of social media.  Topics include social media production and reproduction of cultural mores and values, consumption patterns of social media content, and implication of McLuhan’s “the medium is the message” perspective.
  

  • COMM 241: Public Speaking

    (1 Unit)
    A theoretical and practical study of speaking in public. Students are introduced to classical and contemporary critical standards of excellence in oral style and delivery, while they develop skills in the art of speaking effectively in informational and persuasive situations. Staff.
  

  • COMM 242: Professional Communication

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisite: For students in the Carl A. Gerstacker Institute for Business and Management, or permission of instructor.
    Focuses on individual communication skills that enhance professional and career development, including skills needed in the business world. Develops writing skills, presentation skills, and the ability to communicate and work with others. Erlandson, Staff.
  

  • COMM 287: Selected Topics

    (1/4 Unit)
    Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
    An examination of subjects or areas not included in other courses. Staff.
  

  • COMM 288: Selected Topics

    (1/2 Unit)
    Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
    An examination of subjects or areas not included in other courses. Staff.
  

  • COMM 289: Selected Topics

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
    An examination of subjects or areas not included in other courses. Staff.
  

  • COMM 300: Communication Research Methods

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisites: COMM 101  and at least one 200-level communication studies course.
    Provides an overview of the concepts and tools by which communication research is designed, conducted, interpreted, and critically evaluated. Aims to help students become knowledgeable consumers and producers of quantitative and qualitative communication research. Hill.
  

  • COMM 303: Organizational Culture and Communication

    (1 Unit)
    Provides an understanding of organizational communication theories and practices associated with organizational culture. Focuses on how organizational culture is created, maintained and changed through communication practices and processes within organizations and through organizations’ adaptation to the changing external environment. Includes practice in communicatively grounded organizational cultural analyses through research projects. Staff.
  

  • COMM 306: Public Relations

    (1 Unit)
    A theoretical and practical examination of the public relations field, including internal and external communications as well as media relations. Students occasionally gain practical experience by participating in a major campaign. Staff.
  

  • COMM 310: Health Communication

    (1 unit)
    Health communication is a growing field of research because of its potential to aid in understanding and influencing health outcomes in a variety of interpersonal, organizational, and mass communication contexts. Communication is the key to prevention, promotion, and chance. This course will introduce you to the exciting and important theory and research being developed in the health communication discipline.  Price
  

  • COMM 311: Environmental Communication

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisite: COMM 101
    A study of how the natural environment is socially constructed through its representation in word and image. After introducing students to fundamental environmental terminology, the course will consider a number of key environmental communicators, their ideological positions, and how they shape their messages. This will be followed by a discussion of audiences and environmental communication ethics. Offered occasionally. Staff.
  

  • COMM 312: Political Communication

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisites:  COMM 101 and at least one 200-level course, or permission of instructor.
    By focusing on the interaction between media, politics, and public opinion, the course provides a survey of the field of political communication, with special attention paid to the role of political communication in democratic society, the audiences for political communication, what it means to be a citizen of the United States today, the effects of media on citizens’ engagement with politics, and the interaction of politics and popular culture. Hill.
  

  • COMM 314: The Other Side of Interpersonal Communication

    (1 Unit)
    Interpersonal communication has numerous outcomes—constructive and destructive, functional and dysfunctional, pleasurable and painful. This course examines several of these “other” aspects of communication. Topics include deception, jealousy, gossip, revenge, relational conflict, infidelity, sexual coercion, and psychological abuse, among others. Staff.
  

  • COMM 322: Communication Theory and Research

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisites: COMM 101  plus one other Communication Studies course, or permission of instructor.
    The capstone course in communication studies. Designed to help students critically analyze what they have learned in previous classes and to actively build on that body of knowledge through personal research. Examines major theories from all corners of the communication discipline and evaluates the utility of those theories. Includes a research project on a topic of the student’s choice. Staff.
  

  • COMM 351: Persuasion

    (1 Unit)
    A theoretical analysis of the process of influencing belief, attitude or behavior through appeals to reason, emotion and ethos. Students investigate experimental and rhetorical theories in the field and the ethical considerations of persuasion. Staff.
  

  • COMM 365: Media Theory

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisite: COMM 205  or permission of instructor.
    An investigation of both critical and social scientific theories that examine the mass media’s (potential) effects on audiences. Social scientific theory and research and the controversies surrounding them in the area of media “effects” are reviewed and evaluated to determine the efficacy of claims such as causal relationships between images of violence and real-world occurrences. Critical theory and research will also be investigated to determine if media create, perpetuate and sustain certain (sometimes objectionable) ideologies. Staff.
  

  • COMM 387: Selected Topics

    (1/4 Unit)
    Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
    An examination of subjects or areas not included in other courses. Staff.
  

  • COMM 388: Selected Topics

    (1/2 Unit)
    Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
    An examination of subjects or areas not included in other courses. Staff.
  

  • COMM 389: Selected Topics

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
    An examination of subjects or areas not included in other courses. Staff.
  

  • COMM 391: Internship

    (1/2 Unit)
    Offered on a credit/no credit basis. Staff.
  

  • COMM 392: Internship

    (1 Unit)
    Offered on a credit/no credit basis. Staff.
  

  • COMM 401: Seminar

    (1/2 Unit)
    Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing and permission of instructor.
    A detailed study of significant and relevant problems in communication studies. Specific topic for consideration will be determined before registration. Staff.
  

  • COMM 402: Seminar

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing and permission of instructor.
    A detailed study of significant and relevant problems in communication studies. Specific topic for consideration will be determined before registration. Staff.
  

  • COMM 411: Directed Study

    (1/2 Unit)
    Staff.
  

  • COMM 412: Directed Study

    (1 Unit)
    Staff.