Courses

Applications and policy implications of innovative communication and information-processing technology in business, government, and education; emphasis on political, economic, and legal aspects.

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

Work and Technology
This class examines key issues at the intersection of communication technology use and organizational worksites, including privacy/surveillance, collaboration, virtual work, and work-life balance. Special emphasis is given to organizational and technology policies in these areas.

Understanding, Designing, and Building Social Media
Now offered as 17:194:546

This course will introduce students to quantitative, qualitative, and interpretive methods for doing research on digital media (online media, mobile media, and social media) and ethical ways of employing those methods. Students will learn about how to apply quantitative, qualitative, and interpretive methods to studies of digital media creation, content, and use, and students will also learn about how digital media companies use research and analytics. At the end of this course, students should have a basic understanding of several general research methods used by digital media scholars and have gained an appreciation for the ethical considerations in conducting human subjects research.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Apply a basic vocabulary of concepts about digital media research.
• Identify strong and problematic research.
• Discover and present considerations for ethical practice in digital media research.
• Identify the basic considerations in designing and conducting questionnaire studies, interviews and examinations of content.
• Develop a plan for a research study.

International public relations is practiced by all types of private, public, nonprofit, activist, non-governmental organizations and institutions.

This graduate course includes content and discussions on global issues affecting the public relations profession, the PR professional and the engagement of stakeholders at the home, host, and transnational levels.

This course will survey how global public relations strategies are developed and implemented to support advocacy efforts, emphasizing successful case studies and failures. For instance, the course includes an evaluation of the various factors that determine the profession’s evolution and practice in different countries.

Also, this graduate course aims to introduce and analyze the main concerns affecting the management of the public relations function, such as transnational crises; coordination and control mechanisms trends; practitioners’ roles, responsibilities, and competencies in a global context

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Describe public relations and its role worldwide.
• Differentiate between various political, socioeconomic, cultural, environmental, and contextual variables which determine specific public relations practices in different regions.
• Develop, implement, and assess a comprehensive global public relations strategy that includes social media technologies.
• Demonstrate writing and presentation skills relevant to public relations roles through group/individual assignments and class discussions.
• Apply a country-specific approach to public relations campaigns based on actual international case studies.
• Describe the intersections of multiculturalism & diversity and global public relations.

Leaders are often in the position of bringing about change. In the study of organizations and leadership, change is a critical topic. Change does not happen naturally in most organizations, it is a leader-led process. This course takes two perspectives. The first is that organizations are made up of processes. Every day, these processes run and regenerate themselves. Examining them for ways to improve can lead to redesign and ultimately gains in cost saving, customer satisfaction, and improved morale. The second perspective is that a metaphorical force field called culture organizes and shapes organizations. We breathe the air of culture in our work lives each day. Analyzing culture enables us to consider its impact on organizational effectiveness and ability to reach goals.

The course will weave together these four critical elements in change – organizational culture, leadership, communication and internal processes.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Describe the macro environment’s impact on leaders and organizations.
• Describe a variety of change management theories and their application in practice.
• Assess the intersections between leadership, organizational processes, organizational culture, communication and change.
• Develop appropriate recommendations for leading and communicating change.
• Interpret how organizational culture and change intersect.
• Assess a leader’s role in leading, shaping, and changing organizational culture.
• Evaluate and assess different change models and their effectiveness.

This class is designed to give an overview of the major fields of study in the area of health communication. This includes the areas of health communication campaigns, multicultural health communication, physician-patient communication, and communication among health professionals. The ultimate goal of health communication is to increase health and satisfaction by encouraging healthier behaviors, medical compliance, and more efficient communication of medical information.

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

Health Campaigns
This graduate-level course provides an overview of theory and research concerning the role of communication campaigns in health promotion efforts. Whereas "traditional" approaches to the study and application of public health communication campaigns focus almost exclusively on the design of persuasive messages and the use of effective channels, the approach taken in this course is more firmly grounded in the concept and principles of social marketing. By blending theory and practice, this course affords students an opportunity to experience first-hand the process of designing, implementing,and evaluating public health communication campaigns.

Interpersonal Health Communication
This course focuses specifically on the role of interpersonal and dyadic interaction in health settings. In this course, you will 1) gain an understanding of theories used in the field of health communication; 2) learn to analyze health communication research; 3) better understand programs of research in health communication.

E-Public Health
e-Public Health encompasses the use of web-based health communication in the promotion of health and prevention of disease at the individual, community, or population levels. This course provides a theoretical and methodological  foundation in the survey of communication processes and the strategic use of communication in the planning, design, implementation and evaluation of web-based public health information, resources, and interventions, or e-Public Health.

This course considers the intersections of science, media, and society. With a focus on both theory and practice, we will explore the media’s role in how we understand and communicate about the most critical science issues of our day. Course topics include: public understanding of science; representations of science in journalism and popular culture; the media’s influence on public engagement with science; the strategic uses of media to communicate about science. Special emphasis will be given to understanding the media’s role in shaping perceptions of controversial science issues.

The course is divided into two major units. During the first part of the course, we will study the psychological, social, cultural, and political underpinnings of public opinion about science issues. In other words, we will try to understand, through the lens of various social scientific theories, why people believe what they do about issues such as climate change, and vaccine safety; why their beliefs sometimes conflict with the best available scientific evidence on the topic; and why these beliefs can be so difficult to change. During the second part of the course, we will survey the science media landscape, and use the theories and concepts covered in the first part of the course to evaluate the implications of media for public engagement with science. We will examine science journalism, online media, media campaigns and activism, and representations of science in entertainment and popular culture.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Identify and describe the theories and concepts used to explain public perceptions of and attitudes toward science issues.
• Explain how the media, in interaction with other factors, influence public engagement with science issues.
• Develop persuasive, evidence-based arguments about the intersections of science, media, and society.
• Critically analyze and evaluate science media content and practices.
• Interact and communicate effectively with others about media and science.

In this class, small group interaction is examined in depth, including observation, interpersonal activity, group systems, conflict resolution, and listening.  The focus is on practical, business, and organizational group activities in real-world situations to prepare students to understand, effectively participate in, and control group dynamics.

Readings, lecture, discussions, case study and small group exercises will be utilized to master conceptual material necessary for leadership excellence.  The goal of this course is to help the student improve their teaming and communication skills, as effective team membership becomes an even more critical professional and career competency.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Discuss factors that shape the communication process in groups.
• Discuss small group theory and research in a variety of team contexts.
• Discern relevant principles, theories, and research findings associated with group communication to their own experiences and various leadership contexts.
• Execute basic communication competencies needed by individuals to be more effective group members and leaders.

This course provides an overview of theory and research related to the role of the media in promoting public health efforts and advances. The course reviews theories of health behavior change and message effects, and discusses applications of these theories to media-based health initiatives. Through the course, the students will examine the interplay among theory, research and practice and further discuss how theory informs practice and how research aids in theory construction and refinement.

Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:

• Compare major health communication and media effect theories and models.
• Explain the mechanisms through which media messages affect health behaviors.
• Apply theory and research findings in health communication to practical health concerns.
• Critique mediated health campaigns through the application of course theories and tools.
• Redesign a mediated health campaign that reflects theory-driven communication messages.

This course considers the design, implementation, and evaluation of public health communication programs that aim to influence the health-related behaviors of individuals, groups, and communities. The first part of the course reviews the theoretical foundations of public health communication campaigns, including key theories of health behavior change and communication theories that augment them. The second part introduces students to key planning and design considerations of successful public health communication campaigns. The third and final part of the course engages students with the versatile communication strategies and skills that health communication professionals employ routinely to influence people’s health-related decisions and behaviors.

By blending theory and practice, this course (a) provides a starting point for developing knowledge of health campaigns, (b) encourages thoughtful criticism of past campaigns based on solid theoretical ideas, and (c) equips students with creative problem-solving skills that can be applied to the design of actual campaigns. Through a series of individual and group assignments, students have an opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills they acquire in this class to the formulation, design, and evaluation of a communication campaign addressing a health problem of their choice.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Describe and compare major theories and models of health behavior change.
• Use a combination of theoretical tools and research insights to design and implement health communication campaigns that address specific, real-world public health problems.
• Demonstrate ability to critically assess the efficacy of health communication campaigns (process and outcomes evaluation).
• Communicate effectively with diverse groups of stakeholders to facilitate successful implementation of the campaign.

This graduate seminar examines issues of interpersonal dynamics when talking about health and healthcare. Discussion centers on the role of communication in healthcare interactions and examine how communication can facilitate, hinder, or create inequities of care that occurs among patients. The course will review communication among clinicians, patients, and significant others and families. Themes of discussion include patient-provider communication, culture in healthcare, medical mistrust, health literacy, and the role of close others in managing healthcare.

Upon the successful completion of this course, students should be able to:

• Identify important healthcare issues in interpersonal communication.
• Analyze health-related interpersonal communication through multiple lenses.
• Discuss main healthcare themes that emerge from empirical research and their implications.
• Recognize the multiple functions interpersonal communication contributes to managing health and healthcare contexts.
• Develop presentation material and activities.
• Evaluate empirical research about an interpersonal health issue.

This class focuses on the foundational and contemporary research that makes up the study of interpersonal communication. Its primary goal is to give students an understanding of the origins and the current directions of much of the scholarship on interpersonal communication.

(Below is one sample course that has been offered in the last few years)

Studying talk in social interaction
This course takes up the question of how we use language to communicate and introduces students to the methods and findings of a particular qualitative way of analyzing social interaction called "Conversation Analysis." We will examine video- and audio-recorded, naturally occurring conversations to learn how to look beyond the taken for granted answers to questions about how and why we talk and behave as we do. You will learn about the underlying structures of conversation that make it possible for us to accomplish mundane (and not so mundane) activities of everyday life - agreeing and disagreeing, complaining, complimenting, teasing, telling stories, etc. We will also discuss how we construct our identities and relationships through our ordinary talk.

This course examines the process of evaluating the public relations function. It provides students with practical guidelines for evaluating and analyzing the effectiveness of public relations campaigns. 

Students will connect communication measures of effectiveness to business results, including being able to calculate ROI. By implementing best practices for conducting research methodologies, students will be able to interpret and report findings to determine campaign effectiveness. Students will also analyze historical, award winning PRSA case studies, to thoroughly understand the Barcelona principles and apply contemporary measurement tools to current case studies. The analysis and discussion of real-world case studies will serve as context for the applied understanding of how and why to evaluate a public relations campaign.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Describe the fundamentals of strategic evaluation and measurement in the public relations function.
• Use research to identify realistic and measurable objectives. 
• Analyze case studies and/or real-world situations to gauge the effectiveness of the public relations function.
• Apply strategic thinking skills and analytical tools to evaluate the success of messaging/campaigns/channels. 
• Use well-written, professional communication to convey thoughts and ideas about public relations measurement and evaluation in all course assignments.

Changing beliefs about the role of business in society in the past thirty years have increased the pressure on organizations to define how it addresses higher purposes beyond financial gain.  This is particularly relevant as companies are making long-term commitments to improving the world through mechanisms like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The success of an organization depends on the quality of its relationships with different stakeholders including NGOs and governments. More specifically, an organization develops its activities through a stakeholder network, which affects and is affected by the organization’s behavior. 
Therefore, the concepts of sustainability, organizational purpose and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are becoming more and more crucial. The course aims at defining CSR and how organizations create social impact.  The course will look at new managerial solutions and new performance evaluation and reporting methodologies capable of integrating and improving traditional economic measures.

The purpose of the course is to build a new vision of social impact based on a stakeholder framework. Whether CSR is understood as organizations taking responsibility or society holding organizations accountable, the underlying issues are how about the environmental, social, and governance opportunities and risks that have emerged in today’s globalized, networked world will be explored. 

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Discuss basic concepts and vocabulary related to CSR and Organizational Communication.
• Interpret NGO governance and management.
• Discuss the ethical and social issues/decisions in CSR communication.
• Integrate CSR/Social Impact perspective into organizational communication strategy. 
• Assess an organization’s CSR initiatives.
• Assess corporate performance in a comprehensive way.

Through a comprehensive discussion of sustainability communication strategies, media and messaging, this course focuses on how organizations communicate corporate social responsibility to their publics. 

This course examines the powerful new trends in public-private partnerships and new models of private sector interventions in society including responding to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The course explores the intersection of communication, stakeholder engagement and social impact. This course will help students understand how organizations behave in society and the role of the citizen as stakeholder and consumer in helping to influence organizational behavior.

Topics covered include: 1) Crowdfunding; 2) Social Impact Bonds; 3) Competitions and Prizes; 4) Philanthrocapitalism; 5) B-Corporations and Social Enterprises; 6) Pro-bono contributions from the private sector; 7) Use of AI in social impact efforts; 8) Circular Economy; 9) Sustainability investing, and (10) Communication across diverse stakeholders.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Discuss basic concepts and vocabulary related to emerging social impact strategies and how leaders communicate emerging and innovative models of social impact.
• Discuss ethical and social issues/decisions in communicating CSR.
• Integrate the CSR perspective into organizational communication strategies.
• Assess an organization’s social impact initiatives.
• Discuss Sustainable Development Goals and their evolving role of organizations in society.

What is social impact? How does social impact further the work of NGOs/organizations seeking to do good? What is the benefit in terms of corporate reputation? How is it measured? What are the most appropriate ways to communicate about social impact? This course provides an overview of social impact from the perspectives of both the corporate world and NGOs/organizations that are enabled by corporate social impact engagement. Through publications, case studies, interviews with those involved in social impact activities and team projects, we will assess the influence – positive and negative – social impact can have on the reputation of a corporation. Students will come away with a clear understanding of what social impact is and what it is not, how it can be measured in terms of reputation, and the criticality of appropriate communications related to social impact activities.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Describe the concept of social impact.
• Discuss what social impact looks like from the corporate perspective and from the perspective of the NGOs/organizations that are enabled by corporate social impact engagement.
• Assess how social impact can impact the reputation of a corporation - positively and negatively.
• Assess how social impact activities can be measured in terms of noticeable changes to corporate reputation.
• Apply practical skills as they relate to communicating about social impact - particularly from the perspective of a large, multi-national corporation.

This course focuses on various elements of crisis and issues management. In an age when a company’s every move is subject to instant scrutiny and attack, the necessity for effective crisis management is greater than ever and more complicated. The structure of the course revolve around the crisis management process: prevention, preparation, response and long-term. Emphasis will be placed on practical application of crisis communications theory, with the use of real-life case studies, role playing and guest lectures by crisis expert practitioners. This course examines a variety of communication techniques and principles used when an organization faces issues, and or incidents that negatively impact the organization’s reputation. Major aspects of this course will include: the definition of crises in its various forms, the stages of a crisis, the role of the spokesperson and the impact of social media and the crisis response, among others.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Describe the full nature and types of crisis and how crisis impacts various publics.
• Describe how crisis effects communication.
• Effectively communicate with the media and differentiate between “what makes News,” and the seven news values.
• Determine the use and impact of social media during and after a crisis.
• Apply the C.A.P (Concern, Action, Prevention) rule to communication messages.
• Describe the importance of empathy, honesty and placing “people first" throughout a crisis and Implement coping mechanisms when in “the eye of the storm.”

This course demonstrates the importance of reputation management as a practice to better ensure organizational health and mitigate risk by augmenting crisis/risk management work. Often environmental scanning – a key reputation management practice – can make strategic communications professionals aware of potential crises, so they can head them off before they occur.

Of particular significance is understanding how the advent of digital media presents a new reputational risk where anyone with a social media account or website can attack or support an organization.

This course explores reputation management through an ethical lens. Not only are ethics an important human quality, but if organizations behave ethically, they are more apt to steer clear of reputational dilemmas. We also approach this course taking diversity and inclusion into account and working to incorporate these important values into reputation management practices.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Discuss the fundamental theories and concepts of reputation management.
• Assess their understanding of the relationship between organizations and stakeholders.
• Analyze the role of the spokesperson and of effective media relations approaches to support and advance organizational reputation.
• Discuss how digital media has altered the reputation management landscape.
• Examine reputation management through an ethical lens.
• Demonstrate how to engage in reputation management in an inclusive and diverse manner, including at a global level.
• Compare and contrast reputation management efforts across for-profit and non-profit sectors.
• Describe reputation management’s connection to crisis communications and risk/crisis management.

This graduate seminar is concerned with how communication scholars have contributed to (and can best contribute to) the study of patient-provider communication and ultimately better patient-provider relationships. What transpires during the clinic visit can have a profound effect on how patients understand their health concerns, make healthcare decisions, and effectively achieve desired health outcomes. This course introduces students to the field and findings of patient-provider communication starting with the historical and social climates influencing patient-provider partnerships.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Evaluate how patient-provider relationship models define roles and shape communication.
• Compare and contrast different methodological approaches to measuring patient-provider communication.
• Explain how specific communicative features of patient-provider interactions (e.g., question designs) impact clinical communication, relationships, and outcomes.
• Explain how observing and analyzing naturalistic clinic interactions enhances understanding of patient-provider communication.

Digital Journalism is a hybrid hands-on and conceptual course designed to help masters-level students develop introductory-level skills in multimedia reporting (using text, still images and video) while gaining an understanding of the foundational philosophical, ethical and legal principles underlying the practice of journalism in the 21st century.

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

• Share news from a “beat” or area of expertise as it breaks, through email bulletins, text alerts, and Twitter posts.
• Report and write more substantive textual accounts of breaking news for the web.
• Take and edit still photos to enrich news alerts and web stories.
• Combine text and still images, using software, to create photo galleries and tell stories visually.
• Record and edit audio at an introductory level.
• Combine text, still images and audio, using software, to create audio photo galleries and tell visual stories that also use text and sound.
• Use text, still images, audio and video to develop multi-layered news or feature stories for the web.

In the conceptual component of the course, which will be integrated with the hands-on work, students will develop an understanding of the broader philosophical traditions of journalism. By the end of the course, they will be able to:

• Explain the development of digital journalism and how it can be contextualized within the broader scope of journalism history.
• Identify practical and theoretical differences between “analog” and digital journalism.
• Identify and explain digital journalists’ ethical responsibilities, including truth-telling, accuracy, fairness, independence, attention to justice, and transparency and how those are reflected in their own work.
• Identify characteristics of digital journalism that can lead to unethical conduct — including the ease of  plagiarism and fabrication; the temptation to favor speed over accuracy; the lack of a accuracy “safety net” for digital journalists working alone; and the developing nature of digital journalism standards — and explain strategies for avoiding missteps related to these characteristics.
• Recognize the legal problems digital journalists sometimes face — such as libel, copyright violation and invasion of privacy — and identify and explain strategies for avoiding those problems.

Marketing communications pervade nearly every aspect of modern life in consumer society, from broadcast commercials to public relations to product design and packaging to online search marketing. As our economy shifts from a manufacturing base to an information base, this process is accelerating; with the increasingly capacity to track, profile and target consumers across media, we ourselves have become the product, the medium, and the message. This fact, in turn, has influenced the very nature of the human experience. Friendships, identities, and even the most intimate of relationships are now mediated through channels in which marketing is not only present but central. In short, you might say we live in a hyper-commercial society.  What are the political, economic and social implications of this change? How are new technologies contributing to, and changing, this process? How can we, as citizens of this consumer society, navigate these complex issues? What costs and benefits accrue from the increasingly commercial environment in which we live?   In addition to addressing these issues in readings and online class discussions, we will collectively develop and maintain a public blog dedicated to discussing, dissecting and critiquing marketing communications of all kinds.

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

• Explain the business practices and basic economics of a range of marketing communications, including broadcast, print, and online advertising.
• Utilize a range of social critiques to analyze consumer culture.
• Describe the role of emerging technologies in re-shaping the marketing landscape.
• Recognize the ways in which artists, regulators and everyday people have responded to, resisted, and embraced marketing communications.
• Intelligently critique marketing communications, from both a theoretical and executional perspective.
• Formulate critique and discussion in a public blog format.

This course explores how political, economic, and social actors leverage emerging communications media to pressure and persuade one another.  Participants will gain a deeper understanding of how to use new media tools for digital advocacy and persuasion, and will also develop a critical perspective on how these tools are changing society.

Upon successful completion of the course, students will:

• Have a clear understanding of how the media environment has changed. 
• Gain hands-on experience in evaluating the tools and tactics used for digital advocacy and persuasion.
• Develop a critical perspective on the dangers and challenges posed by the new media environment.

The last thirty years have seen a fundamental transformation in society. Characterized as a transformation from industrial to informational, this new system is marked by the increased velocity and fluidity of capital, goods, people and ideas. Facilitated by new information and communication technologies (ICT), the increased flows of both objects and ideas have led to shifting notions of identity, nation, democracy and society among others.   In this class we seek to more fully understand the shifting nature of society today particularly as this new and complex world intersects with media and communication. We pay particular attention to considering the different causes for change in society, as well as the new complex human and at times computer mediated configurations. Finally, we focus on how these shifts are both impacted by and impact media and communications.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of approaches to, and debates surrounding, globalization.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the role of technology and media on contemporary society.
• Apply these theories to everyday life, interrogating the real-life implications of globalization.
• Analyze and reason critically when discussing globalization and social change.
• Analyze and critically evaluate different theories of globalization, demonstrating independent thought.
• Analyze the complex interdependent relationship of media, technology and society.
• Evaluate complex ideas and develop a clear perspective.
• Create a thesis statement and write a reasoned analytic paper.