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Communication Studies > Courses

Courses

 

From the 2011-12 Millsaps College Catalog

1000 Public Speaking (4 sem. hours). Students will study principles and strategies for effective oral communication. The course will emphasize principles of rhetoric, while teaching students methods for researching, organizing, and delivering various kinds of speeches. It will also explore ethical, social, and political issues surrounding public address.

2000 Introduction to Communications (4 sem. hours). An introduction to the processes of communication through analysis of interpersonal and intercultural communication, communication in groups, and communication in organizational settings.

2100 History of the Media (4 sem. hours). Survey of the origin and development of media, including print newspapers, magazines, radio, television, film, and the worldwide web/internet. May be used to satisfy the historical/cultural/theoretical requirement for the major. Offered in alternate years.

2400 Communication Ethics (4 sem. hours). A study of the moral and legal issues involved in the creation and consumption of media products. This course will also examine principles of free speech as well as ethical issues in interpersonal, intercultural, and professional/business communication. May be used to satisfy the historical/cultural/theoretical requirement for the major. Offered in alternate years.

3000 Interdisciplinary Studies in Communications (4 sem. hours). Courses in this category cross disciplinary boundaries and are cross-listed with another department.

3100 Studies in Mass Media and Mass Communications (4 sem. hours). Exploration of a specific topic within the field of mass media and mass communications. Course topics change each time the course is offered. Offerings could include such topics as mass media law, civic journalism and the history of the alternative press, crisis communications, persuasion and propaganda, and media, myth, and ritual. Prerequisite: COMM 2000 or permission of the instructor.

3200 Studies in Advertising and Public Relations (4 sem. hours). The specific content will vary, but this course will consider topics related to publication, radio, and television advertising, the creation and management of ideas and images in corporate (for-profit and not-for-profit) environments, and the historical context of public relations in the United States. Prerequisite: COMM 2000 or permission of the instructor. Offered every three years.

3400 Studies in Intercultural Communication (4 sem. hours). The specific content will vary, but this course will consider the relationship between communication and culture through study of communications within and between ethnic groups, social classes, and other communities. Topics could include communication between or within genders and racial/ethnic groups and ethnography and communicative environments. May be used to satisfy the historical/cultural/theoretical requirement for the major. Prerequisite: COMM 2000 or permission of the instructor. Offered every three years.

3500 Studies in Rhetoric (4 sem. hours). A focused examination of one model, theory, or theorist in the field of rhetoric. Course topics change each time the course is offered. Offerings could include the rhetoric of social movements, public rhetoric, religious rhetoric, or the work of a particular theorist such as Kenneth Burke. Prerequisite: COMM 2000 or permission of the instructor. Offered every three years.

3600 Organizational and Business Communication (4 sem. hours). An investigation of communication within organizations and the public. Involves discussion of various decision-making systems, as well as communication strategies adapted by employers and employees in relating among themselves and with outside publics. Prerequisite: COMM 2000 or permission of the instructor. Offered occasionally.

3750 Special Topics in Communications (4 sem. hours). This course offers examination of fields within communications that are not covered by regularly-scheduled courses in the Communications curriculum. May be repeated for credit with a different topic. Prerequisite: COMM 2000 or permission of the instructor.

3800-03 Directed Study in Communications (1, 2, 3, or 4 sem. hours). Students wishing to study a problem or subject outside the normal communications curriculum may pursue an independent study under the supervision of a faculty member. Permission of the department chair required. Prerequisite: COMM 2000.

3850-52 Communications Internship (2 or 4 sem. hours). Off-campus or on-campus professional experience in fields such as print or broadcast journalism, public relations, advertising, theater, or new media. Highly encouraged but not required of all students majoring in Communications. Permission of the department chair required. Prerequisites: COMM 1000 and COMM 2000 (student may be enrolled concurrently in the internship class and the prerequisite courses.

4900 Senior Seminar in Communications (4 sem. hours). This course is designed to help senior Communications majors acquire more advanced skills and develop more advanced critical thinking in the field of communications.