Course Syllabus

COMM 2110 Interpersonal Communication

Course Description

This course will explore a wide variety of topics and skills related to human interaction in various contexts (e.g., face-to-face, mediated). Students will be exposed to current research in the human Communication field, and they will work to become more effective communicators in their relationships with friends, family, co-workers, and intimate others. Some of the topics and skills which may be covered in the course include: nonverbal communication, perception, interpersonal conflict, identify construction, impression management, intimacy, emotions, and enhancing communication competence throughout their lives, professionally and personally.

Justification

COMM 2110 is an introductory course offered at all courses across the USHE school system. As a "Social Science" GE course, COMM 2110 encourages students to study several interpersonal communication variables—and their impact on people's lives, professionally and personally—using the systematic approach of the Scientific Method. The course is designed to aid students in improving their social relationships, psychological and self-awareness, and promoting a life style which emphasizes communication competence via practical and purposeful strategic decision-making to achieve their professional and personal goals. Ultimately, the course aims to provide students with the practical skills—and content knowledge—necessary to survive in our contemporary world.

General Education Outcomes

1. A student who completes the GE curriculum has a fundamental knowledge of human cultures and the natural world. Students will explore numerous communicative variables which impact how human cultures form and evolve. Through discussion and application of various prominent Communication theories, they will be exposed to several lenses for understanding our natural world.
2. A student who completes the GE curriculum can read and research effectively within disciplines. Students will be exposed to several traditional and contemporary theories of Communication, as well as empirical research. Students will be expected to apply this research to answer various Communication-specific inquiries and issues.
3. A student who completes the GE curriculum can draw from multiple disciplines to address complex problems. Students will learn that Communication, by nature, is a multidisciplinary field, and as such, they will be expected to explore theories, research, and arguments from other relevant fields of study to address the complex problems discussed throughout this course.
4. A student who completes the GE curriculum can reason analytically, critically, and creatively. Students will explore several perspectives for understanding human Communication which will likely differ from their own to aid them in confronting their own implicit and explicit biases, as well as to help them reason more analytically, critically, and creatively.

General Education Knowledge Area Outcomes

1. Students will examine several communicative scenarios, past and present, and identify how key Communication theories, perspectives, principles, and concepts can explain how (1) our individual behavior and (2) larger human institutions ultimately evolve and are impacted in our day-to-day lives. Students will examine several communicative scenarios, past and present, and identify how key Communication theories, perspectives, principles, and concepts can explain how (1) our individual behavior and (2) larger human institutions ultimately evolve and are impacted in our day-to-day lives.
2. ANALYZE: Identify diverse perspectives to explore and examine social and behavioral phenomena. Students will learn to explore Communication via a systematic approach to human inquiry wherein they will not only explore the direct relationships between communicative variables but also the indirect and conditional relationships which exist as well. They will demonstrate understanding that human communication is complex which ultimately requires more complex inquiries and analyses to competently study it.
3. APPLY: Apply discipline-relevant and scientific theories and methods to make inferences about or applications to social and behavioral phenomena at personal, institutional, or cultural levels.  Students will develop skills to observe, analyze, and research human communication in everyday life among culturally diverse populations using the Scientific Method. Students will explore how similar communicative variables often have drastically different impacts on people's communication outcomes when examined at different group levels (e.g., individual, interpersonal, institutional, intercultural).

Course Content

Content for this course may be drawn from any of the following knowledge areas:Communication CompetenceIntercultural CommunicationPerceptionIdentity Construction and ManagementCommunication MisbehaviorsNonverbal CommunicationEffective Listening and RespondingRelationship Formation, Maintenance, and TerminationConflict ResolutionSelf-Monitoring and ReflectionEmotional Management and ExpressionsRelationships (Friendships, Families, Romance)Communication ClimatePower Differences and StrugglesCommunication and Psychology Theories and Models