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2018-2019 Catalogue [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Course Descriptions
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Course Numbering
The College of Wooster uses a five-digit course numbering system. The first three digits indicate the primary course number. The next two digits are the secondary course number and indicate whether there is a special focus for the course. For example:
The first letters are the department or program abbreviation. The next three digits are the primary course number (101 is the primary course number for all Introduction to Historial Study courses). The last two digits are the secondary course number. These two digits indicate that the special focus for this HIST 101 course is The History of Islam. A course with a given three-digit primary course number can only be taken once for credit unless specifically indicated otherwise by the department.
The following policy has been used in assigning primary course numbers:
- 100-level courses are usually introductory courses; some 100-level courses do have prerequisites, and students are advised to consult the description for each course.
- 200-level courses are usually beyond the introductory level, although many 200-level courses are open to first-year students and to majors and non-majors.
- 300-level courses are seminars and courses primarily for majors but open to other students with the consent of the instructor.
- The following numbers are for Independent Study: I.S. 40100 (Junior Independent Study), I.S. 45100 and I.S. 45200 (Senior Independent Study).
In addition to the regular course offerings, many departments offer individual tutorials under the number 40000 and internships under 41000. On occasion, departments will offer a course on a special topic as approved by the Educational Policy Committee, designated 19900, 29900, or 39900.
Abbreviation
In keeping with the general education requirements of the College’s curriculum
(see Degree Requirements ), course listings employ the following abbreviations:
W Writing Intensive
C Studies in Cultural Difference
R Religious Perspectives
Q Quantitative Reasoning
AH Learning Across the Disciplines: Arts and Humanities
HSS Learning Across the Disciplines: History and Social Sciences
MNS Learning Across the Disciplines: Mathematical and Natural Sciences
Except where otherwise noted, all courses carry one course credit.
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Communication |
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COMM 11100 - Introduction to Communication Studies Course Credit: 1
(COMS)
INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION STUDIES This course examines the significance of communication in human life and introduces students to fundamental principles and processes of communication in a variety of contexts: intrapersonal, interpersonal relationships, small groups, public settings, and the mass media. Students will learn to think critically about communication and will apply the knowledge they gain through a variety of means: class exercises, a group project of limited scope, message analysis, and a public speech. Annually. Fall and Spring. [HSS]
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COMM 15200 - Public Speaking Course Credit: 1
(COMS, EDUC)
PUBLIC SPEAKING The course involves the study of public address and the performance of various types of speeches. The course examines public speaking theories from classical to contemporary times and makes use of model speeches to help students learn to write and deliver better public presentations. Annually. Fall and Spring. [AH]
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COMM 19901 - Introduction to Media Studies Course Credit: 1
Introduction to Media Studies Introduction to Media Studies is designed for students who have grown up in a rapidly changing global multimedia environment and want to become more literate and critical consumers and producers of culture. Through an interdisciplinary comparative and historical lens, the course defines media broadly as including oral, print, theatrical, photographic, broadcast, cinematic, and digital cultural forms and practices. The course looks at the nature of mediated communication, the functions of media, the history of transformations in media and the institutions that help define media’s place in society.
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COMM 20000 - Issues in Communication Course Credit: 1
(COMD, COMS)
ISSUES IN COMMUNICATION A topical seminar that focuses on special issues within communication studies or communication sciences and disorders. May be repeated. Prerequisite(s): COMM-11100 Annually. Fall. [W]
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COMM 20002 - To Sign Or to Speak? Global Issues Course Credit: 1
(COMD, COMS)
To Sign or To Speak: Global Issues in Deafness This course will address the nature and ramifications of deafness among children and adults, the definitions, history, changing status, and future of Deaf Culture in the U.S. and other areas of the world, societal perceptions of the Deaf, and interpersonal, educational, and vocational ramifications of deafness. Prerequisite(s): COMM-11100 [W]
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COMM 20004 - Collective Memory & Public Forgetting Course Credit: 1
(COMS)
COMMUNICATION, COLLECTIVE MEMORY, AND PUBLIC FORGETTING This course investigates the role that communication plays in creating collective memories of particular events, people, and eras, and how those collective memories may sustain us, lead us astray, and/or promote conflict. Moreover, the class will examine how communication can lead to forgetting that is not always negative, but can even be positive in nature. Case studies will include messages as divergent as Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, Slobodan Milosevic’s speech on the Battle of Kosovo, as well as public messages related to the Holocaust, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, post-Apartheid South Africa, post-9/11 nationalism in the United States, Tiananmen Square and post-genocide Rwanda. Prerequisite(s): COMM-11100, or one completed course in COMD [W]
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COMM 20005 - Communication and Aging Course Credit: 1
(COMS)
Communication and Aging This course is an empirically based consideration of emotions, behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes related to aging and the process of communicating with older adults. Topics include: approaches to communication and aging, current evidence about communication and the aging population, interpersonal and intergenerational communication, mass communication and aging, health and healthcare interactions (patient-physician communication, etc.), older adults and technology, and cultural change. Prerequisite(s): COMM-11100; or 1 completed course in COMD [W]
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COMM 20006 - Environmental Communication Course Credit: 1
(ENVS)
ENVIRONMENTAL COMMUNICATION This course will examine how different groups have symbolically constructed and discussed the environment. Over the course of the semester, the class will cover topics such as public participation in environmental decisions, conflict resolution and collaboration in environmental disputes, media and the environment, risk communication, environmental advocacy campaigns, environmental justice campaigns, messages about the environment from science and industry, and the phenomenon of green marketing and corporate advocacy campaigns. Prerequisite(s): COMM-11100
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COMM 20007 - Communication & Conflict Course Credit: 1
COMMUNICATION AND CONFLICT The course is designed to facilitate practical, theoretical, and critical analyses of the role of communication in interpersonal conflict. This will involve exploring a variety of approaches to conflict and conflict management in friendships, romantic relationships, families, social groups, and work groups. The course will also include an examination of the role of technology and media in conflict. Prerequisite(s): COMM-11100
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COMM 20008 - Communicating Public Policy Course Credit: 1
COMMUNICATING PUBLIC POLICY In this course, students critique, design, and defend public policies from across the world. We will focus on the role of rhetoric in public policy as we investigate how communities analyze a public problem and create and justify policies to address the problem. The course will feature regular brief writing assignments, an in-class debate, and a final project in which students design a policy that makes a positive difference in their communities Prerequisite(s): COMM-11100, or one completed course in COMD [W]
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COMM 20010 - Difference in the Age of Trump Course Credit: 1
Difference in the Age of Trump This course will ask students to consider the implications of mediated communication within America’s current political and cultural climate. Specifically, students will utilize critical rhetorical methods in order grapple with the concept of difference in current case studies ranging from the controversy surrounding Colin Kaepernick to the recent display of violence in Charlottesville, VA. Students will apply theoretical perspectives like whiteness, intersectionality, and Black feminist thought to examine examples of mediated difference. Prerequisite(s): COMM-11100 or 1 course from COMD
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COMM 22100 - Interpersonal Communication Course Credit: 1
(COMD, COMS)
INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION This course examines the form, content, and consequences of communication between two people, primarily focusing upon informal contexts, such as the communication between parent and child, siblings, romantic partners, and friends. Topics include communication rules, self-disclosure, cultural and intercultural influences, gender similarities and differences, nonverbal communication, compliance-gaining, relational stages and strategies, relational conflict, and ethics and power in interpersonal communication. Prerequisite(s): COMM-11100 Fall. [HSS]
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COMM 22500 - Group & Organizational Communication Course Credit: 1
(COMS)
GROUP AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION This course analyzes the form, content, and consequences of communication within both small groups and larger organizations, primarily focusing on the dynamics of communication exchanges within such contexts. Topics include roles, norms, culture, decision-making, conflict management, identification, leadership, recruitment/ indoctrination, and ethics and power in group/organizational communication. Prerequisite(s): COMM-11100 Fall.
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COMM 22700 - Intercultural Communication Course Credit: 1
(COMS)
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION This course provides an introduction to communication between people from different cultures and examines the processes and politics of intercultural communication in both domestic and international contexts by focusing on the application of intercultural communication theory and research. Students will enhance their intercultural awareness by exploring differences in identity construction, identity management in intercultural settings, intergroup relationship development and conflict resolution, and intercultural communication competence and ethics. Class assignments and exercises examine everyday encounters with individuals from different races, ethnicities, religions, genders, ages, sexual orientations and physical abilities. Prerequisite(s): COMM-11100 Spring. [C]
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COMM 23300 - Mediated Gender, Race, and Sexuality Course Credit: 1
(COMS, WGSS)
MEDIATED GENDER, RACE, AND SEXUALITY This course will examine and evaluate the construction and representation of gender, race, and sexuality in contemporary American society; the relationship between commercialized systems of representation; and the way that gender, race, and sexuality are thought of and organized in the culture. In particular, we will look at how visual imagery impacts gender, racial, and sexual identity, and the process of identity construction and socialization. Prerequisite(s): COMM-11100 Fall. [HSS]
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COMM 23500 - Media, Culture and Society Course Credit: 1
(COMS, FILM)
MEDIA, CULTURE AND SOCIETY This course provides an introduction to the social and cultural roles of mass media in contemporary society. It focuses on how media and their surrounding economic framework affect cultural, political, and ideological processes. We will examine a range of media forms in their social historical context (including print, telegraphy, cinema, broadcasting, cable, and computing), and will also consider different theoretical approaches to the study of media influence, the formation of meaning, cultural production and consumption, and cultural power. Prerequisite(s): COMM-11100 Fall.
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COMM 25000 - Principles of Rhetoric Course Credit: 1
(COMD, COMS)
PRINCIPLES OF RHETORIC This course surveys basic concepts of rhetoric or persuasive symbol use and their intersection with civic life. The course interweaves classical and contemporary concepts to examine how words, images, narratives, and arguments shape our social and cultural identities and impact public life through their influence on our perceptions of social reality, our communication about social and political issues, and the civic and rhetorical roles of a range of publics, from dominant groups to dissenting groups to transnational publics. Topics include: rhetoric as symbolic action; language, visual rhetoric, argument, and narrative as forms of symbolic action; and rhetors, audiences, rhetorical situations, and publics and counterpublics as components of symbolic action. Prerequisite(s): COMM-11100 [AH]
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COMM 25200 - Argumentation & Persuasion Course Credit: 1
(COMS)
ARGUMENTATION AND PERSUASION The course examines both the theoretical and pragmatic aspects of argumentation as they relate to decision-making and the persuasion of both self and others. The goals of the course are to familiarize students with the basic concepts of argumentation and reasoning, to teach students how to articulate cogent arguments in both written and oral form, and to improve students’ abilities to analyze the arguments of others. Prerequisite(s): COMM-11100 Spring. [AH]
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COMM 25400 - Political Rhetoric Course Credit: 1
(COMS)
POLITICAL RHETORIC This course examines the role that rhetoric plays in constructing and shaping our political realities. Topics include the nature of political rhetoric, rhetoric and issue construction, campaign discourse, political rhetoric and the news, domestic issue management, foreign policy rhetoric, issue advocacy and the disenfranchised, and the ethics of political discourse. The course aims to sharpen students’ critical skills in analyzing and evaluating political rhetoric, and to provide students with a greater awareness of both the artistry and potential manipulation of political discourse. Prerequisite(s): COMM-11100 Fall.
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COMM 29901 - Serials and Social Justice / Digital Age Course Credit: 1
(ENGL)
SERIALS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE IN THE DIGITAL AGE This team-taught writing seminar will begin by surveying serial storytelling techniques as well as the history of the form, beginning with Dickens’s nineteenth-century novels and moving through the wide range of media-art, comics, film, television, podcasts, and so on-that have adopted and adapted the serial form. What functions do serials serve for consumers? For producers? How are plots configured to extend across time while meeting the (perceived) needs of diverse audiences? How does the genre, and the ways in which it is constructed, represent social diversity and engage with questions of social justice? Students will develop a critical vocabulary to assess the serial genre while analyzing the economic and cultural issues surrounding serial production and consumption. In the last half of the course, students will apply their learning by writing and producing a serial narrative of their own. [AH, C]
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COMM 29902 - Networked Lives, Networked Bodies Course Credit: 1
(ENGL)
COMM/ENGL-29902: NETWORKED LIVES, NETWORKED BODIES The course will provide a survey of theories of cultural and media studies from the mid-nineteenth century through the twenty-first, in tandem with a survey of the rise of the mass media. Focusing on the direct impact of media technologies on human ways of knowing, the course aims to help students-often typecast as digital natives-think critically about the technologies that surround us. Through humanistic training, students can learn to see media through fresh eyes, considering other possibilities for their own interactions with technology, as well as for the processes through which texts are composed and circulated and for technology’s role in shaping, and being shaped by, human cultures. [AH, C]
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COMM 31100 - Theories of Human Communication Course Credit: 1
(COMS)
THEORIES OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION The goal of this advanced course is to provide students with in-depth knowledge of theories of communication in order to provide a more coherent understanding of Communication Studies as a discipline. Course topics include, but are not limited to theories of signs and language; speech act theory; theories of message production; theories of message reception and processing; symbolic interactionism, dramatism, and narrative; theories of social and cultural reality; theories of experience and interpretation; critical theories. Prerequisites: Two courses from the categories of Human Dynamics, Rhetorical Studies, or Media Studies with each course representing a different category - or permission of instructor. Prerequisite(s): 2 courses from the categories of Human Dynamics, Rhetorical Studies, or Media Studies with each course representing a different category; or permission of instructor Annually.
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COMM 33200 - Visual Communication Course Credit: 1
(COMS, FILM)
VISUAL COMMUNICATION (Film Studies) This course introduces students to the form, content, and consequences of visual literacy as they relate to screen composition, photographic design, and applied media aesthetics. Students will develop the ability to understand and interpret screen language, and will construct their own visual statements using video production techniques. Topics include spatial and temporal continuity, movement, cutting, camera angles, lighting, pacing, and the basics of production and editing equipment. Prerequisite(s): COMM-23300 or COMM-23500; or permission of instructor
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COMM 35005 - Surveillance of Difference Course Credit: 1
(WGSS)
Surveillance of Difference What is the definition of surveillance? What does it mean to be visible to the government or your neighbor? What impact do social media have on perceptions of identity? On social movements? These are a few of the questions we will investigate in this course. From a feminist perspective, we will seek to understand the relationship between individual bodies and modern forms of surveillance such as the Apple watch, Twitter, or body scanners in the airport. We will also screen episodes from BBC’s Orphan Black and Black Mirror to understand how surveillance is represented in the media. Additionally, we will consider how categories of identity such as gender, race and ethnicity, or sexuality impact an individual’s ability to be visible or invisible and some of the consequences associated with these identities.
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COMM 35006 - British Media and Film Course Credit: 1
(FILM)
British Media and Film This course examines and analyzes the culture, economics, creative process and influence of British Television, media and film. Through rigorous viewing, analysis, and reading we will look at the historical perspectives as well as the current issues and themes in British television and film, creatively, technologically, and financially. We will consider some of the distinctive modes and genres of British film and television, the special relationship between film and television in the British context, and the innovative strategies British filmmakers and television producers have used to cope with increasingly transnational forms of cinematic production, distribution, and reception. This class offers an opportunity not only to acquaint yourself with British cinema and media but to learn something about contemporary British culture and society.
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COMM 35200 - Rhetorical Criticism Course Credit: 1
(COMS)
RHETORICAL CRITICISM This course examines the nature and methods of rhetorical criticism, with the goal of teaching students how to write rhetorical criticisms of their own and how to critique the work of others. Topics include Neo-Aristotelian criticism, narrative criticism, Burkean criticism, generic criticism, cultural (metaphor, value, myth, fantasy theme) analysis, and ideological (feminist, Neo-Marxist, and deconstructionist) criticism. Prerequisite(s): COMM-11100, or permission of instructor Annually. Spring.
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COMM 35300 - Quantitative Methods Course Credit: 1
(COMD, COMS)
QUANTITATIVE METHODS This course examines experimental and field research methods as they apply to research in Communication Studies and Communication Sciences and Disorders. The goal of this course is to provide students with a working knowledge of quantitative methods so that they can make informed choices when conducting their own research studies and can critique research studies conducted by others. Course topics include, but are not limited to, measurement techniques (surveys, survey interviews, focus groups, content analysis) and related concerns such as creating research questions, reliability, validity, and coding; sampling; experimental design; data entry; data analysis; writing research results. Prerequisite(s): Prerequisite: One completed course in Communication Studies or Communication Sciences and Disorders, or permission of instructor. Annually. Spring. [Q]
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COMM 40100 - Junior Independent Study Course Credit: 1
(COMD, COMS)
JUNIOR INDEPENDENT STUDY The course examines how scholars conduct communication research and culminates with students writing a Junior Independent Study thesis under the direction of a faculty adviser. Topics include the selection of a research question or purpose; the use of the library for scholarly communication research; a broad overview of humanistic and social scientific methods; the evaluation of scholarly research; and guidelines for scholarly writing. The course involves a number of writing assignments as well as the drafting and revision of thesis chapters, in order to help students clarify their goals and articulate their research findings in a coherent way. Prerequisite(s): COMM-11100, and two 200-level COMM course with a C- or better, COMM-31100(COMM-31100 may be taken concurrently), and completion of a W course. Annually. Fall and Spring.
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COMM 41000 - Internship Course Credit: 0.25
Maximum Credit: 4
(COMD, COMS)
INTERNSHIP A structured, usually off-campus experience, in which a student extends classroom knowledge to a work position within a community, business, educational, or governmental organization. Student interns work and learn under the joint guidance of a host organization supervisor and a College of Wooster mentor. The student must arrange the internship in advance through the appropriate department or program. No more than six internships, and a maximum of four Wooster course credits, will count toward graduation. The form for registering for an internship and the Internship Learning Plan are available in the office of the Registrar. May be repeated. S/NC. Annually.
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COMM 45100 - Senior Independent Study Course Credit: 1
(COMD, COMS)
SENIOR INDEPENDENT STUDY–SEMESTER ONE The first semester of the Senior Independent Study project, in which each student engages in creative and independent research guided by a faculty mentor and which culminates in a thesis and an oral examination in the second semester. Prerequisite(s): COMM-40100 Annually. Fall and Spring.
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COMM 45200 - Senior Independent Study Course Credit: 1
(COMD, COMS)
SENIOR INDEPENDENT STUDY–SEMESTER TWO The second semester of the Senior Independent Study project, which culminates in the thesis and an oral examination. Prerequisite(s): COMM-45100 Annually. Fall and Spring.
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