Communication

COM/ENG114 Journalism (3 semester hours)
Fundamentals of news and feature writing, editing, and broadcast news. Standard forms of journalistic writing are introduced through practice, discussion, and critiques by professional journalists.
Prerequisite: ENG102.

COM150 Public Speaking (3 semester hours)
Students learn to put basic principles of communication into practice through the preparation and presentation of a variety of informative and persuasive speeches. Emphasizes rhetorical principles of audience analysis and organization as well as research and effective delivery style.
Prerequisite: ENG102.

COM160 Television and Visual Literacy (3 semester hours)
The course analyzes the ways in which stories presented on television help to create and circulate understandings about how American society is organized as well as how they are implicated in he construction of our personal identities. Students should complete the class with an ability to critically evaluate the interplay between the aesthetic, economic, regulatory, social, and political factors at work in the production and consumption of television shows.
No prerequisites

COM/ENG204 Technical and Professional Writing (3 semester hours)
Cross-listed with ENG204. For description see ENG204.

COM214 Writing for the Mass Media (3 semester hours)
Advanced experience in newsgathering, reporting, copy editing, and feature writing for print and electronic media.
Prerequisites: ENG114/COM114 or consent of program.

COM220 Professional Communication (3 semester hours)
Cross-listed with BUS220. See BUS220 for description.

COM250 Principles of Communication (3 semester hours)
Basic processes of communication in a variety of contexts, including interpersonal communication in dyads, small groups, and organizational settings, intercultural communication, attitude formation and change, and persuasion. Emphasizes application of theoretical concepts to communication situations.
Prerequisite: COM150.


COM265/266 Communication Practicum (1 semester hour)
This is a flexible credit course (1 semester hour = 20 clock hours; 2 semester hours = 40 clock hours) that offers credit for serving as production crew on some of the remote TV coverage of various events held at Aurora University. During the term students will rotate to fill some of the different production positions associated with the outside TV broadcast of life events. The course is designed to give experience in a situation that is very close to that which would be found in a professional broadcast/cable TV outlet.
Prerequisite: At least one instructor approved TV production course.


ART/COM267 Introduction to Photography (3 semester hours)
Cross-listed with ART267. For description see ART267.

COM280 Mass Communication and American Culture (3 semester hours)
The nature of the mass media starting with the printing press, newspapers, periodicals, the telegraph and telephone, movies, radio and television, and concluding with the new information-age technology. Special emphasis on impact of the media both on individuals and on the society at large.
No prerequisites

COM300 Organizational Communication (3 semester hours)
Interpersonal communication in organizational settings, the nature of group process in organizational contexts, and how formal and informal communication networks operate in the development of distinctive organizational cultures.
No prerequisites

COM320 Persuasion (3 semester hours)
Theoretical approaches to the ways attitudes are formed and changed, the relationship between attitudes and behavior, and how messages transmitted personally and through the mass media of communication are shaped to influence attitudes and behavior. The rhetorical framework established by Aristotle, modern rhetorical theory, contemporary theories of persuasion drawn from research in the fields of psychology, social psychology, and communication.
Prerequisite: COM150 or consent of program.

COM330 Media Law and Regulations (3 semester hours)
Laws and administrative regulations that govern print and electronic media: copyright laws, libel, FCC regulations, etc. Special emphasis on first amendment rights and Supreme Court rulings that affect the professional communicator, the communication industry, and the public.
Prerequisite: COM280.

COM340 Film Genre Series: 1 or (3 semester hours)
The study of film by generic type, identifying elements, historical growth and cultural implications of one or more generic film forms such as the western, the musical, the comedy, or the horror film. May be taken for credit more than once.
Prerequisite: COM150 or consent of program.

COM350 Cross-Cultural Communication (3 semester hours)
The ways in which acts of communication are inextricably bound within specific cultural contexts, with particular attention to inter-ethnic and interracial communication, which are analyzed in terms of differing cultural attitudes, values, patterns of thought, language, and nonverbal communication. Critical examination of the mass media as transmitters of information about culture and subcultures.
Prerequisite: Completion of General Education Communication requirement, demonstrated research and writing skills or consent of program.

COM351 Corporate and Professional Communication (3 semester hours)
Application of concepts of persuasion to creating informative and promotional copy for brochures, newsletters, grants, proposals, press releases, direct mail, and display advertising. Students develop presentation skills necessary for effective communication in corporate and professional settings.
Prerequisite: ENG102.

COM354 Computerized Publication Systems (3 semester hours)
Use of microcomputer technology for the communication specialist to design and produce newsletters, brochures, flyers, and reports quickly and efficiently. Applications of computer technology in the writing-editing-production cycle to create effective informational and promotional materials.
Prerequisite: Completion of General Education Communication requirement, demonstrated writing skills or consent of program.

COM356 Sports Information (3 semester hours)
Focusing on sports, both as an American cultural experience and as a mass media enterprise, students learn to apply basic communication processes involved in the field of sports information. Students will develop a portfolio of messages designed to facilitate the mission and purpose of selected professional and amateur sports organizations. Emphasis on the politics, economics, and ethics which impinge on professional roles in the field.
Prerequisite: COM150 or consent of program.

COM/ART360 Media Technology f (r )
Instructional/Corporate Settings 3 semester hours
Cross-listed with ART360. For description see ART360.

COM361 Television Production I (3 semester hours)
Techniques and equipment of video production, emphasizing principles of good practice for operation in the studio and on location. The basic skills to carry a brief program through from conception to completion. Study of television styles and conventions and application of underlying theories and principles of communication to the creation of a variety of messages in the video medium.
Prerequisite: At least one course in communication. Class size limited by studio space. Not recommended for freshman.

COM362 Television Production II (3 semester hours)
Continuation of Television Production I. Development of more complex and sophisticated video programs. Manipulation and redefinition of traditional styles and conventions, as well as use of both conventional and nonconventional methods of presentation, editing, and visual style to achieve greater impact and control in the use of the medium.
Prerequisite: COM361or equivalent with consent of program.

COM380 Popular Culture (3 semester hours)
Students critically analyze aspects of popular culture such as magazines, television genres, sports, fashion, music, and sub-cultural styles. The course stresses the need to scrutinize the constant struggle between the economics of the culture industries on the one hand and the desires and behavior of audiences on the other. Students will be introduced to the rudiments of discursive theory and asked to apply those understandings in a paper dealing with a chosen area of popular culture.
No prerequisites

COM384 Advanced Topics in Television Production (3 semester hours)
Specific areas of television production, such as field production, lighting, set design and art direction, editing, directing, or producing with opportunity for advanced students to develop expertise in these essential topics. May be repeated for credit with different topics.
Prerequisite: At least one previous course in video production.

COM400 Critical and Ethical Perspectiv (s )
in Communication 3 semester hours
Critically examines ethical and social issues in all areas of communication, with special emphasis on issues surrounding the first amendment, theories of the press, and public access to information; the context of modern, mass-mediated communication and its impact on social, political, economic, and cultural relationships.
Prerequisites: COM150 and consent of program.

COM499 Senior Seminar in Communication (3 semester hours)
Opportunity for senior students to complete individual term projects demonstrating ability to integrate theoretical and practical aspects of their chosen areas of communication. Seminar discussions focus on theoretical and practical issues in the field of communication.
Prerequisites: Open only to communication majors or minors with senior standing.