300

CST 300 Quantitative Research Methods

This course investigates the role of social science research in building knowledge to improve human communication. Students learn about the scientific method and its application in conceiving, designing, and implementing an original quantitative research project.  Students further learn skills in research collaboration and discuss research ethics and how to evaluate and critique others’ research.

3

Prerequisites

MTH 161

Cross Listed Courses

CST 500

CST 301 Media and Society

Provides students theory and analysis necessary to understand mass media processes and messages as they shape personal, cultural, political, economic and civic life. History and contemporary development of media forms and processes are investigated.

3

CST 302 Communicating Science in Public

Students learn to interrogate key ways science and communication intertwine, especially in this politically polarized internet era; draw conclusions about those interconnections; and develop their means to understand, process, and communicate science in public and in private. Projects, field outings, lab experiments, films, discussions, and community experts help uncover communication’s roles in scientific discovery.

3

CST 307 Progressive Public Speaking for Change

Influential leaders speak well. This course helps future organizational and community leaders develop their ability to speak well and influence others. The class teaches students to recognize, understand, and apply persuasive and rhetorical theories in order to engage and persuade audiences and to promote the health and well-being of others.

3

Prerequisites

CST 107

CST 320 Rhetorical Theory and Criticism

This class challenges students to think, analyze, and write thoughtfully about public messages that influence your experience, profession, life, and culture. Your study of rhetorical theory and criticism will provide lifelong tools with which you can better understand the possibilities and difficulties of forming, using, and evaluating messages that individuals or groups use to influence or change large public audiences.

3

Cross Listed Courses

CST 520

CST 327 Argumentation and Advocacy

In this course students develop an understanding of the nature and application of argument in the context of advocacy. Students learn how to create, access, and apply arguments to advocate for the welfare of the marginalized and voiceless. Students study the work of Dr. King to gain an appreciation of what it means to be an advocate who argues well.

3

CST 330 Qualitative Research Methods

This course introduces qualitative research methods as the study of how humans create culture through symbolic communication. Students learn about qualitative methods through application in a semester-long project. Students will develop a research focus, gain access to a research site, design an ethical research study, collect and analyze data, and create an interpretation and representation of the data for others.

3

Cross Listed Courses

CST 530

CST 332 Transforming Small Group Communication

This course critiques and updates taken-for-granted presumptions about communication’s roles in face-to-face and remote group dynamics including formation, safety, inclusion, and performance. Applied theories and reflective, hands-on learning (projects, simulations, observations, analyses) help learners investigate and improve phenomena such as decision-making, leading, conflict management, problem-solving, and genuinely multivocal collaboration.

3

CST 333 The Future of Work

The nature of work is changing rapidly. New professions proliferate, new technologies disrupt, and new social and political changes impact communication inside and outside of organizations. This experiential course prepares students for “future” work. Students will draw from cutting-edge research on labor, organizing, and technology to develop an understanding of the future organization and their role in it.

3

CST 335 Visual Communication

Study of effective communication of visual messages in the mass media. Students will learn design, concept, and composition strategies for visual media by learning and using visual crafting and formatting software.
3

CST 352 News Writing and Reporting

Instruction in news gathering, evaluating news, and writing typical news stories. Includes a variety of assignments such as hard news, cultural events, speeches, sports, and interviews. Practice work includes covering local assignments and preparing copy.

3

CST 361 Introduction to Advertising

Study of theory and practice of creating advertising messages as a creative. Course includes case studies and work on a dynamic set of projects replicating advertising industry creative practices. Key focus of course is also on advertising ethics and a cultural critique of advertising.

3

CST 362 Introduction to Public Relations

Survey course provides understanding of the role of public relations in the profit-making and non-profit sectors, and specific working knowledge of the various facets of the public relations process, including social media. Planning and implementing public campaigns will be discussed.

3

Prerequisites

CST 352

CST 370 Environmental Organizing and Advocacy

This course provides an introduction to the field of Environmental Communication, focusing on collaborative attempts to organize and advocate for environmental solutions. Using case studies, students will examine environmental communication in a range of contexts including communities, corporations, nonprofit organizations, governmental agencies, and social movements.

3

CST 391 One Time Course Offering

Credit arranged.

Variable