CORE COURSES

Take the following courses:

CM-130 Introduction to Human Communication

Surveys the fundamental tenets of human communication through application. This course is concerned with how and why we speak, listen, respond, and strategize through the uses of verbal and nonverbal symbol systems.

3 CreditsS 

CM-132 Message Analysis

The study of rhetoric investigates the art of persuasion. The course introduces the basic rhetorical concepts and language we need to make sense of the sea of messages we swim in. The course aims to sharpen your ability to reason, reflect, send, perceive and discern messages in a variety of contexts. Upon completion of this course students understand several humanistic perspectives toward communication and are able to apply the basic tools of rhetorical analysis. Students have an increased awareness of the ways in which our symbolic behaviors shape our social lives.

3 CreditsH, CS 

CM-133 Mass Media and Society

An examination of the convergence of mass media (print, radio, television, sound, film, and internet) which serve our most common public interests. The focus is on the four primary functions to inform, to entertain, to persuade, and to transmit culture. Students have a better understanding of the tension between media as business and its social responsibility to its citizens. This course is not open to seniors.

3 CreditsH, CS

CM-200 Art of Public Speaking

Seeks to develop and improve fundamental principles and methods of selecting, organizing, developing, and communicating a line of reasoning and evidence for constructive influence in speaking situations. Students make three formal presentations, analyze messages, and improve their listening skills

3 CreditsCS, HPrerequisites: Sophomore, Junior, or Senior standing.

CM-401  Senior Seminar

Senior Seminar in Communication is an opportunity to refine your understanding of your communication POE and experiences and their application to the professional world of business or graduate school. Students will reflect on their communication expertise, prepare resumes and interwiewing techniques, network with alums in communication, and communicate their expertise. This course intends to make explicit the strong knowledge base acquired in a Communication POE and to explore the opportunities available in the field of communication.

1 CreditHPrerequisites: Senior standing.


SKILLS & METHODS COURSES

Take 12 credits from the following courses:

CM-210 Race and Language in the United States

This class examines racism as a cultural system observed through our beliefs and practices about spoken English. The goal of the course is to develop an understanding of how linguistic prejudice contributes to the cultural programs of racism in the US.

3 CreditsSW-US 

CM-220 Group Communication

This course is designed to improve communication with others in small group task and problem-solving situations. Working with a community partner students propose, plan and carry out a service project. We explore ways of developing communication strategies for group decision making, for leadership, and for managing interpersonal conflict, as well as presentations skills. This course takes a balanced approach to understanding and using communication theories, as well as offering practical experience using those skills for working in small groups. By the end of the semester students understand the group experience in terms of shared leadership of working cooperatively with diverse group members; and the necessity for ethical choices.

4 CreditsH, CS, SW-LEPrerequisite: CM-130 or CM-132 or CM-133. Pre- or Co-Requisite: FYC-101 or EN-110 or EN-109.

CM-230 Interpersonal Communication

Introduces students to the various theories and styles of one-on-one communication. It emphasizes the transactional approach in the study of the communication process as it occurs in interpersonal relationships. It explores interaction as a way by which we come to know ourselves and each other.

3 CreditsH, CSPrerequisites: CM130

CM-250 LEAD:Listen & Empath Advocacy Diversity

Through the creative sharing of stories, the ontology of listening, reflective readings, writings and conversation we will explore diversity and multicultural communication as unfolding dimensions of our intersectionality, especially as it relates to leadership.

3 CreditsH 

CM-261 CM Studies in Germany I

This course is a short-term study abroad class that meets for one hour a week in the spring semester to prepare for a 10-day trip to Germany in May. We will cover an array of communication topics including public speaking, intercultural and group communication, as well as journalism and PR/marketing related topics. The cost for the trip will include travel, hotel, food and fees. Estimated cost for the course is approximately $3,000.

1 CreditI, HCorequisite: CM262.

CM-262 CM Studies in Germany II

This course is a short-term study abroad class that meets for one hour a week in the spring semester to prepare for a 10-day trip to Germany in May. We cover an array of communication topics including public speaking, intercultural and group communication, as well as journalism and PR/marketing related topics. The cost for the trip will include travel, hotel, food and fees. Estimated cost for the course is approximately $3,000. 

2 CreditsI, HCorequisite: CM261.

CM-289 Communication Practicum

A Practicum in Communication encourage students to: (1) develop skills in analyzing and delivering public presentations; (2) assess, interpret and analyze messages data among diverse audiences; (3) understand speech communication in a variety of contexts; (4) appreciate public address from a historic perspective; and (5) participate actively in the communication field. This course is repeatable up to 4 credits.

1-2 CreditsF, H 

CM-300 Professional Presentations

Designed for students to improve and polish their speaking skills for effective presentations in professional settings. It is a performance course with emphasis placed on speech structure, audience adaptation, style of presentation (oral report and manuscript reading), with the use of PowerPoint and/or Prez1. Video is used to help speakers understand the relationship between their speaking behaviors and responses of listeners.

3 CreditsCS, HPrerequisites: CM200.

CM-330 Media Analysis

Designed to explore analytical approaches applied to a variety of media, including advertising, television sitcoms, new shows, propaganda, film, music and architecture, in order to ascertain the persuasive messages inherent in each artifact. By examining the rhetorical choices revealed by each method of criticism, we can better understand the structure of message design, the medium and in a larger sense the cultural values that shape both.

3 CreditsH, CW, CSPrerequisites: CM132 or CM133.

CM-310 Understanding Health Inequity

In this class, students will learn how to read, understand, and conduct social research about individuals and systems that create disparity in health care and outcomes. The research that we will read and learn to conduct will rely on texts and stories rather than numbers and statistics. The class will address questions such as: what conditions are present that allow some populations greater access to health care than others? What social problems underlie the disparities in health outcomes for women, people of color, and people from low-income backgrounds. Students will gather and analyze their own research data.

3 CreditsS, WK-SIPre-Req or Co-Req: FYC-101 or EN-110 or EN-109


SEMINAR COURSES

Take 12 credits from the following courses:

CM-340 Intercultural Communication

This course examines symbolic patterns of communication as they relate to issues of diversity. Interactive skills needed to open channels of communication between and among people of diverse backgrounds are analyzed and developed. A multi-cultural approach to the study of human communication serves as a basis for exploring issues of diversity that include but are not limited to race, gender, class, ability, orientation, religion and ethnicity.

3 CreditsH, I, SW-GEPrerequisite or Corequisite: FYC-101

CM-400A Health Communication

Explores how communication functions to promote health, the important role of information in health care, the development of communication campaigns to promote health awareness, alternative and multicultural approaches to health care, the promotion of ethical health communication, and the use of new health communication technologies.

3 CreditsHPrerequisites: CM130 and CM230.

CM-365 Organizational Communication

Examines the strategic uses of communication by individuals in organizations and by organizations as a whole in the pursuit of organizational goals. Provides students with a theoretical vocabulary to analyze communication in organizational settings in order to understand processes such as social networks, leadership, and power. Focuses on personal and organizational ethics in work place communication.

3 CreditsH, S, CWPrerequisites: CM130 and CM230 and CM220.

CM-405A Women, Work & Identity

Women. Work. Identity. These three words are related in a complex web that many of us struggle to untangle for our entire working lives. In this course, we identify and name the components of the relationships among these words--all in the context of the unique perspective that the communication discipline offers.

3 CreditsSPrerequisites: CM130 or CM230 or CM220 or CM365 or permission of the instructor.

CONN-350 Community Health Advocacy

In this course, students learn to recognize health disparities within communities and identify ways to intervene and advocate to promote better health outcomes for community members. Students will explore how poor health outcomes for individuals and communities are linked to social determinants of health. This course uses the competencies for community health workers established by the Pennsylvania Certification Board. NOTE: Students are expected to be in their third or fourth year when taking a Connections course.

4 CreditsCONN,IC

CM-420D Truth and Lying

This media studies course introduces students to the theories of rhetoric to understand the question, who can we trust? We pay special attention to the classical period of Rhetoric and the Rhetoric of the 20th century. Rhetoric has been transformed through media. Despite these transformations, rhetoric has always been considered of first importance for the ethical practical conduct of our everyday lives. How we present or lives our beliefs, attitudes, and commitments is indeed the concern of when we lie and who we can trust in our personal and public lives. 

3 CreditsH, CWPrerequisites: CM132 or CM133.

HS-400 Crimes Against Humanity

This course explores the emergence, evolution, varieties, underlying causes, and means of confronting and coming to terms with genocide and other crimes against humanity. During the course of the semester, we will examine a range of historical contexts and we will also confront tough questions about ethics, resistance, and responsibility. 

4 CreditsI, HPrerequisites: Junior or Senior standing. Sophomores require permission.

EN-302 The Literature of Social Protest

In this course, we will explore the use of literature as a means of protesting social injustice throughout U.S. history. How have American authors used novels, poems, stories, and essays to illustrate social problems, create empathy, and advocate for social change? What are the boundaries between art and politics? How might literary aesthetics inspire social action? How has literature shaped social progress and vice versa? Questions of literary form, merit, and content will guide our search, as will questions of representation, politics, and economics. Though topics will range widely (but often intersect), we will ask how each literary work engages with the foundational statement of American dissent, " The Declaration of Independence. "

4 CreditsSW-US 


ELECTIVE COURSES

Take 12 credits from the following courses:

EN-193 Immigrant Voices

In 1994 Professor Judy Katz originated the Juniata tradition of an annual coffeehouse. The event has alternated between Lift Ev'ry Voice, a celebration of African American literature, and Unlock Your Voice, a celebration of literature by women. This year you will help create a parallel event that celebrates immigrant writers. Over the course of weekly lunch meetings, you will plan and prepare this year's performance (and help establish this as a regular event). Together, you will choose an event name and this year's theme, design the performance space, recruit volunteers to read selections of immigrant literature, publicize the event, plan music and refreshments, lead rehearsals, decorate the ballroom, and, finally, perform your own chosen piece. Through all of this, you will gain valuable experience in event planning, public speaking, and teamwork. Let's put on a great show!

1 Credit  

EN-271 Public Health Writing

Focuses on health and medical writing for public audiences. The course will familiarize students with health literacy, plain language, and visual communication skills. Students will analyze and compose common genres of public health writing, including reports about health in the media, advocacy documents, science journalism articles, and public health posters.

3 CreditsH, CWPrerequisites: EN110 or EN109.

EN-299 Special Topics

Allows the department to offer special topics not normally offered. Departments may offer more than one special topic.

1-4 Credits Prerequisites vary by title.

PL-235 Ethics of Health Care

This course is a seminar-style course in 'professional ethics'. It will explore the various codes, value assumptions, and dilemmas faced by those who practice the health care professions. Specific topics (or dilemmas) will be determined by each class, based upon the specific POEs of the enrolled students. 

4 CreditsH,SW-ERPre-req or co-req: FYC-101 or EN-110 or EN-109 

PACS-105  Introduction to Conflict Resolution

A survey of the field of conflict, this course explores the causes and consequences of social conflict. Theory and case studies are used to understand interpersonal disputes, the intricacies of groups in conflict and international issues and crisis. Emphasis is given to understanding the basic theoretical concepts of the field and developing basic conflict resolving skills.

3 CreditsS 

PACS-305  Gender and Conflict

This course looks at the intersection of gender and conflict to understand what it means to say that a conflict is gendered. It uses gender as an organizing concept to study issues of gender equality, justice, and peace, challenging andinterrogating dichotomous, oppositionalconstructions of masculinity and femininity to understand how they contribute to direct, structural, and cultural violence. 

3 CreditsS,I,CW,SW-ERPrerequisite: FYC-101 or EN-110 or EN-109

CM-290 The Metaverse

This introductory course focuses on how information technologies shape the way we think and organize ourselves. In studying the technology of the book, social media and the metaverse, students explore change and technology as central to the decision making of leaders. 

3 CreditsH, CW, CSPrerequisites: CM133 or IT110 or IT111.

HS-221 Gender and Sexuality

In this introduction to the critical study of gender and sexuality, we will examine the ways in which gender and sexuality have been fundamentally reorganized since the 18th century. Focusing mainly, but not exclusively, on Britain and the United States, we will use history, literature, and theory to deepen our understanding of these transformations.

4 CreditsH 

HS-367 Women in Africa

This course will provide students with an understanding of women in sub-Saharan African cultures, their history, traditions, diversity, resilience and adaptability. To do this we will be looking at social structure, kinship networks, economic systems, gender relations, ethnicity and ethnic conflicts, traditional religion, the HIV/AIDS epidemic and other health issues.

4 CreditsCA, H, I, CTDH 

HS-324 Gendering the Raj

This course looks at the real and symbolic roles that British and Indian women and men played in colonial India, providing an opportunity to explore wider theoretical issues relating to race, sex, gender, colonialism, and culture.

4 CreditsCA, I, H 

SO-203 Minority Experiences

An exploration of the factors that shape the experiences of minority group members in both domestic and global contexts. The social processes that functions to construct minority identity among racial, ethnic, gender, and ability groups are studied.

3 CreditsSPrerequisites: SO101 or AN151.

SO-242 Aging & Society

Analyzes the physical, psychological and social processes involved in aging, and the societal response to aging. 

3 CreditsSPrerequisite: SO101 or AN151.

SO-305 Gender and Society

This course is designed to explore the history and discourse related to the experiences and sociologicaldefinitions of gender roles across global and domestic contexts. Students will participate in critical analysis of the scholarship of gender roles using classical and contemporary works. The course will explore domestic and international experiences of men and women in biological, cultural, economic, environmental and political contexts. 

3 CreditsSPrerequisites: SO101 or PY101.


CAPSTONE

Complete one of the following options below (a minimum of 4 credits):

OPTION 1:

CM-490 Communication Internship

Communication students may apply their acquired skills and knowledge to on-the-job internships for a semester during their junior or senior year for a total of 9 credit hours. Television stations, radio stations, newspapers, magazines, public relations, advertising agencies and human relations in health organizations are all possible placements. You not only work as full-time members of a business team, but also evaluate and document your growth in a work journal and prepare a portfolio of presentations or publications.

2-9 Credits Corequisite: CM495. Prerequisite: Communication core and Jr. or Sr. standing.

CM-495 Communication Internship Research

In addition to the on-the-job experience provided by the internship, students are required to pursue research related to their placement. An in-depth research paper or presentation is completed during the semester. 

2-6 CreditsHCorequisite: CM490. Prerequisite: Communication core and Jr. or Sr. standing.


 OPTION 2:

CM-497  Senior Thesis Seminar

Designed to serve as a capstone course for students who emphasize Communication in their POE. The students will be expected to examine communication theories and research methods relevant to a topic, theme, issue, or problem that has served as an area of special interest throughout the previous years of study. 

3-6 CreditsH, CSStudents must have Senior standing and a POE in Communication.

CM-498  Senior Thesis Research

Designed to serve as a capstone course for students who emphasize Communication in their POE. The students will be expected to examine communication theories and research methods relevant to a topic, theme, issue, or problem that has served as an area of special interest throughout the previous two years of study. 

3-6 CreditsH, CSStudents must have Senior standing and have a POE in Communication.  Prerequisite: CM-497.


POE Credit Total = 55

Students must complete at least 18 credits at the 300/400-level.  Any course exception must be approved by the advisor and/or department chair.