Office: Hugh Gillis Hall 108
Telephone: 408-924-5360
Email: commstudies@sjsu.edu
Website: www.sjsu.edu/comm

Professors
Stephanie J. Coopman
Deanna L. Fassett
Ge Gao
Rona T. Halualani
Tabitha Hart
Kathleen McConnell
Matthew Spangler
Anne Marie Todd
Andrew F. Wood, Chair

Associate Professors
Kristen Cole
Oona Hatton
Marie Haverfield
Luis Felipe Gómez
Priya Raman

Assistant Professors
Alejandro Artiga-Purcell

Overview

The Department of Communication Studies prepares competent and ethical communicators for meaningful participation in diverse local and global communities. The B.A. and M.A. programs focus on four primary areas, or cornerstones: democracy, diversity, technology, and globalization. Democracy affirms the balance of individual freedom and socio-political consensus shaped through dialogue, argument, and persuasion between individuals and groups. Diversity explores the variety and complexity of communication efforts to shape beliefs, values, and perceptions in different communities and cultures. Technology interrogates the implications of human communication in a mediated world. Globalization recognizes the interconnectedness, integration, fragmentation, and conflict within human societies and cultures in global contexts. Our undergraduate and graduate degree programs prepare alumni for a wide range of careers in areas such as education, sales, marketing, public relations, human resource development, law, politics, and community service.

Honors Program

Students requesting departmental honors in Communication Studies will be evaluated against the following criteria: (1) a minimum GPA of 3.5 in all four unit upper division courses in the major (Foundations, Inquiry, Practice Courses, 101C and 199C); (2) have at least a 3.0 overall GPA; and (3) satisfactorily complete one of the department’s four-unit graduate seminars.

Programs

• Communication Studies, BA
• Communication Studies, Preparation for Teaching, BA (Not Accepting Students)

• Communication in the Information Age Minor
• Communication Studies Minor

• Communication Studies, MA

Courses

• COMM 10 - Communication and Human Relationships
• COMM 20 - Public Speaking
• COMM 20EL - Public Speaking for English Language Learners
• COMM 21 - Performing Culture and Society
• COMM 40 - Argumentation and Advocacy
• COMM 41 - Critical Decision Making
• COMM 45 - Media and Culture
• COMM 74 - Fundamentals of Intercultural Communication
• COMM 74Q - Fundamentals of Intercultural Communication
• COMM 80 - Communication Workshop
• COMM 91A - Activity Project in Forensics: Intramural Debate
• COMM 91J - Judge Training
• COMM 92 - International Program Studies
• COMM 100W - Writing Workshop: Writing for Influence
• COMM 101C - Junior Seminar: Theorizing Communication
• COMM 105P - Communication, Self, and Society
• COMM 110F - Interpersonal Communication
• COMM 111P - Interviewing
• COMM 112P - Communicating at Work
• COMM 113P - Games in Everyday Life
• COMM 114P - Business and Professional Speaking
• COMM 115P - Communication and Conflict
• COMM 116P - Mediation: Theory and Practice
• COMM 117F - Understanding Play & Games
• COMM 119I - Researching Games
• COMM 120P - Persuasive & Presentation Skills
• COMM 121P - Performance as Practice
• COMM 122F - Performance Studies
• COMM 123I - Performance of Ethnodrama
• COMM 124P - Communication Training and Development
• COMM 125P - Ensemble Performance
• COMM 126F - Race and Performance
• COMM 130F - Activism, Action, and Resistance
• COMM 131P - New Media/You Media
• COMM 132F - Dis/Ability Communication
• COMM 133F - Ethical Problems in Communication
• COMM 140P - Argumentation and Debate
• COMM 141P - Small Group Communication
• COMM 144F - Organizational Communication
• COMM 145I - Rhetorical and Cultural Criticism
• COMM 146F - Communication and the Environment
• COMM 147P - Argumentation and Persuasion in Courts of Law
• COMM 149F - Rhetoric and Public Life
• COMM 150I - Inquiry in Organizational Communication
• COMM 151I - New Media/New Methods
• COMM 152I - Communication in World Cultures
• COMM 153I - Discourse Analysis
• COMM 154I - Ethnography for Communication Studies
• COMM 155I - Quantitative Communication Inquiry
• COMM 156I - Observation and Interviewing Methods
• COMM 157SL - Community Action/Community Service
• COMM 160F - Language, Meaning, and Culture
• COMM 161F - Communication and Culture
• COMM 164F - Communication and Global Organizations
• COMM 165P - Communication and Organizational Philanthropy
• COMM 168A - Climate Action and Leadership I
• COMM 168B - Climate Action and Leadership II
• COMM 169I - The Media: Response and Criticism
• COMM 170F - Persuasion
• COMM 172F - Multicultural Communication in the United States
• COMM 173F - Intercultural Communication and Global Understanding
• COMM 174 - Intercultural Comm and Structural Inequalities
• COMM 175F - Nonverbal Communication
• COMM 176P - Communication and Gender
• COMM 178F - Critical Intercultural Communication Studies
• COMM 179 - Global Media and Resistance
• COMM 180 - Individual Studies
• COMM 181F - New Media/New World
• COMM 182P - Communication in the Classroom
• COMM 184 - Directed Reading
• COMM 185F - Health Communication
• COMM 186I - Research Methods in Health Communication
• COMM 187P - Communication and Community Wellness
• COMM 190 - Activity Projects in Speech
• COMM 190I - Activity Proj in Speech International
• COMM 191A - Activity Projects in Forensics
• COMM 191B - Activity Projects in Forensics
• COMM 191C - Activity Projects in Forensics
• COMM 191J - Activity Projects in Forensics
• COMM 191M - Activity Projects in Forensics
• COMM 192 - International Program Studies
• COMM 193 - Activity Projects in Intercultural/International Communication
• COMM 195 - Special Topics in Communication Studies
• COMM 198 - Applied Activity in Communication
• COMM 199C - Senior Seminar: Synthesis & Application
• COMM 200C - Graduate Study in Communication
• COMM 201C - Methods and Methodologies of Communication Studies
• COMM 210F - Interpersonal Communication
• COMM 221I - Performing Narratives
• COMM 222F - Performance and Culture
• COMM 244F - Organizational Communication
• COMM 245I - Communication Criticism
• COMM 249F - Rhetorical Theory
• COMM 250F - Communication Theory: Critical and Interpretive
• COMM 255F - Seminar in Communication Theory
• COMM 265 - Seminar in Crisis Communication
• COMM 274F - Intercultural Communication
• COMM 280 - Independent Study
• COMM 282P - Communication Pedagogy
• COMM 285A - Teaching Associate Practicum I
• COMM 285B - Teaching Associate Practicum II