The Department of Communication has seats remaining in the following courses.
CMN 275 Media, Money, and Power. 4 hrs. McChesney. This course describes the political economy of the media in the U.S. and acquaints students with a core understanding of how the media system operates, and with what effects, in a capitalist society. It examines the role of advertising, public relations, corporate concentration, and government regulation upon news reporting, entertainment, culture, and participatory democracy. Also examines issues such as the Internet, globalization, and public broadcasting. Meets Historical &Philosophical Perspectives and Western Comparative Cultures General Education requirements.
CMN 277 Media of Public Discourse. 4 hrs. Staff. Overviews history, structure, forms and social effects through research on political communication, violence and aggression, new technology, race, gender, and public health as portrayed in the mass media. Meets Social Science General Education Requirement.
CMN 396 (Sec. 4) Social Movement Communication. 3 hrs. Cisneros. The course focuses on the communication of 20th and 21st century social movements. It examines the communication strategies of social movements, concentrating on the types of messages that social movements create (including rhetorical messaging, social protest, grassroots organizing, fundraising, and media outreach). We will focus on the role of communication in identity formation, circulation, & effectivity of protest movements.
CMN 396 (Sec. 5) Visual Media Effects. 3 hrs. Bigsby. The overall goal of this class is to provide an introduction and foundation of visual media effects in communication. This class is meant for people who have little or no experience with visual aspects of communication. We will focus primarily on social scientific approaches to understanding visual media effects and theories of visual communication. This is not a course in visual design (e.g., how to design a commercial, PowerPoint, etc.).
CMN 417 Contemporary Rhetorics. 3hrs. Cisneros. This course will explore the nature and scope of rhetorical theory roughly since the mid-twentieth century to the present day. The goals of this course are to develop a basic understanding of significant theories and problems animating the contemporary study of rhetorical discourse and to examine the role and relevance of these theories in public life.
CMN 496 (Sec CJU) Language and Cognition. 3 hrs. Jacobs. This course explores: (1) how the nature of human communication is shaped by the human ability to learn and use language, and (2) how the nature of human communication is shaped by the properties of the linguistic instruments humans have constructed. Topics include: animal communication; concepts and logic; grammar; language development; human biology and evolution; writing; computing machinery; plans, strategies, and inference a related to language.
CMN 496 (Sec. SJU). Argumentation Theory & Evaluation. 3 hrs. Jacobs. This course examines what good argumentation ought to be and how it can go wrong. Various standards and models of good argument are surveyed as well as common categories of fallacy. Special attention is given to the ways in which abuses and failures of communication can mislead, distract, intimidate, and gull people into making poor decisions.
CMN 496 (RMU), Political Economy of Communication. 3 hrs. McChesney. This course is for advanced undergraduates. The course examines the political economy tradition of communication research emphasizing trailblazing current research. Students read and discuss six recent books. The 2015 books include books on the Internet, journalism, money and politics, the prison-industrial complex, surveillance, and the technological revolution.
Please keep them in mind as you meet with students about registration.
Thank you,
Neil T. Baer
Academic Advisor
Department of Communication | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign