Course Requirements
The Master of Arts in Relational Communication requires 12 courses - two core courses, ten relational communication electives, plus a comprehensive final examination. Students who attain a 3.7 GPA or higher have the option to complete a culminating thesis rather than the 12th course and the comprehensive final exam.
Core Course
Methods Courses
Students choose one of the following:
Elective Courses
Students choose ten courses from the following list:
Students can take up to three elective courses outside of the program with permission from the graduate program director.
Comprehensive Final Examination or Thesis
Students in the Master of Arts in Relational Communication complete their degree requirements by writing a thesis or by completing a comprehensive final examination.
Grade Requirements
Students must maintain a 3.0 average in their graduate work to remain in good standing. Students who drop below this average will be placed on academic probation and expected to attain the minimum requirement within two quarters. Failure to do so will result in dismissal from the program. Students may take one or two courses per quarter to complete the program.
CMNS 582
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS
Introduces students to quantitative approaches to research and basic statistics. Topics include research design and control, survey construction, measurement and other general research issues, nonparametric statistics, correlation, the t-test and analysis of variance.
CMN 591
INTERNSHIP
This graduate level course is designed to integrate the student's work experience at the internship site with a career-management curriculum that enhances internship success and increases employability.
CMNS 523
GENDERED COMMUNICATION
Examines research into the ways the various aspects of communication are affected by and affect the social construction of gender. Topics covered include language and language usage differences, interaction patterns and perceptions of the sexes generated through language and communication. (Cross-listed as MLS 445/WMS 440).
Prerequisites:
Status as a Graduate Communication student is a prerequisite for this class.CMNS 530
INSTRUCTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
This course is designed to assist students in understanding the principles necessary for effective design, delivery and evaluation of instruction based on recognition of situational learning styles, instructional content, the educational venue, and measured outcomes. The point of view of the course is that the instructional development process is a dynamic, unique, significant, and challenging concept that demands the attention of instructors and faculty in all educational settings, both academic and corporate. This course will help students reflect upon issues related to instructional development by emphasizing the realms of interaction within and about educational setting and the components that are recognized as critical in the development, delivery, and assessment of quality instructional experiences.
Prerequisites:
Status as a Graduate Communication student is a prerequisite for this class.RELC 519
DARK SIDE OF INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
This course explores the ?dark side? of interpersonal communication by examining the growing literature on the troubling or problematic aspects of close relationships. Topics covered include relational dilemmas, relational control and dominance, hurtful messages, paradoxical communication, social predicaments, relational transgressions, privacy violations, physical abuse, and verbal aggression. Upon completion of the course students will understand the positive and negative consequences of avoiding topics for discussion, they will understand how uncertainty constitutes both an obstacle and an opportunity in a relationship, they will better understand the difficulties of transitioning from online to offline relationships, they will understand the kinds of events that people perceive to be hurtful as well as the consequences of complaining, bullying, whining and teasing.
RELC 514
FAMILY COMMUNICATION
This course surveys topics relevant to understanding communication phenomena in the setting of the family. Topics include: family systems, patterns, meaning, themes, roles and types, family life cycles, stressors and conflict, changing family forms and contexts. Students completing the course will understand the relationship between strong marital, parent child and sibling communication and relational satisfaction. Furthermore students will learn how to pay closer attention to the nonverbal manifestations of thoughts and feelings, be prepared for solving unavoidable family problems, be able to detect the conditions that contribute to excessive family conflict, understand how lack of intimacy weakens family structures, and distinguish between the need for instrumental and affective communication in strengthening family bonds.
RELC 513
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION
Nonverbal messages are important as we typically monitor our own nonverbal messages less, but believe others nonverbal messages more than their verbal messages. Likewise, research suggests that 65% of our communication is based on nonverbal messages and some estimates are as high as 93%. Clearly such messages are important, yet we spend little time examining such messages. That said, the goal of this course is to provide you with a research based overview of a variety of nonverbal messages, that is, everything we communicate without using our words. This course surveys various conceptual areas generally subsumed under the broad rubric of nonverbal communication. Topics include physical appearances, gestures, face and eye behavior, vocalic, proxemics, touch, time, environmental contexts as well as application of nonverbal behaviors to specific interpersonal communication contexts.
RELC 511
TOPICS IN INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
Explores specialized topics within the field of relational communication. Past topics have included emotions and communication, gender and its relationship to interaction, and the social construction of interpersonal realities.
RELC 503
READINGS IN INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
This course is designed to provide students with a framework that offers the opportunity to choose and read a list of central texts in Relational Communication. Students will all read and discuss, together, at least one historical text and two books that were identified as seminal or central texts by a group of leading scholars in Communication Studies. Students will then identify a list of 3-5 additional central texts in their particular area of the discipline (e.g., emotion, relational dialectics, face work) and read those texts throughout the quarter, reporting their findings to colleagues in the seminar. Each student?s reading list must be compiled and approved by the professor. The seminar participants will complete outlines (which will be shared with all class participants), discussion questions, and facilitate class discussion about their chosen texts. Through reading and thinking about the material, this will produce high-quality and provocative discussion resulting in quality work that will be distributed to colleagues leading to a more holistic understanding about relationship studies.
RELC 502
ATTACHMENT & RELATIONAL COMMU
This course will explore the unique role that attachment styles play in the formation, maintenance, and deterioration of close relationships. Attachment theory will be used to examine how working models of self and other influence patterns of interaction among relational partners. Topics will include how attachment styles influence self-disclosure, conflict resolution, jealousy and deceptive communication. Students will also explore communicative strategies for dealing with attachment related problems.
RELC 501
RELATIONSHIP MAINTENANCE
This course will examine current research examining the communication processes that keep ongoing relations healthy, constructive and functions. Openness, accessibility and fairness all contribute to the health and maintenance of ongoing relationships. But other theories including social exchange theory, interdependence theory and theories of self-disclosure, uncertain reduction and avoidance all contribute to understanding why some relationships continue while others falter. The concepts, theories and models pertinent to understanding mature relationships and why they remain vital, constructive and functional will constitute the foundation for this course. Students completing the course will understand strategies for strengthening ongoing relationships while simultaneously assessing key areas in need of development or remediation.
CMNS 581
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS
Introduction to qualitative approaches to research in communication. The course includes a systematic review and application of ethnography, unstructured interviewing, personal document analysis, historical research, and critical practice. Addresses the rationale, method, and theory of each qualitative approach to research in addition to placing emphasis upon data collection and interpretation.
Prerequisites:
Status as a Graduate Communication student is a prerequisite for this class.RELC 500
RELATIONAL COMMUNICATION THEORIES
Students will gain an understanding of the different meta-theoretical frameworks used to explain relational communication as well as an understanding of what theories are and how theories are developed. A wide range of relational theories will be used in explaining what constitutes relational communication. Students will be provided with opportunities to apply theoretical concepts to everyday personal and professional relations as well as given opportunities to critique and analyze the efficacy of those theories presented.