Communication 6001
Introduction to Graduate Studies in Communication I

Fall 2002

Prof. Gil Rodman
CIS 3040 // 813-974-3025 // gbrodman@mindspring.com
Office Hours: Th 4-6p or by appointment

course description and objectives

As its title implies, this course is an introduction to many things, including: This course doesn't pretend to be a comprehensive survey of the field (no one semester course could accomplish such a thing anyway) or even of the department (as none of us could adequately sum up everything we do in a handful of readings and a single class session), but it should provide you with enough of a sense of who we are and what we're about to move forward with your graduate program in productive fashion.
required course materials


papers

You will write three papers over the course of the semester as follows:

Paper #1 critical response due 10 Oct 1250-1750 words
Paper #2 compare & contrast due 21 Nov 1750-2250 words
Paper #3 application/analysis due 12 Dec 3000-3750 words

Further details re: these assignments is available on a separate handout.
Blackboard Discussion Board participation

The primary purpose of the Discussion Board is to provide an informal space that's always available for discussion of the issues raised by the assigned readings and our class sessions. I expect everyone to participate in these discussions on a more or less regular basis. While there's no hard and fast rule here for what constitutes "enough" participation, if the bulk of your contributions consist of one-line replies to other people's longer messages (e.g., "Well said, Chris. Thanks.") or if more than 7-10 days go by between your posts, you're probably not pulling your weight here.

Additionally, the Blackboard site may occasionally be used to make important course-related announcements (e.g., "please add everything on the third floor of the USF library to next Thursday's reading") or to pass word on about other topics that may be of interest to the class (e.g., calls for papers, upcoming conferences, recently published articles and books, etc.). So check the site frequently.
grading policy

I'm not a big fan of grades at the graduate level. Presumably, your main reason for being here is that you have a genuine desire to learn something about communication, not whether you can maintain a 4.0 GPA. Assuming you show up for class consistently, participate in our discussions (both in class and online) on a regular basis, and complete the assigned papers in satisfactory fashion, you should get an A. That being said, in cases where people are clearly slacking off, I reserve the right to go deeper into the alphabet when I fill out my final grade sheet (and I've actually done so in the past). Under such unfortunate circumstances, your grade will be calculated as follows:

Attendance/participation 10%
Blackboard Discussion Board participation 15%
Paper #1 20%
Paper #2 25%
Paper #3 30%

Final course grades will not use the plus/minus grading system.
N.B.: As of late August, the schedule below seemed to work for all the guest speakers concerned -- but real life is never as tidy as the syllabus makes it out to be, so the details below are subject to change. Insofar as I have advance notice of such changes, I'll make sure y'all do too.

5 September
no guest
12 September
guests: Kara Babbitt, Cara Mackie

no readings

19 September
guest: Marcy Chvasta

readings t.b.d.

26 September
guest: Stacy Holman Jones

readings t.b.d.

3 October
guest: Elizabeth Bell

readings t.b.d.

10 October
NO CLASS
paper #1 due

17 October
no guest

readings t.b.d.

24 October
guest: Navita James

readings t.b.d.

31 October
guest: Michael LeVan

readings t.b.d.

7 November
"guest": Gil Rodman

readings t.b.d.

14 November
guest: Mark Neumann

readings t.b.d.

21 November
NO CLASS [NCA]
paper #2 due

28 November
NO CLASS [Thanskgiving]

5 December
no guest

readings t.b.d.

12 December
NO CLASS
paper #3 due