Speech Communication is a humanistic and scientific field of study, research and application. Its focus is upon how, why, and with what effects people communicate through spoken language and associated nonverbal messages.The Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication is recommended for students who want a broad liberal arts background as preparation for possible careers in public relations, business, government, social services, law, and other professions, or for graduate study. Students are admitted to the program following an interview with the department chairperson.The department also offers a minor. Students interested in declaring a speech communication minor should contact the department chairperson.
SPCM 11000-all PUBLIC COMMUNICATION HU 3a
3 CREDITS
01: Howard Erlich, Muller 432, Ext. 4-3534
02: Michael Whelan, Muller 421, Ext. 4-3542
03: Michael Whelan, Muller 421 Ext. 4-3542
04: Howard Erlich, Muller 432, Ext. 4-3534
05: Dan Maguire, Muller 419, Ext. 4-7335
06: Heather Brecht, Muller 402, Ext. 4-3429
07: Jodi Cohen, Muller 415, Ext. 4-3025
08: Heather Brecht, Muller 402, Ext. 4-3429
09: Jodi Cohen, Muller 415, Ext. 4-3025
10: Jodi Cohen, Muller 415, Ext. 4-3025
11: Dan Maguire, Muller 419, Ext. 4-7335
12: Dan Maguire, Muller 419, Ext. 4-7335
ENROLLMENT: 18
PREREQUISITES: None.
OBJECTIVES: To improve students' ability to organize thought for communicative purposes; to develop students' confidence, spontaneity, and extemporaneous style in one-to-many oral communication situations; to encourage students’ development and use of logical argument supported by evidence in persuasive communication attempts both inside and outside the classroom setting; to increase students' sensitivity to appropriate and inappropriate language use, and nonverbal communication stimuli; to assist students’ choice of appropriate message content, organization and style for a variety of audience situations; to stimulate development of critical listening skills for use inside and outside the classroom as communication receiver-consumer.
STUDENTS: Open to all Ithaca College students.
FORMAT AND STYLE: Approximately 50% class time is lecture discussion; 50% class time is speech making and critical listening.
REQUIREMENTS: Text(s) to be announced. Attendance is required. Students must participate in discussion, speaking, and critical listening. Speeches and outlines. Other requirements to be announced.
SPCM 11500-all BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION HU
3 CREDITS
01: Danette Johnson, Muller 407, Ext. 4-1124
02: Ann Byrne, Muller 402, Ext. 4-1067
03: Ann Byrne, Muller 402, Ext. 4-1067
06: Howard Erlich, Muller 432, Ext. 4-3534
07: Howard Erlich, Muller 432, Ext. 4-3534
08: David Smith, Muller 415, Ext. 4-5794
ENROLLMENT: 20
PREREQUISITE: None.
OBJECTIVES: Students will be provided with opportunities to develop their skills at business and professional communication in a variety of forms. Specifically, they will learn to effectively prepare and deliver oral presentations, work in problem solving small groups, participate in interviews as either the interviewer or interviewee, listen actively and critically to the presentations of others, and maintain good interpersonal relationships in the workplace. Some instruction will also be provided in effective management techniques and skills at writing résumés and business letters.
STUDENTS: Open to all Ithaca College students who have an interest in developing their professional skills.
FORMAT AND STYLE: Student presentations, lectures, in-class discussions and exercises.
REQUIREMENTS: Text(s) to be announced. Presentations, exams, attendance and participation.
SPCM 12000-01 COMMUNICATION, CULTURE & RHETORIC HU 1
3 CREDITS
INSTRUCTOR: Scott Thomson, Williams 206, Ext. 4-3670
ENROLLMENT: 25
PREREQUISITES: None.
OBJECTIVES: Cultures create ideas, identities and actions through speeches, films, music, rituals and other forms of communication. The course introduces students to a vocabulary for critically evaluating public communication and its role in our culture. The critical vocabulary that organizes the course is drawn from neo-classical rhetoric, semiotics, narrative, dramatistic, and psychoanalytic theories. Students will use the theoretical concepts to write critical essays on communication texts of their choosing.
FORMAT AND STYLE: Lecture-discussion. Papers, participation, regular quizzes.
REQUIREMENTS: Text: Rhetorical Theory: An Introduction by Timothy Borchers.
SPCM 12400-01 COURTROOMS AND COMMUNICATION HU 1
3 CREDITS
INSTRUCTOR: Michael Whelan, Muller 421, Ext. 4-3542
ENROLLMENT: 20
PREREQUISITE: None
OBJECTIVES: Courtrooms and Communication provides an active introduction to law and advocacy as human, not technical, phenomena. The course is conducted around in-class discussions, readings and media, and participation in mock trials. The key concepts stressed in this course are advocacy, evidence, burdens of proof, judgment, conduct of trial, legal proceedings as theater, juries as decision making groups, the ethical responsibilities of advocates, and legal reasoning. Courtrooms and Communication is a required course in the Legal Studies Major.
SPCM 13200-01, 02 STORYTELLING FA 3b
3 CREDITS
INSTRUCTOR: Lee-Ellen Marvin, Muller 419, Ext. 4-1546
ENROLLMENT: 20
PREREQUISITE: None
OBJECTIVES: This is an introductory course on storytelling in contemporary society. The course will provide basic training in the art and craft of storytelling and will examine and analyze storytelling in a variety of cultures, settings, and contexts. While learning at least three stories during the semester, you will also learn about yourself as a performer, and will explore your own personal, family, and cultural identity.
STUDENTS: Open to all students at Ithaca College. No previous performance experience required. Students of Theatre Arts, English, School of Communications, Anthropology, Sociology, and Recreation should find the course of particular interest.
FORMAT AND STYLE: Combination of lecture-discussion and workshop-performance rounds.
REQUIREMENTS: Three storytelling performances, weekly written response papers, class participation, and a written study of storytelling in everyday life.
SPCM 14000-01 SMALL GROUP COMMUNICATION SS 1
3 CREDITS
INSTRUCTOR: Ann Byrne, Muller 402, Ext. 4-1067
ENROLLMENT: 25
PREREQUISITE: None.
OBJECTIVES: To acquaint students with contemporary theories of group development and dynamics. To provide a variety of group situations in which students can experience these dynamics and learn how their participation relates to small group theory.
STUDENTS: Open to all Ithaca College students.
FORMAT AND STYLE: Lecture-discussion, small group exercises and assignments.
REQUIREMENTS: Text(s) to be announced. Attendance and participation in formal group presentations, simulations and group exercises. Examinations.
SPCM 14900-01 FUNDAMENTALS OF INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION SS 1
3 CREDITS
INSTRUCTOR: Danette Johnson, Muller 407, Ext. 4-1124
ENROLLMENT: 25
PREREQUISITE: None.
OBJECTIVES: The understanding and application of basic principles of interpersonal communication to everyday situations. This course presents theoretical perspectives integrated with structured exercises. Topic areas include self-concept, interpersonal perception, language, nonverbal communication, relational development and conflict management. Both theoretical understanding and interpersonal skills will be emphasized. The practical benefit of this course is to better understand interpersonal communication patterns.
STUDENTS: Open to all Ithaca College students.
FORMAT AND STYLE: Lecture-discussion and exercises.
REQUIREMENTS: Text(s) to be announced. Students can generally expect several exams, one or two papers, and a final exam. This is not a public speaking class. Students should expect to participate actively in class.
SPCM 21500-01 ARGUMENTATION AND DEBATE HU
3 CREDITS
INSTRUCTOR: Scott Thomson, Williams 206, Ext. 4-3670
ENROLLMENT: 20
PREREQUISITE: Two courses in the humanities and/or social sciences.
OBJECTIVES: Students enrolled in this class will learn how to: formulate and analyze propositions, develop and conduct strategies for research, organize and analyze arguments, evaluate support for arguments, and prepare affirmative and negative cases. Students will also learn techniques for the presentation of arguments in formal contexts and techniques for cross examination.
STUDENTS: Open to all Ithaca College students.
FORMAT AND STYLE: Lecture/discussion, participation in in-class arguments.
REQUIREMENTS: Text: Ziegelmueller, George and Jack Kay. Argumentation: Inquiry and Advocacy. 3rd Edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997.
SPCM 21800-01 SPEECH COMMUNICATION FOR THE CLASSROOM TEACHER HU
3 CREDITS
INSTRUCTOR: Ann Byrne, Muller 402, Ext. 4-1067
ENROLLMENT: 12
PREREQUISITES: Sophomore standing. 6 credits of coursework in major academic area.
OBJECTIVE: This course is part of the South Hill Elementary School-Ithaca College partnership. The emphasis is on the application of an instructional communication model. In the first half of the semester students will study theoretical and pedagogical literature on instructional communication models, storytelling in education, and on narrative techniques and traditions. Students will design and practice lesson plans; they will also observe elementary classes at South Hill Elementary School. In the second half of the semester students will work with small groups of elementary students at the South Hill Elementary location. This work will culminate in an evening of performances done by the elementary students for the South Hill Elementary School and Ithaca College communities at an Ithaca College venue.
STUDENTS: Open to students meeting the prerequisite; students studying Speech Communication, English, Theater Arts, Health Care, Parenting, or any of the Teacher Education programs should find the course of particular interest. Students should be prepared to make a serious commitment, as this is not a typical “lecture-discussion” class.
FORMAT AND STYLE: Combination of lecture-discussion, lesson plan design, practice sessions implementing lesson plans, class observations, teacher experience with elementary students, with reflective discussions afterwards.
REQUIREMENTS: Selected readings, active and responsible participation in the workshops, lesson plans, in-class practice sessions and notebook, a reflective paper on the application of the model of instructional communication studied, and attendance at the formal evening program.
SPCM 21900-02 SPEECH COMMUNICATION PRACTICUM NLA
1 CREDIT
INSTRUCTOR: Scott Thomson, Williams 206, Ext. 4-3670
ENROLLMENT: 20
PREREQUISITES: One course in humanities and/or social sciences.
OBJECTIVES: Practical experience in competitive speech on campus, in intercollegiate events, and in the community at large; debate and legislative assemblies, discussion, informative persuasive speaking, impromptu and extemporaneous speaking, oral interpretation, dramatic duos and readers theater.
NOTE: The instructor will designate the minimum activities required to receive credit. May only be taken pass/fail. May be repeated for a total of 8 credits.
SPCM 32800-01 THE USES AND METHODS OF COMMUNICATION CRITICISM HU LA
3 CREDITS
INSTRUCTOR: Daniel Maguire, Muller 419, Ext. 4-7335
ENROLLMENT: 16
PREREQUISITES: SPCM-12000 and junior standing.
OBJECTIVES: Criticism is one of the primary research methods in the field of communication. This advanced course in communication criticism approaches criticism as a way of knowing, comparable to scientific and social scientific ways of knowing. We focus on different methods of criticism through student driven projects and presentations. We consider the practical uses of criticism and reflect on the philosophical assumptions critics make.
STUDENTS: Open to all Ithaca College Students.
FORMAT AND STYLE: Lecture/discussion.
SPCM 34800-01 FAMILY COMMUNICATION SS 1
3 CREDITS
INSTRUCTOR: Laurie Arliss, Muller 413, Ext. 4-35778
ENROLLMENT: 18
PREREQUISITE: SPCM-14000 or SPCM-14900. Two courses in the social sciences and sophomore standing.
OBJECTIVE: We will explore the family from a communication perspective. Students study the dominant theories and methodologies that illuminate communication about and within the contemporary American family. Emphasis is on the central role communication plays in determining expectations and realities in a diversity of situations (e.g., nuclear, extended, single-parent, blended, voluntarily childless, or gay/lesbian families.)
STUDENTS: Any student who has fulfilled the prerequisites.
FORMAT AND STYLE: Lecture/discussion, seminar format.
REQUIREMENTS: Examinations, papers and independent projects.
SPCM 35300-01 LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL INTERACTION HU
3 CREDITS
INSTRUCTOR: Danette Johnson, Muller 407, Ext. 4-1124
ENROLLMENT: 20
PREREQUISITES: Junior standing and three courses in speech communication.
OBJECTIVE: In this course, students will apply and evaluate theoretical explanations that have been advanced to describe the social dimensions of human language use. Particular attention will focus on the interactive dimensions of politeness, humor, and slang.
STUDENTS: Open to all students interest in studying use of language in everyday interaction.
FORMAT AND STYLE: Lecture-discussion, seminar format.
REQUIREMENTS: Major application project, several short papers, debates, exams.
SPCM 38900-01 SELECTED TOPICS: ORAL ADVOCACY IN ARBITRATION AND THE COURTS HU LA
3 CREDITS
INSTRUCTOR: Michael Whelan, Muller 421, Ext. 4-3542
ENROLLMENT: 16
PREREQUISITE: Three courses in the humanities and social sciences; Courtrooms and Communication, or by permission of instructor.
OBJECTIVES: This is an advanced communication performance course set in various legal contexts that focuses specifically on delivery of opening statements, direct and cross-examination of witnesses, closing arguments, and oral argument of motions and appeals. Students will be expected to learn techniques of legal reasoning and argumentation, in conformity with procedural and evidentiary rules, and apply these techniques to oral advocacy in legal settings. The curriculum will highly engage students in course readings and observation and critique of oral advocacy from professional legal training materials; cinematic portrayals; actual trials, hearings, arbitrations or oral arguments; and in-class performances. This course is an applied law elective in the Legal Studies Major.
SPCM 42900-01 SEMINAR IN PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: AMERICAN ELOQUENCE 3a H LA
3 CREDITS
Instructor: Robert Sullivan, 429 Muller, Ext. 4-3930, rsulliva@ithaca.edu
ENROLLMENT: 10
PREREQUISITES: Two courses in SPCM or permission of instructor
OBJECTIVES: This seminar will encounter systematically the masterpieces of American rhetoric, focusing in particular on great speeches. We will encounter our history's greatest, most famous, and most infamous speeches, reading, listening to, and viewing speeches from every historical era and situation, spoken by men and women of every conceivable circumstance. The study of rhetorical discourse forces us to confront several important matters, including the historical exigency towards which such discourse is aimed, the character and position of the speaker or writer, and the rhetorical culture of the era. Accordingly, we will investigate speeches not merely as examples of aesthetic excellence but as historical artifacts. Speech texts, considered in this way, are voices in historically situated arguments, and by encountering these texts we re-engage important and often unresolved conflicts central to the American experience. This course then is not merely a survey of masterpieces but an entry into the American (and historical) spirit of controversia.
STUDENTS: All are welcome.
FORMAT AND STYLE: Seminar
SPCM 45900-01 SEMINAR: PLACES AND SPACES IN WORLD RHETORIC
3 CREDITS
INSTRUCTIR: Jodi Cohen, 415 Muller, Ext. 4-3025
ENROLLMENT: 10
PREREQUISTE: 2 courses in the Humanities at the 300 level or permission of instructor.
OBJECTIVE: We examine the relationship between physical space and place, and cultural meaning, concentrating on specific places beyond the boundaries of the North America; such as nations, markets, urban landscapes, coffee shops, natural parks, sacred sites, homes, neighborhoods, and memorial sites. We will experience these places through communicative artifacts, asking how symbols shape beliefs about, and behaviors in, specific places. We also consider how space and place function symbolically, influencing thought, identity, and behavior. The course is interdisciplinary, drawing on critical theories in the Humanities and Social Sciences, but unified its attention to human symbolic behavior. Readings, guided class discussions, presentations, and papers.
