Communication Studies, 36M:025

Spring Semester 2002, University of Iowa
Professor John Durham Peters
E-mail: jdpeters@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu
Phone: 353-2258 (voice-mail)
Office: 125 BCSB.

Office Hours: Thursdays 10:30-11:25, Fridays 10:00-11:25, and by appointment. Right after class is a good time to catch me or make an appointment. Generally not available Mondays and Wednesdays.

Office locations and hours for Teaching Assistants will be announced in sections.

Overview

Communication is one of the great issues of our times. It is a topic that touches on almost all aspects of our lives. Love, work, play, war, politics, economics, law, art, religion, or education would not be what they are without communication.

Communication is a topic that ranges from face-to-face interaction to globally distributed film, music, and television. This course aims to introduce you to this many-splendored topic, and to provide you with a way of thinking and overview of concepts that you will use in other communication studies courses at the UI. In a sense, this is a thinking class and a vocabulary class. You will learn to think in some new ways and learn to master and apply some of the core concepts in communication studies.

Though this class has a low number, you should not assume that it will be easy. Basic knowledge is often more challenging to grasp than advanced knowledge, since the ambiguities are often more obvious. You will be expected to engage in serious reading, reflection, discussion, and writing on several topics that are guaranteed to be an important part of twenty-first century life. You will need to learn and synthesize.

Goals and Objectives

If you listen carefully to lectures, read the assigned readings thoughtfully, take active part in section discussions and assignments, and integrate the three, you can expect to:

Readings

Readings for the course will consist of (1) two books for all students (2) one book which you will choose from several options (3) a few short readings available on line on the course website.

(1) The following books are required and have been ordered at the IMU bookstore:

(2) The following six books have been ordered at the IMU bookstore. You are to buy and read ONE book for your second assignment, though you're of course welcome to buy more if you'd like.

(3) A few additional required readings will be available on the password-protected course website in a folder. You may print them out or read them on line. By not having a course packet, you are saving money that would have had to go to copyright permissions. We recognize that this may be a new method for some of you: welcome to the twenty-first century!

Section

The section offers a forum for discussion, activities, and application of theories and concepts to specific examples. It has two main purposes: to integrate the course materials and to give you a chance to be a producer of knowledge. The main purpose of section is not to review lecture or discuss the textbook or prep for the exams. Nearly half your grade (45%) is based on section, so it would be foolish to think of section as only exam preparation or lecture rehash. In section you will write three short papers, as well as a number of very short exercises for discussion (and which will contribute to your participation score).

Grading

Plus/minus grading will be used in calculating the final grades. We will work hard to maintain uniformity of grading criteria across sections.

The average GPA of a CS major is 2.955. This course, as an introductory course, will have a lower mean, probably around 2.6. Higher level CS courses have higher means. Getting a C or even lower in this course does not mean you are not qualified for this major, so please do not panic: you need a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or above. The grades will fall into approximately the following range: 18% As, 34% Bs, 40% Cs, 6% Ds, 2% Fs. However, we will not enforce an artificial curve: if the class performance is excellent, the grades will be adjusted upwards accordingly.

We will assume that a C means average work; C, in other words, is the default position. It is not up to us to justify why we didn't give you an A. If you did not receive 100% it does not necessarily mean you did something wrong. We do not expect that anyone will receive 100% on any part of the course, but this is not a punishment, but rather a natural distribution. 90% and up is A-range.

Exams and written assignments will receive points rather than letter grades, but you will be informed of the approximate grade translation.

We will do our best to communicate clearly the criteria for grading and to let you know where you stand. But please be patient with us, allowing at least one week for feedback on exams and two for papers.

Philosophy of Learning

In this course, you are being asked to do a number of different things: to learn basic information and vocabulary, to apply new concepts to real situations, to critically evaluate ideas (as in assignment #2), and to creatively synthesize ideas. You are also being asked to work across three different 'channels' of communication: lectures, readings, and section. At times the three will be tightly meshed; other times you will have to work to make links on your own. If you have trouble connecting the dots, or with anything else, please see your TA, who will always be available for help and consultation. We will strive to keep what you are to be learning well organized, but in a field as controversial and dynamic as communication studies, every responsible scholar has to do a lot of thinking on their own. The core concepts of our field can never be cut-and-dried.

In general, the lecture will raise more general questions of how to think about communication; the readings, especially Questions of Communication, offer more details about specific material.

The exams will be designed to test your learning on a variety of levels. Some questions will ask about your mastery of basic information; others will test your ability to think and apply concepts in a fresh way. Since communication is more than the movement of information, learning about it is more than just regurgitating lecture or readings. We want to see your understanding of basic questions, and your grasp of concepts, not just your ability to memorize. There's no substitute for thinking.

Assignments and Examinations

Examinations will consists of two parts: an objective part consisting of multiple choice, true/false, questions; and a written part consisting of short answers and short essay questions. Both will be designed to reward those who do the reading, listen carefully and think about lectures, and grasp the key concepts and questions. They will be hard and designed to test your mastery of the readings, discussions, and lectures: let no one say they were not warned!

NO make-up exams will be given. The times and dates are fixed: please plan accordingly. The only permissible alterations are for those made well in advance with Student Disability Services (SDS); convenient or cheap travel plans unfortunately do not offer grounds for changing the exam.

Your papers should be well thought out and argued, substantiated with evidence, and well written. They should be typed and double-spaced. Since this is a communication class, your style and form will be important as well as your content. More instructions will be forthcoming about the assignments in section well in advance of due dates.

Course Website

The course website is part of the University Course Web Services of the University of Iowa, also known as WebCT. This is the entrance to most of the university's on line courses. In order to log in you will have to:

Readings and other materials, including powerpoint slides from the lectures, will be available on line. For questions of how to use Web CT, for lost passwords, you should go to an ITC on campus, and speak to one of the help personnel there. You may also email them at webct@uiowa.edu;be sure to include your course number, the instructor's name, and your Hawk Id. The instructors for this course cannot (and are probably not even qualified) to help you with such things.

You will need to be registered as a student in this class to gain access to the website; by enrolling in the course, this will take place automatically a few days after the course begins.

Policies

Disabilities: If there are any accommodations that we can make so that your learning environment is more user-friendly, either in lecture or section, please don't hesitate to let the instructor know ASAP. We are happy to work with SDS for alternate exam arrangements, but it is YOUR responsibility to get the arrangements taken care of, well in advance (at least one week for the midterm and final), and to remind the instructor and your TA of any special arrangements.

Language Competence: All instructors for this course are approved as competent speakers of the English language.

Lecture Notes: The use of commercially produced lecture notes for this class is not encouraged. We already trust enough of our lives to various gatekeepers! Slides from the lecture are available on the course website, but these will only serve as reminders, and will likely not make sense without attending lecture.

Academic Misconduct: Plagiarism, the unacknowledged use of another's words, ideas, or work, and cheating, in any form, are both academic crimes. Never turn in a paper that you did not write yourself. Never turn in a paper for this class that you wrote for another class (or section!). Doing so will result in a failing grade for the class and possible suspension from the University. Just don't do it!

Grievances: If you have problems with the conduct of any of the instructors, please take it up first with them directly. Then, you may see Prof. Peters if you would like to talk about one of the TA's. The next step is Prof. Randy Hirokawa, DEO, Communication Studies, 105 BCSB.

Timing: This is likely the first class of the day for most of you. The course will begin promptly and you should plan to be punctually on time for each lecture. Prof. Peters will speak until 10:20 in each lecture. Please stay quiet until then--don't start folding up your notebooks and backpacks till 10:20.

Hand-outs: It is your responsibility to get a copy of any hand-outs. If you miss class on the day they are handed out, it's up to you to make a copy from someone else in the class. Hand-outs may also be available on the website.

Classroom Environment: please turn off all cell phones and pagers upon entering the classroom.

Printers: Printer problems do not count as a justification for late papers. There are plenty of ITCs on campus, and you need to plan ahead.

Technology: The teachers for this class cannot take responsibility for fixing your technology problems. You are responsible to get help from a campus ITC or contact your TA for further guidance.

Schedule

The schedule is subject to change and adjustment; all changes will be announced in class; you will be responsible for all such announcements if you miss class.

Th 24 Invitation to Communication Theory
Read: QC, Intro, pp. 4-18; especially, pp. 4-6.
Read: Plato, Phaedrus, pp. 1-27.

Section: Introduction.
You should pick out your book and start reading it around here (for assignment #2).

Th 31 The Theoretical Legacy of the Phaedrus
Reread: Plato, Phaedrus.
Read: QC, pp. 250-1.

T 14 Extensions of Communication (Communication Time-line)
Read: Mumford, 'The Monastery and the Clock' (website)
Read: Cooley, 'A New Epoch in Communication' (website)

T 19 Orality & Literacy & Print Culture
Read: Ong, Orality and Literacy, pp. 79-108 (website)
Reread: Plato, Phaedrus, pp. 78-82.

Th 21 What Analog and Digital Media Mean for Communication
Read: Stephens, 'Whose Media Revolution?' (website)
Read: QC, ch. 9.

Section: Power and Container Technologies
Assignment #1 due at beginning of section; NO late papers.

Th 7 Forms, Problems, and Modes: Summing Up
Review: all lectures, readings, and discussions from first half of the course
Bring questions to class (on a piece of paper to hand in for answering in class).

Section: Synthesizing the first half: preparation for midterms
Hand back assignment #1.

T 12 Midterm Examination, part I
Review: all course notes and readings
Students with last names from P to Z meet in Shambaugh; A to O in 300 CB.

Th 14 Midterm Examination, part II
Review: all course notes and readings
Students with last names from P to Z meet in Shambaugh; A to O in 300 CB.

Section: Telephone Discussion
Assignment #2 at the beginning of class. NO late papers.

Section: Audience Ethnography
Assignment #3 due at the beginning of section. NO late papers.

T 7 What is Communication good for? Communication as Practice.
Read: QC, ch. 11.
Hand out review sheet

Home • Undergraduate • Graduate • Faculty • About Us • Publications • Alumni • Resources • Search

Please send inquiries or report site problems to commstudies-inquiry@uiowa.edu
This page last updated July 6, 2004

This site is copyright © 1996-2004 by the Department of Communication Studies, The University of Iowa.
All rights reserved. Materials on this site may be copied electronically for fair use in teaching and scholarly writing.
Commercial redistribution of site materials is strictly prohibited.

Communication Studies, 36:001

Core Concepts in Communication Studies