The Department of Speech Communication offers programs leading to the PhD and MA degrees. PhD candidates select either an interpersonal communication track or a rhetoric track.

During their first year of study, students in the rhetoric track take SPCM 8200 and SPCM 8010 (1 hr.) in the Fall semester and SPCM 8300 in the Spring. Students in the interpersonal track take SPCM 8500 and SPCM 8010 (1 hr.) in the Fall semester and SPCM 8700 in the Spring semester. Additional requirements for PhD candidates include: (1) research skills, (2) competence in two areas within communication, (3) four hours of SPCM 8050, taken during the first four semesters in the program, (4) comprehensive examinations, and (5) dissertation.

Requirements for the MA in speech communication include: (1) SPCM 8200, SPCM 8500, SPCM 8010 (1 hr.), and SPCM 8020 (1 hr.) in the Fall semester and either SPCM 8300 or SPCM 8500 in the Spring semester of the first year of study (2) four hours of SPCM 8050, one per semester, (3) thesis, and (4) final oral examination on both the program of study and the thesis.

SPCM 4310/6310. Communication Strategies in Government. 3 hours.

Undergraduate prerequisite: SPCM 3300 or permission of department.

Communication strategies and activities in the executive and legislative branches of local, state, and national government. Case study approach incorporated into the class.

SPCM 4340/6340. Communication and Religion. 3 hours.

The nature and practice of communication in a variety of religious traditions. Notions of sacred symbolism, myth, revelation, hermeneutics, and apologetics are especially emphasized.

SPCM 4370/6370. Women and United States Public Discourse. 3 hours.

Undergraduate prerequisite: SPCM 3300 or permission of department.

History and criticism of speeches by United States women in nineteenth- and twentieth-century social reform movements, especially woman's rights and feminism.

SPCM(HPRB) 4610/6610. Health Communication. 3 hours.

Communication about health with physicians and other providers, within support groups and health care organizations, and by public figures, groups, and organizations.

SPCM(AFAM) 4830/6830. African American Relational Communication. 3 hours.

Undergraduate prerequisite or corequisite: SPCM 1500 or SPCM 3700 or AFAM 2000 or PSYC(AFAM) 2150 or AFAM(PSYC) 3150.

Interpersonal communication within African American relationships from a holistic framework. Historical, sociological, and psychological factors that affect individual behaviors within these relationships, including gender socialization from Africa to America.

SPCM 6320. Political Campaign Communication. 3 hours.

The role communication plays in deciding which candidates will run for office, the nomination of candidates, and the election of candidates to office.

SPCM 7000. Master's Research. 1-9 hours. Repeatable for maximum 9 hours credit.

Prerequisite: Permission of department.

Research while enrolled for master's degree under the direction of faculty members.

SPCM 7300. Master's Thesis. 1-9 hours. Repeatable for maximum 9 hours credit.

Prerequisite: Permission of department.

Thesis writing under the direction of the major professor.

SPCM 7500. Seminar in Communication Training and Development. 3 hours.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

Practicum of communication training and development. Relevant theory and research and the opportunity to participate in and present extended training and development programs. Topics include needs assessment, design and presentation of training programs, proposal writing, multi-media skill development, and follow-up evaluation of program effectiveness.

SPCM 8010. Seminar in Communication Education. 1-3 hours. Repeatable for maximum 6 hours credit. 0-2 hours lecture and 2 hours lab per week.

Teaching speech communication in postsecondary institutions, including communication training in organizations. Learner variables, such as communication apprehension, sociolinguistic diversity, and motivations for adult learning. Instructional strategies, including evaluation, technology use, and curriculum organization. Projects in analysis of instructional discourse and evaluation of learning outcomes.

SPCM 8020. Introduction to Graduate Study in Speech Communication. 1 hour.

Introduction to graduate studies in the field of speech communication.

SPCM 8050. Research Practicum in Communication. 1 hour. Repeatable for maximum 6 hours credit.

Prerequisite: Permission of department.

Research apprenticeship conducted under faculty supervision.

SPCM 8200. Seminar in Rhetorical Theory. 3 hours.

Rhetorical theory in classical, modern, and contemporary times.

SPCM 8210. Seminar in Classical Rhetorical Theory. 3 hours.

Rhetorical thought in the Graeco-Roman world, from the older Sophists to St. Augustine.

SPCM 8220. Seminar in Argumentation. 3 hours.

Examines argument from a rhetorical perspective focusing on reasoning as it occurs in a variety of public settings.

SPCM 8230. Contemporary Rhetorical Theory. 3 hours.

Influential twentieth-century scholarship in rhetorical theory, emphasizing a communication orientation.

SPCM 8240. Legal Communication. 3 hours.

Communication issues and skills which affect lawyers, judges, litigants, and jurors in criminal and civil justice. Particular attention is given to a survey of research related to verbal and nonverbal communication as applied to legal interviewing, negotiation, pretrial tactics, and litigation.

SPCM 8250. Critical Theories of Discourse. 3 hours.

The development of twentieth-century theories about the nature of human social discourse. Contributions of structuralism, speech act theory, social structural theories, and/or post-structural theories to contemporary understandings of human communication on a social scale.

SPCM 8300. Seminar in Rhetorical Criticism. 3 hours.

Analysis, evaluation, and practice of approaches to rhetorical criticism of public discourse.

SPCM 8310. Topics in Public Address. 3 hours. Repeatable for maximum 9 hours credit.

Prerequisite: (SPCM 8200 and SPCM 8300) or permission of department.

Research, analysis, and evaluation of selected topics of public address.

SPCM 8330. Topics in Rhetorical Theory. 3 hours. Repeatable for maximum 9 hours credit.

Specific areas of research of rhetorical theory from various eras. May focus on an author (e.g., Kenneth Burke, Michel Foucault, or St. Augustine) or a subject area (e.g., rhetoric and social change or rhetoric and culture or stylistics).

SPCM 8340. Methodologies of Rhetorical Criticism. 3 hours. Repeatable for maximum 9 hours credit.

Prerequisite: (SPCM 8200 and SPCM 8300) or permission of department.

A particular approach to rhetorical criticism, such as feminist criticism, Burkean criticism, or cross-cultural criticism.

SPCM 8350. The Rhetoric of Science. 3 hours. Repeatable for maximum 9 hours credit.

Prerequisite or corequisite: (SPCM 8200 and SPCM 8300) or permission of department.

Critical and theoretical study of scientific communication in public settings. Students may examine the intellectual and cultural roots of modern science, science's social and institutional characteristics, persuasive aspects of scientific inquiry and scientific social movements, and specific topical areas such as evolutionary biology, genetics, medicine, and ecology.

SPCM 8500. Seminar in Interpersonal Communication Theory. 3 hours.

Prerequisite: Permission of department.

Theories of interpersonal communication. Familiarizes students with the breadth, scope, and range of communication theories. Develops skills in theory development, hypothesis formation, and model building. Provides skills necessary to read and evaluate scholarly publications in speech communication.

SPCM 8510. Seminar in Nonverbal Communication. 3 hours.

Empirical and theoretical research that focuses on the major communicative functions of nonverbal behavior and cues. Particular emphasis is placed on research projects that focus on the impression management functions of nonverbal communication. Students examine contemporary impression management efforts in politics, the courtroom, and related contexts.

SPCM 8520. Seminar In Communication and Social Influence. 3 hours.

Familiarizes students with issues related to communication and social influence. Parameters of social influence, theories of social influence that emphasize communication processes, source and audience characteristics, message and channel properties, and attitudinal outcomes.

SPCM(LING) 8530. Language and Communication Behavior. 3 hours.

Surveys linguistic aspects of human interaction. Examines language patterns such as orality, intensity, immediacy, and power. Analyzes conversational data as well as language structures in public messages.

SPCM 8540. Relational Communication. 3 hours.

Issues and research related to communication in personal relationships. Issues and studies related to attraction, relational development, relational maintenance and repair, critical events in relationships, and relational termination.

SPCM 8550. Advanced Topics in Interpersonal Communication. 3 hours. Repeatable for maximum 9 hours credit.

A readings and research seminar in theoretical topics of interpersonal communication. Areas of study will vary depending on the timelines of the topics and the research focus of the professor. Sample topics include communication in relational development and interpersonal communication competencies.

SPCM 8610. Seminar in Health Communication. 3 hours.

The multiple discourses and processes involved in communication about health. Advanced analysis of theories and research involved in the processes of naming, blaming, and shaming.

SPCM 8700. Social Scientific Research Methods In Speech Communication. 3 hours.

Topics covered include formalizing research questions, conceptual definitions, operational definitions, measurement, hypothesis testing, sampling, research designs, and computer assisted data analysis.

SPCM 8800. Seminar in Intercultural Communication. 3 hours.

The study of communication within and between diverse cultural groups. Examines communicative nature of social identity, effects of world view on communication, nonverbal and verbal codes, varying relational patterns, and rhetoric situated in varying cultures. An applied research project will be conducted.

SPCM 8990. Directed Study and Special Topics in Speech Communication. 3 hours. Repeatable for maximum 12 hours credit.

Prerequisite: Permission of department.

Individual directed study or research in selected areas of speech communication conducted under the supervision of a faculty member.

SPCM 9000. Doctoral Research. 1-9 hours. Repeatable for maximum 36 hours credit.

Prerequisite: Permission of department.

Research while enrolled for a doctoral degree under the direction of faculty members.

SPCM 9300. Doctoral Dissertation. 1-9 hours. Repeatable for maximum 36 hours credit.

Prerequisite: Permission of department.

Dissertation writing under the direction of the major professor.

inar covering topics of scholarly interest in advanced feminist theory.