Communications (COMM)

This course addresses the following question: How can communication empower individuals to find their voice and build stronger relationships? This course empowers students to examine their role in communication across personal and professional contexts. Students will identify how self-identity shapes communication, develop strategies for building stronger relationships, and analyze audience needs to craft compelling messages. By becoming more effective communicators, students gain a competitive advantage in their careers, form more meaningful personal connections, and develop the confidence to advocate for causes they value-essential skills for success in today's multicultural and digital world.

This course explores the dynamics of interpersonal relationships to help students become more effective communicators. It examines how people perceive, speak, and listen to each other, while also exploring communication patterns, interaction rules, and common miscommunication sources. The course emphasizes communication in various contexts-family, friends, romantic partners, and coworkers-and addresses the impact of culture, conflict, and power on these relationships.

Discover the fundamentals of audio and video production in this hands-on course designed for beginners. Learn the essentials of recording and editing audio, as well as the basics of video production. Whether you're interested in broadcasting, marketing communication or content creation, this course provides the foundational knowledge and techniques needed to bring your creative vision to life.

Develop skills in factual and objective media writing. Learn conversational news writing style, how to interview sources, and understand how editorial judgment determines what stories make the news. Establishes the foundation for public relations and journalistic multi-media writing for online, TV, and radio/audio platforms.

This course will increase your knowledge of mass media and the effects it has on our society. Students will be provided the opportunity to explore the origins, issues, and direction of our mass communication system, its impact on our culture, and their personal interests.

In this hands-on sports broadcasting course, students will learn the fundamentals of sports media production, including shooting and editing game highlights, crafting compelling feature stories, and developing on-camera skills for anchoring and reporting. Through practical experience, students will write, produce, and present their own sports segments while working collaboratively to produce Inside SAU Athletics, a weekly sports show covering university athletics.

Tell your story through effective production of podcasts with a focus on writing, editing and distribution. Students will develop, produce and share a podcast series with fellow students and the world.

Learn the power of public relations in shaping perceptions of brands, organizations and their use in marketing and persuasion. Students will learn how public relations drives an organization's reputation, engagement and marketing programs. Students will learn to develop strategic thinking for achieving organizational goals and will develop a marketing public relations plan for a university client. This class is foundational for public relations and multi-media journalism majors.

Students are responsible for the production of content for SAUtv, including "Inside SAU Athletics" broadcasts, Stingerz and various projects as needed. Students will plan and organize video production from start to finish. Job responsibilities will include coordinating guests, preparing scripts, producing, directing, anchoring and editing the finished product.

This course equips students with strategic communication skills to shape a brand's message and build strong stakeholder relationships. Through writing and content creation across various platforms, students will learn to craft compelling narratives, enhance audience engagement, and develop expertise in storytelling and media relations to establish lasting brand credibility.

This course offers an exploration of key communication theories that shape our understanding of human interaction and mass communication and equips students with skills to critically analyze and apply theories to real-world situations. Students will engage with foundational concepts, frameworks, and models that inform the study of communication across various contexts, including interpersonal relationships, media, journalism, and social platforms.

This course explores how information and communication technologies create challenges and opportunities for identity formation, relationship building, and social change. Utilizes theories to identify, explain, and understand the interrelationship between technology, the self, and society.

This course will introduce you to the theories and principles of effective communication within organizational settings. Upon completing this course, students will clearly understand how individuals impact and are impacted by organizational involvement, recognize the primary issues affecting organizational communication (such as power, politics, conflict, and ethics), and become conscious of the process of communication within organizations.

Work with a team of student editors and writers who gain experience in content reporting, editing and managing the student e-newspaper The Buzz, which is part of the SAU HIVE online media site for the Department of Communications. Write a news story for each of the 4 issues per semester for one credit. 1-3 credits each semester not to exceed six credits toward graduation.

Learn to write for dynamic media platforms including web sites, blogs, television, radio. Students also learn to curate, edit, and manage the online student media hub called the Hive. Stories are written and aired on KALA, SAUtv and The Buzz.

The applied integration of sound, context, function, aesthetics and technology in digital audio for podcast production. Focus on elements of sound and sound aesthetics, as well as digital recording, storage, distribution and editing techniques in the design and development of effective podcasts.

Fine tune your skills in visual storytelling, in both the creative and technical aspects of video production. Students will create weekly programming for SAUtv. They will shoot video, write, anchor, produce and direct on a rotational basis. Each week, one class is used for planning/critique and the other for studio production. Student content will be published to "The Hive", the hub of SAU student media.

Explores the influence of cultural differences in communication styles and social values and their impact on work, family, and other social systems. Theoretical and practical aspects of intercultural communication will be addressed with a focus on how students can apply alternative communication strategies that result in effective intercultural interactions.

This course introduces students to social scientific and interpretive methods used when conducting communication research. Students will use the concepts covered to construct meaningful and measurable research questions, select an appropriate method, and present the information as part of a final project.

Learn to creatively use the principles, theories, and tools associated with public relations, advertising, and social media to identify, establish and maintain mutually beneficial long-term relationships between organizations and their publics.

Directed individual research, writing, and production on approved project. A student may register for one or two credits in any given semester, and may repeat the course for no more than two credits. Prerequisites: Instructor permission.

Provides understanding of historical, legal and ethical issues involved in freedom of expression. Principles and case studies in communication law, constitutional guarantees, libel, privacy, contempt, privilege, copyright, regulatory agencies, and public policy. Discuss major court decisions in each area of communication law and historical/political climate out of which the cases emerged.

This course is designed to be a culminating capstone experience that provides a practical and reflective application for communication majors. Through the experience, students will build upon theories and skills presented in coursework while gaining practical experience. This experience is a full academic semester experience consisting of 150-300 hours in one semester under the supervision of an industry professional.

This course is designed to be a culminating capstone experience that provides a practical and reflective application for communication majors. Through the experience, students will build upon theories and skills presented in coursework while gaining practical experience. This experience is a full academic semester experience consisting of 150-300 hours in one semester under the supervision of an industry professional.