COM 111: Introduction to Speech Communication.

Virtual Syllabus

Instructor: Barry Morris
Office: 503 41 Park Row, Phone (O)212.346.1442 (H)607.756.1827
E-Mail Bmorris@pace.edu
My Home Page.

"Utterances are not only . . . signs to be understood and deciphered; they are also signs of wealth intended to be evaluated and appreciated, and signs of authority intended to be believed and obeyed."
--Pierre Bourdieu, Language and Symbolic Power.

Welcome to COM 111.

The course has a purpose and a goal. The purpose is to make you able to understand and appreciate the personal and social ramifications of the quote above. The goal is to make you better able to:

Complete your upper-level course work in the Department of Speech Communication Studies.
Begin preparing you--if you wish to be so prepared--for advanced education in the field.
Help you learn how better to integrate communication competency into non-communication course work.
Give you some idea of the breadth of applications this material has in the world of gainful employment.

To those ends, we will discuss the dynamics of Communication in each of its general "habitats":

Intrapersonal--being a symbolically sound and stable individual.
Interpersonal--being able to interact at the dyadic level with other individuals.
Group--being able to interact with small aggregations of other individuals in slightly more formalized setting.
Organizational--being able to interact within the confines of a dynamic and ongoing system of interactive channels.
Public--being able to interact as a member of a thriving culture.

All of these areas are alike in many ways and unique in many more. We will build an understanding (both practical and theoretic) of how those similarities and differences manifest themselves.

Rules and Regulations.
Course Calendar.
Assignments.
Course Readings.
Course-Related Links
Finding Me.
E-Mail Links to Fellow Students.

Rules and Regulations.

Attendance:
The most important rule, of course, is come to every class. This class will be highly interactive (since one learns best by doing). You cannot interact, if you do not attend. Also, come on time. Prompt attendance has been a problem with COM students over the past couple of years. We need to do better.

Deadlines:
Each assignment has a posted deadline. Any assignment that is not turned in by that deadline will be penalized a grade level for every week day it is late. Participation in assignments and exercises done in class will be monitored and cannot be made up.

Readings:
Readings listed for a particular day should be read before that day. Inability to access the readings is not an excuse for not having them read unless you have contacted me 48 hours prior to the due date of the text.

Deportment:
Don't cheat, do your own work, and play nice with the other kids.

Finding Me.

HOME PAGE

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Weekends
EMAIL	3-5 PM	1-2 and 5-6 PM	9-10 AM	EMAIL	EMAIL

COURSE CALENDAR.

On all reading assignments go to the "course readings" section for details.

SEPT 10	COMMUNICATION CONSIDERED AND DEFINED
SEPT 17	COMMUNICATION AND THE SELF: PERCEPTION	Go
SEPT 24	COMMUNICATION AND THE SELF: LANGUAGE
OCT 1	COMMUNICATION AND THE OTHER: NAMING
OCT 8	COMMUNICATION AND THE OTHER: ATTRACTION
OCT 15	COMMUNICATION AND THE OTHER: INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS	Do
OCT 22	COMMUNICATION AND THE GROUP: SOCIALIZING	Do
OCT 29	COMMUNICATION AND THE GROUP: CONFLICT	Read Do
NOV 5	MIDTERM EXAMINATION
NOV 12	COMMUNICATION AND THE INSTITUTION	Read Read
NOV 19	COMMUNICATION AND SOCIETY: THE POLITICAL
NOV 26	COMMUNICATION AND SOCIETY: THE ARTISTIC
DEC 3	COMMUNICATION AND SOCIETY: THE POPULAR
DEC 10	FINAL EXAM

Assignments.

Your grade in the course will be determined by your completion of the following assignments:

Self-analysis:	15%	Each student will employ a "Johari Window" to provide an oral intrapersonal self-description. Some "image" or "icon" should be employed in each frame of the window to represent the individual's state. Then the individual will tell us what the icons mean. A question and answer session will be included. You will be graded on the quality of your analysis, your presentation, and your visual aid.
	OR
Dyad Biography:	15%	Students will be assigned to dyads (groups of two). Each will interview the other. Then each will provide an oral presentation in which the FIRO-B model will be used to create the other's "communication biography." How does that person relate to others? What are his/her favorite strategies for compliance gaining? Conflict resolution? What dynamics are present in the person about which he or she may not be aware?
Research Papers:	15% each	Each student will formulate a research question, the write a 5-8 page paper that answers it. A detailed handout about writing such papers will be provided.
Midterm:	25%	The midterm will be a forty question multiple choice exam covering all of the material in discussion, team teaching, and the readings from all class meetings prior to the exam.
Written Final:	15%	The written will be take-home and cumulative.
IN-CLASS Final	15%	Standard Multiple Choice Exam

In addition, in some of the Reading Frames on the calendar, instead of the word READ, you will see the word DO. If you click in that frame, you will be given a relatively simple assignment to do (generally for the class scheduled for that day). Notice will be taken of how many of these assignments you complete.

Course Readings.

Aristotle, The Rhetoric (read book one parts 2 and 3.)

Confucius, On Rectifying Names

David Koresh: Introduction to the Branch Davidians

Sun Tzu, The Art of War (read IV and VI.)

Go visit, look through and be prepared to participate in a discussion of their views.

Positive Thinking and Positive Thoughts
Follow a Dream

E-Mail Links to Fellow Students.

Course-Related Links.

As an ungraded assignment, every student must email to me a link that (s)he thinks would be beneficial to the rest of the class. The URL (address) is due by the end of the third class meeting.

Class members' Home Pages.

Barry Morris

Informational Links relating to assignments and general communication competency.

The APA Style Sheet. Necessary information for completion of the Research paper.

The MLA Style Sheet. Necessary information for completion of the Research paper.

Some Simplified Rules of Parliamentary Order. Good for organizing large groups of people without becoming an expert in Parliamentary Procedure.

A Crash Course in HTML. A good place to learn basic web page writing, in case you want to join us in the Class members' Home Pages list above (or post your final for the world to see).

Links Chosen to "enhance" your attendance in the course.

Note that I do not necessarily endorse any of these links. They are just here to show you how people in the world attempt to interact with the issues we will address. You can visit and assess them as you will.

Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Enhancements:

An infoseek image browser.

The Candy Stand.

The Doodle Analysis Game.

Depression: A Pathway Home to the Self.

The Need for Redemption.

Scientific Fundamentalism: Does God Exist?

Handwriting Analysis.

The Labeling Game.

Objects, Decision Considerations and ??

Spiritual Advice From Dishwasher.

The Therapy Centre.

Advice (for Women).

The Love and Romance Home Page.

Relationships Gallery.

Soap Net.

Ad Age.

Cool Quiz: Television Quiz.

Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired: Nonverbal Communication.

ivillage.

A Paraphrastic Grammar of English.

Video Experts: How It All Works.

Public and Cultural Enhancements.

The Drudge Report.

Cross-Cultural Communication Index.

For-Class Assignments:

October 15: Find a link to add to the Virtual Syllabus. It should be course-related, but can be merely entertaining. Please exercise good taste. E-Mail the URL (address) to me but bring notes about the source to class.
October 22: Come to class with a "social meltdown" anecdote of some major faux pas (social error performed by you or on you).
October 29: Come armed with a job-related horror story.

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