Communication

This course examines how businesses excel (or stumble) based on how well they tap the widening power and reach of persuasive communication nationally and across borders in today's digital age. Students explore how persuasion theories, corporate storytelling, thought leadership, advocacy, negotiation, and other strategic elements are applied through the organizational communication disciplines to strengthen companies and brands. Primary attention focuses on corporate social responsibility's role in building a positive reputation, driving sales, and enhancing customer loyalty. Lectures, readings, and video clips also provide insight about communicating persuasively when developing new markets, managing ongoing business issues, and dealing with controversies.

This course introduces various aspects of English used in American and British newspapers and magazines. Topics include general features, headlines, idioms, loanwords, polysemy, bias in reporting, cultural factors, advertising, and editorial.

This course examines learning how to communicate scientific ideas and findings to broad audiences—including policy makers, newspaper subscribers, and high school students. Specifically, it looks at communicative frameworks (focused on rhetoric, as well as audience, purpose, organization, and style) to guide analyses of existing texts and your development of writing that balances subject knowledge with audience awareness.

This course covers a variety of audiovisual tools, exploring their history, inventors, and effects on society. The first part of the course covers networks and long-distance communication, focusing specifically on the telegraph, telephone, and telecommunications. The second part covers fixed and animated images, specifically the camera, the photograph, and cinema. The third part of the course explores sounds and image machines: the phonograph, radio, and television. Finally, the fourth part of the course focuses on digital media, primarily the internet. The course utilizes a global lens, but especially explores these topics in France and the United States.