Special Notes for Fall 2013 Registration
What should I take? Answer: Required Courses!
First, for those of you who are current Freshmen or Sophomores, please check out our advice for those who are thinking about COM as a major!
If you're in your first year or two here at VU, think about taking as many COM courses as you can fit in your schedule. Two things to remember: 1) You must take two of the following three courses prior to declaring the major: COM 1000, COM 1100, COM; and 2) since 2000-level courses are prerequisites for all our 3000-level courses, the sooner you take at least one 2000 level course, the sooner you're into our advanced courses!
A current Junior? Unsure of what to take? Current Juniors might also think about taking the required Advanced research course (4001 OR 4002), if you've already taken COM 1200.
If you're a Senior, then be sure to check out the topics for our Senior Project sections, so you can match your interests with the right section of this course.
Wondering what courses COM is offering in the Spring?
Download the COM Department electives guide below
Which Senior Project section should I take in the Spring?
As you hopefully know, each section of COM 5050 has a different topic, one chosen by the section's instructor. This topic will be the one that will help guide you in the selection of projects for the semester. Thus we urge you to consider the section topic when signing up for your section of 5050. Please consult the electives guide to see the descriptions of each section's topic.
Want to take a course not regularly offered?
As always, we're rotating in some courses that you might find of interest. Descriptions of these can be found in our electives guide, but keep in mind that these courses all have prerequisites at the 2000 level, as per our curriculum. All of these are courses that are LESS FREQUENTLY offered… so, if you've got the prerequisites, catch these NOW!
- COM 3445 - 001 Communication Consulting in Organizations with Professor Deb Denis
- COM 3448-100 Multicultural Leadership and Dialogue with Professors Carol Anthony, Sherry Bowen, Maurice Hall, and Terry Nance
- COM 3244 - 001 Folklore and Oral Tradition with Dr. Shauna MacDonald
- COM 3490-001 TOP: Socialization to Social Identity with Dr. Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz (The 2013 Harron Family Chair in Communication)
- COM 3490-002 Special Topics: Work-Life Negotiation with Dr. Amy Way
Communication Consulting in Organizations
If you are interested in being a consultant or even in helping organizations of different kinds change how they use communication, this course is definitely right for you. This course explores theory and practice of communication consulting through a variety of case studies in the field of organizational/corporate communication. The instructor, Professor Deb Denis is a full-time consultant in Communication who works for a wide variety of industries. She brings in, too, working professionals as speakers throughout the semester.
Multicultural Leadership and Dialogue
The course, Multicultural Leadership and Dialogue has been offered every spring for the past eight years. That course is now being offered in the fall, beginning this fall. Multicultural Leadership is a gateway course for students who want to do 1-credit IGR courses. It is also a fascinating course in its own right, exploring the complexity of social identity through a very experiential, very interactive format. You will have a chance to learn a different kind of campus leadership that will characterize your success long after you leave Villanova.
Folklore and Oral Traditions
Dr. Shauna MacDonald offers a course that explores theories of folklore, storytelling, and oral history as they relate to performance and performance studies, with a particular focus on the performance of place and space. Since the class includes performance work it provides a rich opportunity to encounter Performance Studies in new and interesting ways.
Socialization to Social Identity
Each semester we invite a national and internationally known scholar to join us on campus as The Harron Family Chair in Communication. This fall we have the privilege of hosting Dr. Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz, a scholar of national prominence who does work in identity, culture and communication. Her course explores how identity is acquired in many contexts (home, school, community, workplace), and over time. This course examines what families do to help children learn about their own race, ethnicity, nationality, and religion. Students will read about the experiences of others, and write about their own family narratives, traditions, and rituals. The course requires the permission f the Department Chair to be enrolled. Please contact Loretta Chiaverini at 610-519-4750 and she will make an appointment for you with the Chair as you seek to enroll in the course.
Special Topics: Work-Life Negotiation
Dr. Amy Way offers a course that explores the increasingly blurred intersections of “public” work and “private” lives, and focuses on the challenges and joys faced in navigating organizational, family, community and individual responsibilities/opportunities. This is a new course offered by Dr. Way, who is an expert in work-life issues related to negotiation and balance. Students will have an opportunity to examine how the scholarship helps them understand the challenges they face now and in the future in their own lives.
Remember Some Regularly Offered Courses…
Please note that our courses in Social Justice Documentary and the 1-credit Intergroup Dialogue Workshops will also be offered in the fall. Please read the Electives guide and check the Communication Department website for details.
