All Graduate Courses

This is a list of all graduate courses and U/G courses offered in the program; U/G courses can be taken by both undergraduate and graduate students. Not all courses are offered in all semesters and each description indicates when it was last offered. Visit the Upcoming Courses page for a list of courses offered in the current and next semesters.

COMMUN 497 Study Abroad:
1-12 cr. Undergraduate/Graduate.
Designed to enroll students in UWM sponsored program before course work level, content, and credits are determined and/or in specially prepared program course work.
Prerequisites: junior standing, satisfaction of GER English Composition competency requirement, and acceptance for Study Abroad Program.
Course Rules: May be retaken with change in topic.
Last Taught: Summer 2025, Fall 2024.
COMMUN 497G Study Abroad:
1-12 cr. Undergraduate/Graduate.
Designed to enroll students in UWM sponsored program before course work level, content, and credits are determined and/or in specially prepared program course work.
Prerequisites: junior standing, satisfaction of GER English Composition competency requirement, and acceptance for Study Abroad Program.
Course Rules: May be retaken with change in topic.
Last Taught: Summer 2025, Fall 2024.
COMMUN 550 International and Global Communication
3 cr. Undergraduate/Graduate.
Models, theories, and contexts of relational communication between people from different nation states, viewed from interpersonal, small group, organizational, and rhetorical perspectives.
Prerequisites: jr st; Commun 350(P) or 450(P); satisfaction of GER English Composition competency req; or cons instr.
Last Taught: Fall 2024.
COMMUN 550G International and Global Communication
3 cr. Undergraduate/Graduate.
Models, theories, and contexts of relational communication between people from different nation states, viewed from interpersonal, small group, organizational, and rhetorical perspectives.
Prerequisites: jr st; Commun 350(P) or 450(P); satisfaction of GER English Composition competency req; or cons instr.
Last Taught: Fall 2024.
COMMUN 655 Cultural Training and Adjustment
3 cr. Undergraduate/Graduate.
Theories and research related to the role of communication in cultural adjustment processes, cultural training, and evaluation of training.
Prerequisites: jr st; Commun 350(P) or 450(P); satisfaction of GER English Composition competency req; or cons instr.
Last Taught: Spring 2021, Spring 2009.
COMMUN 655G Cultural Training and Adjustment
3 cr. Undergraduate/Graduate.
Theories and research related to the role of communication in cultural adjustment processes, cultural training, and evaluation of training.
Prerequisites: jr st; Commun 350(P) or 450(P); satisfaction of GER English Composition competency req; or cons instr.
Last Taught: Spring 2021, Spring 2009.
COMMUN 665 Introduction to Mediation
3 cr. Undergraduate/Graduate.
Course focuses on learning about the mediation process, related theories, and its application in a variety of contexts. Students receive twenty hours of mediation training.
Prerequisites: jr st; satisfaction of GER English Composition competency req.
Last Taught: Spring 2020.
COMMUN 665G Introduction to Mediation
3 cr. Undergraduate/Graduate.
Course focuses on learning about the mediation process, related theories, and its application in a variety of contexts. Students receive twenty hours of mediation training.
Prerequisites: jr st; satisfaction of GER English Composition competency req.
Last Taught: Spring 2020.
COMMUN 667 Great American Speakers and Issues
3 cr. Undergraduate/Graduate.
Selected great speakers and their speeches on major issues in American history.
Prerequisites: jr st; satisfaction of GER English Composition competency req.
Last Taught: Fall 2019.
COMMUN 667G Great American Speakers and Issues
3 cr. Undergraduate/Graduate.
Selected great speakers and their speeches on major issues in American history.
Prerequisites: jr st; satisfaction of GER English Composition competency req.
Last Taught: Fall 2019.
COMMUN 672 Communication and Social Order
3 cr. Undergraduate/Graduate.
The role of communication in both maintaining and challenging social structures and hierarchies.
Prerequisites: jr st; satisfaction of GER English Composition competency req.
Last Taught: Fall 2020.
COMMUN 672G Communication and Social Order
3 cr. Undergraduate/Graduate.
The role of communication in both maintaining and challenging social structures and hierarchies.
Prerequisites: jr st; satisfaction of GER English Composition competency req.
Last Taught: Fall 2020.
COMMUN 700 Quantitative Research in Communication
3 cr. Graduate.
Introduction to the methods and techniques of quantitative research in communication, with special focus on problems of experimental and field research.
Prerequisites: grad st.
Last Taught: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022.
COMMUN 701 Critical Analysis of Communication
3 cr. Graduate.
Introduction to the methods and techniques of humanistic research in communication, with special focus on problems of criticism and history.
Prerequisites: grad st.
Last Taught: Fall 2023, Fall 2021, Fall 2019, Fall 2017.
COMMUN 702 Qualitative Research in Communication
3 cr. Graduate.
Methods and techniques of qualitative research in communication; special focus on problems of discourse analysis and interaction observation.
Prerequisites: grad st.
Last Taught: Spring 2025, Fall 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2020.
COMMUN 735 Rhetorical Theory
3 cr. Graduate.
Critical study of various humanistic theories of rhetorical communication. Major emphasis on contemporary theories, trends, and concepts.
Prerequisites: grad st.
Last Taught: Fall 2024, Fall 2022, Fall 2020, Spring 2018.
COMMUN 750 Theory and Research in Intercultural Communication
3 cr. Graduate.
Major theories and contemporary research in the field of intercultural, cross-cultural, and global communication.
Prerequisites: grad st.
Last Taught: Spring 2023, Spring 2021, Spring 2019, Fall 2015.
COMMUN 762 Argumentation in Theory and Practice
3 cr. Graduate.
Argumentation theories in a performance-based context to train citizen-scholars. Assumes no prior knowledge of argumentation theories.
Prerequisites: grad st.
Last Taught: Spring 2023, Fall 2015, Fall 2012, Fall 2010.
COMMUN 772 Rhetorical Leadership and Ethics
3 cr. Graduate.
The practice of responsible leadership from the humanities-based perspective of rhetoric.
Prerequisites: grad st.
Last Taught: Spring 2021, Fall 2018, Spring 2016, Spring 2013.
COMMUN 800 Proseminar: The Discipline of Communication
3 cr. Graduate.
The theoretical, conceptual, and pedagogical parameters of communication as a discipline.
Prerequisites: grad st; admission to Commun M.A. Program or cons instr.
Last Taught: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021.
COMMUN 801 Seminar in Interpersonal Communication
3 cr. Graduate.
Overview of current perspectives and critical analysis of research in verbal and nonverbal aspects of interpersonal communication.
Prerequisites: grad st.
Last Taught: Fall 2023, Fall 2021, Fall 2017, Fall 2013.
COMMUN 802 Marital and Family Communication
3 cr. Graduate.
Examination of how communication functions to develop, maintain, enrich, or limit family relationships.
Prerequisites: grad st.
Last Taught: Fall 2022, Fall 2020, Spring 2013, Spring 2010.
COMMUN 805 Seminar on Issues in Interpersonal Communication:
3 cr. Graduate.
In-depth study and discussion of application of interpersonal communication research and theory.
Prerequisites: graduate standing.
Course Rules: Counts as repeat of COMMUN 860 with same subtitle. Retakable with change in topic to 9 cr max.
Last Taught: Fall 2024, Spring 2022, Spring 2020, Spring 2017.
COMMUN 806 Understudied Close Relationships
3 cr. Graduate.
How communication functions to develop, maintain, enrich, or limit understudied close relationships.
Prerequisites: grad st.
Course Rules: Counts as a repeat of Commun 805 w/similar topic.
Last Taught: Spring 2022, Spring 2014.
COMMUN 810 Studies of Communication in Organizations
3 cr. Graduate.
Surveys theory and research on communication processes that constitute and maintain organizations. Topics include communication and networks, managerial hierarchy, power, and organizational culture.
Prerequisites: grad st.
Last Taught: Fall 2022, Fall 2019, Spring 2016, Fall 2011.
COMMUN 813 Seminar in Mediated Communication
3 cr. Graduate.
Advanced course focusing on theory and research pertaining to relationships between human communication processes and interactive technologies.
Prerequisites: grad st.
Last Taught: Spring 2025, Fall 2021, Spring 2019, Spring 2016.
COMMUN 814 Communication Technologies in Relationships
3 cr. Graduate.
In-depth study and discussion of theory and research pertaining to how, why, and with what effects people use communication technologies for interpersonal communication in a variety of contexts.
Prerequisites: graduate standing.
Course Rules: Counts as a repeat of COMMUN 805 with the same topic.
Last Taught: Fall 2024, Spring 2022.
COMMUN 816 Media Effects
3 cr. Graduate.
Cross-disciplinary examination of theoretical approaches, research methods, and findings in the study of the effects of media on beliefs, opinions, behavior, and policy; design and execution of a research project.
Prerequisites: graduate standing.
Course Rules: Previously JAMS 810.
Last Taught: Spring 2019, Fall 2014, Spring 2013, Fall 2011.
COMMUN 818 Politics and the Media
3 cr. Graduate.
In-depth examination of the relationships between the media and politics in the United States.
Prerequisites: graduate standing.
Course Rules: Previously JAMS 835.
Last Taught: Spring 2024, Spring 2019, Spring 2015, Spring 2010.
COMMUN 823 Seminar in Small Group Communication
3 cr. Graduate.
Examination of theory and research in small group communication: methods, applications, and problems of small group communication.
Prerequisites: grad st.
Last Taught: Fall 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2018, Fall 2015.
COMMUN 825 Work/Life Intersections and Communication
3 cr. Graduate.
Discussion and analysis of current communication research and work to extend understanding about how communication creates, frames, perpetuates, and challenges conceptualizations of the public (paid work) and private (life) spheres.
Prerequisites: graduate standing.
Course Rules: Counts as a repeat of COMMUN 860 with similar topic.
COMMUN 830 Negotiation
3 cr. Graduate.
Theory and research addressing negotiation as fundamentally a communicative process.
Prerequisites: grad st.
Course Rules: Counts as repeat of Commun 860 w/ same topic.
COMMUN 835 Seminar in Contemporary Public Address
3 cr. Graduate.
Observation and analysis of verbal and nonverbal messages, forms, situations, strategies and media in contemporary public communication.
Prerequisites: grad st.
Last Taught: Spring 2025, Spring 2022, Spring 2019, Spring 2013.
COMMUN 837 Instructional Communication in the College Classroom
3 cr. Graduate.
Theory and practice of instructional communication in the college classroom; research connected to students' own teaching development.
Prerequisites: grad st
Last Taught: Spring 2023, Spring 2021, Fall 2016, Fall 2013.
COMMUN 850 Seminar in Intercultural Communication
3 cr. Graduate.
Examination of advanced theory and research in intercultural and international communication; methods and problems of intercultural communication research.
Prerequisites: grad st.
Last Taught: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021.
COMMUN 852 Critical Approaches to Intercultural Communication
3 cr. Graduate.
Critical approaches to culture, identity, and intercultural communication using both classical and contemporary texts; emphasis on scholars of color and other marginalized groups.
Prerequisites: graduate standing.
Last Taught: Spring 2025.
COMMUN 860 Seminar: Issues in Communication:
3 cr. Graduate.
In-depth study and discussion of application of communication research and theory. Content varies.
Prerequisites: graduate standing.
Course Rules: Retakable with change in topic to 9 cr max.
Last Taught: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2021.
COMMUN 862 Public Deliberation
3 cr. Graduate.
Emerging literature on deliberative democracy; ethical, practical, and political possibilities for public argument and decision making.
Prerequisites: grad st
Last Taught: Fall 2022, Fall 2013, Fall 2011.
COMMUN 864 Communication and Social Influence
3 cr. Graduate.
Advanced theory and experimental studies in persuasion.
Prerequisites: grad st.
Last Taught: Fall 2016, Fall 2012, Spring 2010, Summer 2004.
COMMUN 872 Rhetorics of Constituting Community and Social Controversy
3 cr. Graduate.
Advanced theories of promoting and disrupting identification or division and social conflict through rhetoric.
Prerequisites: grad st.
Last Taught: Spring 2022, Spring 2020, Spring 2017, Spring 2014.
COMMUN 873 The Digital Mirror
3 cr. Graduate.
Public messages about a wide range of technologies as purposeful statements about our identity as a technoculture and technocitizens.
Prerequisites: grad st
Last Taught: Spring 2019, Spring 2015, Fall 2011, Fall 2008.
COMMUN 874 Rhetoric of Women's Rights in the US
3 cr. Graduate.
The rhetorical tradition of women's rights in the U.S. and its use as a lens to reflect on rhetorical theory and criticism.
Prerequisites: grad st
Last Taught: Fall 2022, Spring 2018, Fall 2013, Spring 2011.
COMMUN 875 Rhetoric of Space and Mobility
3 cr. Graduate.
The intersections of rhetoric, space, and mobility.
Prerequisites: graduate standing.
Course Rules: Counts as a repeat of COMMUN 973 with similar topic.
COMMUN 888 Candidate for Degree
0 cr. Graduate.
Available for graduate students who must meet minimum credit load requirement.
Prerequisites: graduate standing.
Course Rules: Fee for 1 cr assessed; unit does not count towards credit load for Fin Aid. Repeatable. Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory only.
Last Taught: Fall 2023, Spring 2019, Summer 2015, Summer 2014.
COMMUN 893 Rhetoric of/and the Internet
3 cr. Graduate.
The concept of 'The Internet' in popular culture; opportunities and obstacles the internet presents to rhetorical communication.
Prerequisites: grad st
Last Taught: Spring 2024, Spring 2022, Fall 2019, Fall 2009.
COMMUN 900 Philosophy and Practice of Communication
3 cr. Graduate.
Philosophical and theoretical perspectives on the scholarly study of human communication.
Prerequisites: grad st
Last Taught: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021.
COMMUN 902 Advanced Qualitative Research in Communication - Interviewing
3 cr. Graduate.
Advanced methods and techniques of qualitative research in communication; special focus on interviewing.
Prerequisites: graduate standing and COMMUN 702(P); or consent of instructor.
Course Rules: Counts as repeat of COMMUN 860 with the same topic.
Last Taught: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2021.
COMMUN 913 Advanced Topics in Group Communication:
3 cr. Graduate.
Theory of and research on emerging issues related to the study and teaching of group communication.
Prerequisites: grad st.
Course Rules: Retakable w/chg in topic to 9 cr max.
COMMUN 950 Theory Building in Communication and Culture
3 cr. Graduate.
The processes of conducting scientific inquiry about communication and culture.
Prerequisites: grad st; Commun 750(P); Commun 850(P).
COMMUN 971 Meta-Analysis: Practice and Application
3 cr. Graduate.
Meta-analysis as means of quantitative literature summary for social sciences with application to education and health.
Prerequisites: grad st.
Course Rules: Counts as repeat of Commun 972 w/similar subtitle.
Last Taught: Fall 2017, Fall 2014, Fall 2010.
COMMUN 972 Advanced Methods in Communication Research:
3 cr. Graduate.
Multivariate statistical methods. Advanced and emerging new methodologies for communication research.
Prerequisites: grad st; Commun 700(P), 701(P), 702(P), 770(P); or cons instr
Course Rules: Retakable w/chg in topic to 9 cr max.
Last Taught: Spring 2025, Spring 2023, Fall 2020, Fall 2018.
COMMUN 973 Topics in Rhetorical Research:
3 cr. Graduate.
In-depth examination of a particular area of rhetorical research, with focus on methodologies; students reflect on epistemic, publication, and professional issues.
Prerequisites: graduate standing.
Course Rules: Retakable with change in topic to 9 credits.
Last Taught: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2021.
COMMUN 990 Research and Thesis
1-12 cr. Graduate.
Production of a thesis under the supervision of student's major professor with consultation of the degree committee.
Prerequisites: grad st & cons instr.
Last Taught: Summer 2025, Spring 2025, Fall 2024, Summer 2024.
COMMUN 998 Communication Internship
1-3 cr. Graduate.
Student applies course work in profit or nonprofit setting; synthesizes course and work experience in graded paper.
Prerequisites: grad st; 12 grad cr Commun or, for mediation interns, 6 grad cr from Mediation Cert course list; writ cons sponsoring agency or organization; cons supervising faculty member & Commun grad prog dir.
Course Rules: Retakable to 3 cr max.
Last Taught: Summer 2024, Summer 2023, Fall 2021, Fall 2020.
COMMUN 999 Independent Study
1-3 cr. Graduate.
Supervised investigation of a particular topic area either not covered by other communication courses or at a level of sophistication beyond that in other courses.
Prerequisites: grad st; cons instr.
Course Rules: Retakable to 3 cr max for M.A. students, and 9 cr max for Ph.D. students.
Last Taught: Spring 2025, Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023.

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