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Communication Studies

Communication Studies 2012-2013

Degree Requirements

The MA in Communication Studies

Requirements:
45 graduate-level quarter hours with thesis52 graduate-level quarter hours with comprehensive exam

Non-Course Requirements:
Comprehensive exams/thesis

Thesis defense or an eight-hour written comprehensive examination is required of all MA students.
Comprehensive examinations may be taken throughout the year, with the exception of summer quarter.

Exams taken during breaks will be reviewed the next quarter following completion of the examination. Areas of testing are determined by an adviser within guidelines established by the communication studies faculty.

Course Requirements:

  • Research Foundations — minimum of 10 credit hours from the following:
    • COMN 4900: Qualitative Methods I
    • COMN 4901: Qualitative Methods II
    • COMN 4930: Qualitative Methods I
    • COMN 4931: Qualitative Methods II
  • Emphasis Area — minimum of 15 credit hours from one of the following lists:
    • Culture and Communication:
      • COMN 4220: Critical Intercultural Communication (required)
      • COMN 4221: Critical Methods for Studying Culture (required)
      • COMN 4222: Writing Culture (suggested for thesis requirement)
      • COMN 4221: Culture, Power and Representation
      • COMN 4231: Discourse and Race
      • COMN 4700: Topics: Intercultural Performance
      • COMN 4701: Voices of Women of Color
      • COMN 4701: Cultural Memory
      • COMN 4701: Critical Pedagogy and Culture
      • COMN 4702: Critical Sexuality Studies
      • COMN 4702: Topics: Performance Ethnography
      • COMN 4702: Topics Culture and Affect
      • COMN 4702: Topics: Performative Pedagogy
    • Interpersonal and Family Communication:
      • COMN 3240: Group Methods and Facilitation
      • COMN 4020: COMN Studies: Relational Communication
      • COMN 4110: Theories of Interpersonal Communication
      • COMN 4210: Seminar: Interpersonal Communication
      • COMN 4210: Seminar: Interpersonal Communication (Privacy and Disclosure in Interpersonal Communication)
      • COMN 4250: Seminar in Family Communication
      • COMN 4251: Advanced Seminar in Family Communication
      • COMN 4280: Theories of Group Communication
      • COMN 4300: Seminar in Persuasion
      • COMN 4700: Topics: Narrative Communication
      • COMN 4700: Topics: Identity and Relationships
      • COMN 4701: Topics: Seminar in Gender and Communication
      • COMN 4703: Topics: Communication and Mediated Relationships
      • COMN 4710: Seminar: Nonverbal Communication
    • Rhetorical and Communication Ethics
      • COMN 3130: Organizational Culture
      • COMN 3315: Seminar in Public Deliberation
      • COMN 3400/COMN 4420: Modern Rhetorical Theory
      • COMN 3410: Classical Rhetoric
      • COMN 3435/COMN 4435: Rhetoric and the Public Life
      • COMN 3470: Theories of Free Speech
      • COMN 3780: Discourse, Power, and Ideology
      • COMN 3850/COMN 4850: Communication Ethics (multiple seminars)
      • COMN 4310: Communication and Collaboration
      • COMN 4890: Philosophical Presuppositions of Communication
      • Minimum of two cognate courses outside of the area of emphasis and/or outside of the COMN prefix (10–15 credits)

The PhD in Communication Studies

Non-Course Requirements:

Tool Requirement
The tool is a methodological rather than a content requirement. This requirement should be met through course work in a methodology that results in advanced knowledge about a method that is related to the dissertation. In addition to recognizing tool requirement options in the traditional sense, (i.e., statistics) the student, in consultation with the dissertation adviser, may petition the faculty for an option deemed appropriate to the research/investigative requirements of the dissertation. The tool consists of 8–10 credits of course work taken during the PhD program at the University of Denver; transfer hours from the student's prior MA program cannot be counted toward the tool.

Periodic Review
After completion of 30 quarter credits, the PhD student may be advanced to preliminary candidacy. Basis for advancement is the periodic faculty review of the progress of each student.

Comprehensive Examination
At the end of required graduate course work and preliminary to advancement to final candidacy, the PhD student is required to pass a comprehensive examination. The examination is designed to test the student's competencies as a scholar. The examination assesses both depth and breadth of knowledge within the discipline by focusing upon both the student's curriculum emphasis and supporting work in other fields of study. The comprehensive examination offers the doctoral student an opportunity to demonstrate that he/she has become an independent, original and mature thinker in the discipline, as a consequence of the research and study engaged in during formal graduate course work.

Examination Procedures
Exam preparation and administration will be under the supervision of an examination committee chosen by the student in conjunction with his/her adviser. The committee will consist of a minimum of three tenure-track faculty members in the department of communication studies. The examining committee chair will, in consultation with the student, convene the committee to prepare the examination and will offer the student guidance in preparation for meeting. (See the department for a more detailed description of comprehensive examination policies and procedures.)

Dissertation
The PhD student is expected to submit a formal dissertation proposal, write a dissertation and defend the dissertation in an oral examination. No oral examinations can be taken in the summer quarters.

Course Requirements:

135 graduate-level quarter hours

  • Four courses from the research foundations sequence (20 credits)
    • COMN 4900: Quantitative Methods I
    • COMN 4901: Quantitative Methods II
    • COMN 4930: Qualitative Methods I
    • COMN 4931: Qualitative Methods II
  • Emphasis Area — minimum of 30 credit hours from one of the following lists:
    • Culture and Communication:
      • COMN 4220: Critical Intercultural Communication (required)
      • COMN 4221: Critical Methods for Studying Culture (required)
      • COMN 4222: Writing Culture (required)
      • COMN 4221: Culture, Power and Representation
      • COMN 4231: Discourse and Race
      • COMN 4700: Topics: Intercultural Performance
      • COMN 4701: Voices of Women of Color
      • COMN 4701: Cultural Memory
      • COMN 4701: Critical Pedagogy and Culture
      • COMN 4702: Critical Sexuality Studies
      • COMN 4702: Topics: Performance Ethnography
      • COMN 4702: Topics Culture and Affect
      • COMN 4702: Topics: Performative Pedagogy
    • Interpersonal and Family Communication:
      • COMN 3240: Group Methods and Facilitation
      • COMN 4020: COMN Studies: Relational Communication
      • COMN 4110: Theories of Interpersonal Communication
      • COMN 4210: Seminar: Interpersonal Communication
      • COMN 4210: Seminar: Interpersonal Communication (Privacy and Disclosure in Interpersonal Communication)
      • COMN 4250: Seminar in Family Communication
      • COMN 4251: Advanced Seminar in Family Communication
      • COMN 4280: Theories of Group Communication
      • COMN 4300: Seminar in Persuasion
      • COMN 4700: Topics: Narrative Communication
      • COMN 4701: Topics: Seminar in Gender and Communication
      • COMN 4703: Topics: Communication and Mediated Relationships
      • COMN 4710: Seminar: Nonverbal Communication
    • Rhetorical and Communication Ethics:
      • COMN 3130: Organizational Culture
      • COMN 3315: Seminar in Public Deliberation
      • COMN 3400/COMN 4420: Modern Rhetorical Theory
      • COMN 3410: Classical Rhetoric
      • COMN 3435/COMN 4435: Rhetoric and the Public Life
      • COMN 3470: Theories of Free Speech
      • COMN 3780: Discourse, Power and Ideology
      • COMN 3850/COMN 4850: Communication Ethics (multiple seminars)
      • COMN 4310: Communication and Collaboration
      • COMN 4890: Philosophical Presuppositions of Communication
    • Three cognate courses outside of the area of emphasis (15 credits)
    • Advanced Methods — 8–10 quarter hours. (There are no predetermined courses prescribed for this requirement. Students decide on applicable courses with their respective advisers)
    • Maximum of 15 quarter hours of COMN 5995 (dissertation hours)
    • Maximum of 30 quarter hours may be taken outside of COMN

Dual Degree Programs
The department of communication studies offers a dual degree with the Graduate School of Social Work.

Master of Arts in Communication/Master of Social Work (MSW)
Under the agreement with the Graduate School of Social Work, the student can earn the dual degree of Master of Arts in communication studies and Master of Social Work. The dual degree requires an admission application and acceptance by each of the departments. Thus, the dual degree is earned concurrently within established guidelines. Specific details and requirements are consistent with the most current agreement date and can be provided upon request.