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Suggested Curriculum for Intercultural Communication

Within the Graduate Program in Communication, the Social Influence Research Area supports specialization in intercultural communication. Students may seek an M.A. degree or a Ph.D. degree within this specialization.

M.A. Study in Intercultural Communication

Currently, all M.A. students in the Communication Graduate Program must take at least 30 semester hours at the graduate level. Nine of these semester hours meet general program requirements. For students pursuing a specialization in intercultural communication, the remaining twenty-one (or more) semester hours are divided between courses in the intercultural research area (a minimum of six semester hours), courses in the students' chosen specialization (a minimum of six semester hours), and electives (up to nine semester hours).

Program Requirements (9 semester hours)

All M.A. students must meet the Introduction to Graduate Study Requirement (COMM 700 Introduction to Graduate Study in Communication, 3 semester hours) and the Research Methods Requirement with two courses (6 semester hours) drawn from the following three courses: COMM 600 Empirical Research in Communication, COMM 711 Historical/Critical Methods in Communication Research, and/or COMM 714 Introduction to Qualitative Methods in Communication Research. Because is a substantial amount of intercultural communication research is quantitative, COMM 600 is strongly recommended.

Scholarly work in the study of intercultural communication involves developing theoretical knowledge, as well as methodological and applied skills. With this in mind, the following curriculum is proposed.

Intercultural Communication Research Area (minimum 9 semester hours)

All M.A. students are expected to take:

COMM 682 Seminar in Intercultural Communication (3 semester hours)

Statistics Sequence (6 semester hours).

One of the following two-course sequences (or equivalent):

EDMS 645 and 646; PSYC 601 and 602; or SOCY 601 and 602

Students who will complete a thesis are required to take six credits of COMM 799 Master's Thesis Research.

In addition, students are expected to take 12 semester hours in their research area.

Research Area and Specialization (minimum 12 semester hours)

In consultation with their Advisory Committee, students should choose four classes from the following list of elective courses. It is recommended that students take at least one course outside of the Department of Communication.

Social Influence Theory

COMM 402 Communication Theory and Process (3 semester hours)

COMM 482 Intercultural Communication (3 semester hours) (only appropriate if taken prior to COMM 682)

COMM 625 Negotiation (3 semester hours) or, if not available, COMM 425 Negotiation (3 semester hours)

COMM 626 Conflict Management (3 semester hours) or, if not available, COMM 426 Conflict Management (3 semester hours)

COMM 633 Global Public Relations

COMM 724 Seminar in Organizational Communication (3 semester hours) or, if not available, COMM 424 Organizational Communication (3 semester hours)

COMM 775 Seminar in Persuasion and Attitude Change (3 semester hours) or, if not available, COMM 475 Theories in Persuasion (3 semester hours)

COMM 776 Seminar in Interpersonal Communication (3 semester hours)

Methods

COMM 702 Intermediate Quantitative Data Analysis in Communication Research: The General Linear Model (3 semester hours)

COMM 703 Advanced Quantitative Data Analysis in Communication Research: Structural Equation Models (3 semester hours)

Applied

COMM 730 Seminar in Health Communication (3 semester hours)

COMM 760 Seminar in Political Communication (3 semester hours)

Recommended Courses from Other Departments

Intercultural Communication Theory

ANTH 605 Theory of Cultural Anthropology

ANTH 611 Management and Cultural Process (3 semester hours)

ANTH 620 Strategies for Cultural Understanding (3 semester hours)

JOUR 738 Topics in International and Cross-Cultural Communication (3 semester hours)

PSYC 751 Cross-Cultural Context of Psychological Development (3 semester hours)

Methods

EDMS 722 Structural Modeling (3 semester hours)

SURV 632 Social and Cognitive Foundations of Survey Measurement (3 semester hours)

Ph.D. Study in Intercultural Communication

All Ph.D. students in the Communication Graduate Program must undertake a course of study involving at least 36 semester hours beyond the M.A. degree. Fifteen of these semester hours meet general program requirements. For students pursuing the study of intercultural communication, the remaining twenty-one (or more) semester hours are to be completed as described below.

Program Requirements (15 semester hours)

All Ph.D. students must meet the Introduction to Graduate Study Requirement (COMM 700 Introduction to Graduate Study in Communication, 3 semester hours) and the following research methods requirement:

COMM 702 Intermediate Quantitative Data Analysis in Communication Research: The General Linear Model (3 semester hours)

COMM 703 Advanced Quantitative Data Analysis in Communication Research: Structural Equation Models (3 semester hours)

To complete the research methods requirement, students must additionally take six semester hours of methods or statistics courses inside or outside of the Communication Department. Prerequisite courses such as COMM 600 and courses prerequisite to COMM 702 may not be used to satisfy this methods requirement.

Research Area and Specialization (minimum 15 semester hours)

Within this research area, Ph.D. students are generally expected to take fifteen semester hours in the Department of Communication from the course requirements and electives listed above for M.A. students.

Cognate Area (minimum 6 semester hours)

Ph.D. students must undertake at least two courses in a cognate area outside the department (six semester hours). The cognate is selected to support the student's dissertation research and generally falls within a single academic discipline. Typical departments in which Ph.D. students in the intercultural communication area complete the cognate requirement include: Anthropology; Business and Management; Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistics; Psychology; and Sociology; see the course list for M.A. students provided above.