Undergraduate Course Catalog 2010-2011
College of Liberal Arts
» http://www.unh.edu/liberal-arts/
Communication (CMN)
» http://www.unh.edu/communication/
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Chairperson: Lawrence J. Prelli
Professor: James M. Farrell, Sheila McNamee, Joshua Meyrowitz, Lawrence J. Prelli
Associate Professor: Jennifer L. Borda, Melissa D. Deem, Mardi J. Kidwell, John Lannamann
Assistant Professor: Josh Lauer, Danielle Pillet-Shore
Lecturer: Michael Albrecht, Christine Feldman, Per E. Fjelstad, R. Michael Jackson, Michelle Michaud, John Moore
The purpose of the communication major is to prepare students to engage more knowingly with the communicative patterns, problems, and practices that they will encounter in their personal, professional, and civic lives. This purpose requires that students learn to move beyond commonplace and conventional understandings of “communication” and acquire sophisticated perspectives—workable orientations—for describing, analyzing, reflecting upon, and engaging with those patterns, problems, and practices. Accordingly, the major not only acquaints students with a variety of empirical, critical, historical, theoretical, and pragmatic perspectives on communication phenomena, but encourages them to formulate workable orientations of their own for engaging with communication issues and questions. Students who graduate with a communication major are prepared to become thoughtful and proficient “communication decision-makers” during their post-graduate lives.
Students wishing to declare communication as a major should contact the Director of Undergraduate Advising for application information and requirements.
Communication Major
Majors must complete ten courses (40 credits) with a 2.0 overall average in the major. The distribution of required courses for the major is as follows:
Three introductory courses (12 credits)
CMN 455, 456, and 457 (12 credits). Majors must earn a grade of C or better in each introductory course.
Two 500-level communication analysis courses (eight credits)
The two 500-level courses must have different 400-level prerequisites. Majors must earn a grade of C- or better in both analysis courses before taking 600-level courses. CMN 599 (Internship) cannot be used to fulfill an analysis course requirement.
Five upper-division courses (20 credits)
Students must choose to focus at least three of their upper-division courses on one of six thematic concentrations: Histories and Traditions in Communication; Political Communication and Public Space; Communication, Community, and Everyday Life; Culture and Identities; Citizenship and Advocacy; and Visual Communication. At least two of the student’s five upper-division courses must be at the 700-level. Majors must earn a grade of C- or better in all upper-division courses.
A maximum of four credits of independent study (CMN 795) may be counted toward the major. CMN 799 (Honors Thesis) and CMN 796 (Commentary) cannot be used to fulfill an advanced course requirement. The Discovery Program Capstone requirement may be fulfilled by completing any 700-level Communication course except CMN 795 and CMN 796.
Transfer students must complete 20 credits of their communication coursework at UNH to complete the major satisfactorily. Exchange students may transfer no more than 10 approved credits from another institution to be applied toward completion of the communication major at UNH.
Candidates for a degree must satisfy all of the University Discovery Program requirements in addition to satisfying the requirements of each individual major program. Bachelor of arts candidates must also satisfy the foreign language proficiency requirement.
Major department courses taken to satisfy major requirements cannot be used to satisfy Discovery requirements.
Communication Minor
The communication minor consists of five courses (20 credits). Students must complete a minimum of two 400-level introductory courses (CMN 455, CMN 456, or CMN 457), a minimum of two 500-level analysis courses, and a minimum of one advanced 600-level or 700-level course.
Students who pursue a communication minor must complete five courses within the minor with a C or better at the 400-level and with a C- or better at the 500-, 600-, and 700-levels, and maintain a minimum grade-point average of 2.0. No more than two transfer courses from other institutions can be applied to the minor and all transfers are contingent upon departmental approval. No more than four credits of independent study can count toward the minor. No pass/fail or credit/fail courses can count toward the minor.
Media Practices Option
This option is designed for qualified students who want to augment their communication major at Durham with training in media production and applied media communication through courses in the communication arts department at the Manchester campus. Qualified students who meet all requirements will graduate with a B.A. degree in communication: media practices option. In addition to communication major requirements, students are required to take two designated media practices courses at the Manchester campus and complete a four credit media practices internship (CMN 599). Students must maintain both an in-major and cumulative grade-point average of at least 2.5 to satisfactorily complete the media practices option.
Business Applications Option
This option is designed for qualified students who want to augment their communication major with professional training in such areas as marketing, advertising, and organizational behavior through courses at the Whittemore School of Business and Economics. Qualified students who meet all requirements will graduate with a B.A. degree in communication: business applications option. In addition to communication major requirements, students are required to take three business applications option courses designated at WSBE and complete a four credit business applications internship (CMN 599). Students must maintain both an in-major and cumulative grade-point average of at least 2.5 to satisfactorily complete the business applications option.
