Department of Communication Studies

Main Departmental Office
Terrill Hall, 235
P.O. Box 5266 Denton, TX
76203-0266
(817) 565-2588

John S. Gossett, Chair

Graduate Faculty: Allison, Bruner, DeLoach, Gossett, Hamlett, Rhea,
Wheeless.

The Department of Communication Studies offers the following degrees:

 -Master of Arts, and
 -Master of Science, 

both with a major in communication studies.

    The degrees are designed to maximize student knowledge and research
capabilities in communication studies. As a discipline, communication
studies examines the role of communication in human affairs and the
symbolic processes through which individuals interact with one another,
their groups and their culture. Thus, the study of communication
focuses upon message generating, processing and receiving behavior.

    The graduate major in communication studies focuses on critical studies
in communication that include theoretical, historical and critical
examination of symbolic human discourse. It also focuses on social
science studies in communication that include theory, research and
assessment in human communication processes.

    Course work and research projects are designed to help students attain
specific knowledge and application of classical and contemporary
theories of rhetoric, communication processes and performance. The
curriculum includes various quantitative, analytical and critical
methodologies; analysis and criticism of public discourse; First
Amendment studies; performance studies as a method of textual study, as
an aesthetic event and as a social and rhetorical act; interpersonal
interaction; persuasion and social influence; study of organizational
communication; and data analysis techniques.

    Teaching assistantships are awarded to prospective students with
excellent academic backgrounds and potential for being very good
classroom teachers. Applications for teaching assistantships are
available from the department chair.

Research

Special research interests in the Department of Communication Studies
include the areas of:

1. rhetorical analysis and criticism of persuasive public communication
in historical, political and cultural contexts;

2. performance of literature, including literary and performance theory
and criticism, intertextuality, phenomenology, and literary and
rhetorical applications of narrative theory;

3. assertiveness, influence and interaction management skills;

4. legal communication, including investigation of theories and case
law related to the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech;

5. historical, critical and cultural studies of discourse and
persuasion; and

6. critical and cultural studies of organizations, subcultures, culture
differences, ideology and politics of organizations.

    The Office of Applied Communication and Research has special programs
designed to improve communication for particular groups. Graduate
students receive training in developing and administering
skill-assessment instruments; instructing others in anxiety reduction,
knowledge enhancement, listening, interaction management and
expressiveness; and conducting and implementing skills-training
intervention programs. This instruction is reinforced through graduate
student assistance with a skills training workshop administered on an
ongoing basis.

Admission Requirements

    Prospective students must apply for admission to the Toulouse School of
Graduate Studies. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of much of
the work done in the Department of Communication Studies, admission is
open to many who did not major in communication as undergraduates.
Persons with fewer than 24 hours of undergraduate communication course
work may request admission on the basis of communication-related
courses.

    All applicants must take the aptitude test of the Graduate Record
Examination (GRE) and must have the scores reported to the department
prior to being considered for admission. Undergraduate students
anticipating graduate work in this department should take the GRE in
the fall semester of the senior year. Successful applicants generally
have GRE scores of at least 1000 (verbal + quantitative) and have
undergraduate grade point averages of at least 3.0 in the last 60
hours.

Degree Programs

The department offers graduate programs leading to the following
degrees:

  -Master of Arts, and
  -Master of Science,

both with a major in communication studies.

    The master's degree requires the completion of 36 hours of graduate
course work with two options:

1. 30 hours of course work, including 6 hours in a minor area plus 6
hours of thesis, including an oral defense of the thesis; and

2. 36 hours of course work, including 6 hours in a minor area plus a
written and oral comprehensive examination.

    Knowledge of at least one foreign language acceptable to the department
is required for the Master of Arts degree.

Courses of Instruction

    All Courses of Instruction are located in one section at the back of
this catalog.