Courses, Communication Studies Major | Northwestern University School of Professional Studies - Northwestern School of Professional Studies

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COMM_ST 394-DL : Communication Studies Research Seminar: Exploring the Meanings of College

Description

"College" is a complicated cultural concept with several dimensions that blur together in our common understanding. College is a site where knowledge is generated and shared, an industry, a symbolic stage of life, and a system for reproducing and marking social stratification. This course will focus on distinguishing those dimensions, diagnosing how those dimensions influence people's engagement in postsecondary education, and critically evaluating current events that activate different elements of those dimensions.

Questions explored in the course include: How has public discourse about college in the United States taken shape over time? How does discourse about college influence industry practices? How might public discourse about college in America influence individuals’ priorities and beliefs?

Investigating relevant texts will provide students with opportunities to identify patterns in discourse and analyze communication practices in different contexts. Each student will choose one case of their own as the subject of a quarter-long research project.

The course is conducted completely online. A technology fee will be added to tuition.