Communications (COM)

An introduction to the systematic study of language. Focus on the core areas of linguistics such as sound patterns of language (phonology), form (syntax, morphology), and meaning (semantics, pragmatics) as well as applied areas such as language variation, language, acquisition, psychology of language, and the origin of language.

An introduction to statistics and data analysis tailored to the needs of communication and information professionals. Emphasis is placed on developing intuition as to which analyses are appropriate given one's questions of interest as well as how to interpret and communicate the results of analyses. Students will analyze real data sets using SPSS in the computer lab.

Analysis of the variations of the English language throughout geographic and cultural regions of the world.

Analysis of English grammar from four major perspectives: prescriptive, descriptive, transformational-generative, and contextual perspectives. Different methods for analyzing sentences, ways of applying each method to problems in editing and writing, and contributions of linguists such as Noam Chomsky. While focusing on sentence structure, students also look at the structure of words (morphology)and larger units of text (discourse) at various points in the semester.

Study of the origins and development of key features of the English language through its important stages, including Old, Middle, and Early Modern English.

Analysis of human and synthetic speech intended for technology mediated environments and devices. Focs on talker characteristics that affect speech intelligibility and social factors that affect talker characteristics. Attention to design characteristics of technology mediated speech and how humans react to it.

This course examines linguistic theory as it relates to everyday problems. The course is divided into four sections, each of which expose students to an application of these topics to broader issues. Topics include sound patterns of speech, sentence structure, meaning and language and society.

Analysis of spoken and written texts on the intersentential and metalinguistic levels (e.g. semantic roles; given-new information; deixis and anaphora; presupposition and entailment; direct and indirect speech acts; schema theory). Applications to social and professional issues such as intercultural communication; sociopolitical discourse; discourse in educational, legal, and medical settings; narratives and literary texts.

Broad coverage of concepts and issues in current and classic scholarship in the field of technical communication. Intensive work in bibliographic research methods for academic genres.

Wireframing and Prototyping focuses on the development, validation, and use of wireframes and prototypes for UX. Essentially, students will learn how to use wireframing and prototyping practices to communicate and test UX design ideas.

This course focuses on strategies for communicating scientific information in professional settings. Students develop a literature review, proposal, and feasibility study; learn how to adapt scientific information to various audiences; and complete exercises on style, grammar, and other elements of effective professional communication. Emphasis on usability, cohesion, and style in each assignment.

An introduction to principles of user-centered design and to methods for conducting user experience research. Students will learn how to plan and conduct projects that evaluate the design, interface, and experience of a product or service. Course work includes designing studies, collecting and interpreting data, and reporting findings and recommendations from the perspective of user-centered design.

Graphic Design introduces students to key concepts in visual rhetoric and logic, the graphic design process, and the use of professional graphic design tools. This course additionally covers aspects of graphic design history as relevant to course topics.

Principles and strategies for effective document and information design focusing on print media and familiarizing students with current research and theory as well as with practices in document design. Students design, produce, and evaluate documents for a variety of applications, such as instructional materials, brochures, newsletters, graphics, and tables.

Principles and practical applications of editing at all levels, working with both hard and soft copy and including copymarking, copyediting, proofreading, grammar and style, and comprehensive editing. Attention primarily to documents from science, technology, and business.

User Interface Design introduces students to the design of human interfaces to technologies, products, and tools. Students use user-centered design principles to develop, assess, and prototype user interfaces for a variety of projects, including web sites and mobile apps.

Course covers all aspects of federal and foundation proposal cycle, from proposal development through review and decision-making process. Emphasis on research proposals incorporating quantitative and qualitative methods, but activity-based proposals addressed as well.

An examination of conceptual foundations and applied uses of structured languages and databases for structuring information with an emphasis on approaches to single-sourcing materials for presentation in digital and print formats.

Analysis of the nature and uses of knowledge in organizations and groups with attention to technical communicators' roles and tasks in collecting, codifying, storing, retrieving, and transferring information within organizations. Emphasis on web-based strategies, techniques, and tools.

This course familiarizes graduate students with both reading and writing academic texts across disciplines. Students will practice reading, analyzing, and developing written and spoken academic genres (e.g., reviews, articles, conference papers and talks, CVs, cover letters). Special attention is paid to analyzing and evaluating academic journals and conferences; submitting items to journals and conferences; navigating the research, writing, and publication process; revising work and providing feedback to others; and mastering the conventions of academic writing.

The course covers the social, cultural, economic, and political dimensions of globalization and explores the role that communication and media technologies (newspapers, magazines, film, television, and digital media) play in shaping an interconnected, interdependent globalized world and in constituting our identities as global audiences, citizens, workers, consumers, and activists.

This course focuses on the latest work in science and technology studies and the history of technology from ethics in genetic engineering to the social dimensions of computing. Other topics include the intersection of gender and sexuality with new technologies, the role of communications media in "rewiring" our brains and our social connections, and the role of the world wide web in constructing national and global technocracy. In the course, students will read and discuss works by academics as well as journalists in order to offer grounding in the historical, social, and economic background of key technical topics and the presentation of technical topics for wider audiences. The course will also focus on the ways in which authors leverage different information technologies to communicate to wider audiences and how those methods are evolving.

This course has variable content depending on the topic in communication chosen by the instructor. Topics may include the technical and cultural history of digital media, video games, academic writing, and humanities research methods.

This course will discuss the development and trends of social media as well as their impacts on individuals and society. It will draw from a broad range of studies related to social media to learn how social media have impacts on interpersonal relationships, psychological well-being, privacy, politics, entertainment, and so on.

This course will discuss a variety of measures and properties of networks, identify various types of social networkds, describe how position within and the structure of networks matter, use software tools to analyze social network data, and apply social network analysis to areas such as information retrieval, social media, and organizational behavior.

The internship is a cooperative arrangement between IIT and industry. It provides students with hands-on experience in the field of technical communication and information design.

Permission of instructor required.

Projects will require students to complete a theoretically based analysis of a practical communication situation, create a document appropriate to the situation, and write and analysis of or commentary on the choices made in the production of the document. (Credit: Variable. Most M.S. students take 6 credits of project studies)

Permission of instructor required.

This course addresses the logic of research design. The first part of the course focuses on formulating clear research questions and hypotheses. The second part addresses various designs (surveys, correlations, experiments, mixed designs, etc.) and their potential to test hypotheses.

This course is intended for graduate students in technical communication and related fields who are planning to conduct qualitative research in a variety of settings.

This course is for doctoral students of technical communication who have a command of general research methods but who require a deeper understanding of methods for the collection and analysis of quantitative data.

This is a variable credit course which Ph. D. candidates sign up for as they work on their dissertations. Permission of instructor required.