Courses

Please click on course titles below to see course descriptions.

Fall 2012 Cohort

Spring 2013 Courses, Second semester
Complete listing of Communications Practice program courses
First Semester
Second Semester
Third Semester (summer)
Fourth Semester

COPR K4002. The Critical Mind. 3 pts.

Description

In this course students develop their critical thinking faculties through research and the application of analytical frameworks that enable them to evaluate content. The class concentrates on the mass media, the primary dispensers of information and an industry that students must understand as central to the professional practice of communications for profit-making and non-profit organizations. Using the principles of media literacy students explore how the presentation of information through various media has impacted the values and structures of human society. Students will examine not just news but entertainment, and study content not just for its explicit values but its implicit ones.

Back to Top

COPR K4004. Winning Teams. 3 pts.

Description

This course helps students learn how to become productive contributors to, and leaders of, teams in the workplace. After establishing fundamentals for interpersonal interaction and etiquette, the course looks at how a diverse collection of talents can mesh to produce effective results. Students practice techniques for getting the most from every member of a team and from the group as a whole. Students learn about problem-solving methods, and investigate how to troubleshoot team dysfunction. The course also examines the supervisor/supervisee relationship from both sides and considers ways to optimize it.

Back to Top

COPR K4008. The Evolving Industry. 3 pts.

Description

This course exposes students to the variety of business contexts in which communication plays a part, and examines how well-conceived strategic communication can help organizations achieve success. The course looks at the different channels organizations use to communicate with their audiences, both internal and external; the advantages and disadvantages each channel offers; and how clients, agencies, and the media work together.

Back to Top

COPR K4016. The Active Audience. 3 pts.

Description

This course tackles the central communications concept of audience: how an organization’s interactions with various stakeholder groups can affect organizational performance; how organizations seek to influence the thinking, feeling, and behavior of stakeholders. Students learn reasons for targeting certain audiences; how to identify, define, and understand target audiences; how to formulate objectives for change; and how to measure changes in audience attitudes.

Back to Top

COPR K4006. Dynamics of Persuasion. 3 pts.

Description

This course covers theories of persuasion and rhetorical approaches to building a rational case. Leveraging the knowledge gained in COPR K4002 The Critical Mind, students deconstruct and construct compelling arguments based on relevant evidence. Through clear, concise, and imaginative writing and presentation assignments, students develop effective persuasion skills.

Back to Top

COPR K4012. Influencing Decisions. 3 pts.

Description

This intensive skills-focused writing and presentation course strengthens technique and strategic understanding to make students faster, better, and more persuasive writers and speakers. This course will analyze the audiences and motivational goals of a variety of common business documents and oral pitches—from internal emails and memos to press releases and customer responses to formal proposals—deconstructing specific examples, both good and bad. Assignments will let students practice putting theory to work, tailoring their language and message for particular targets. Students will develop specific projects within the context of larger organizational goals and strategies, studying the big picture and practicing details of execution. Substantial critique and multiple revisions will build facility, developing students into deft, sophisticated communicators. The course adds to the reasoning, organizational, and persuasion theories introduced in The Dynamics of Persuasion, and studies how these principles play out in the real world.

Back to Top

COPR K4014. From Information to Insight. 3 pts.

Description

This course examines the crucial role research plays in making sound business decisions. Students learn how to find and evaluate information, conduct basic interviews, and understand and use numerical data without fear. The differences between qualitative and quantitative research are discussed. Students discover how research findings can lead to important, actionable insights.

Back to Top

COPR K4018. Navigating the Digital Frontier. 3 pts.

Description

This course gives students a broad-based understanding of the scope of the digital world, which will enable them to spot trends and dynamics in the digital media landscape. It trains students to view their use of digital media in a more critical way, and gives students the conceptual understanding necessary for applying crucial digital media skills in communications practice.

Back to Top

COPR K4020. The Strategic Storyteller. 3 pts.

Description

This course teaches students how to craft and deliver presentations that engage audiences and inspire action. Students will learn how to find a theme that resonates with their audience and create "sticky" content through image, metaphor, emotion, and story. Particular attention will be paid to the elements of story, how to find good stories, and how to tell them for greatest effect. Presentation skills will be sharpened through on-camera practice and storytelling exercises.

Back to Top

COPR K4500. Internship in Communications Practice. 3 pts.

Description

The internship is a cornerstone of the program. Students work in a New York City communications firm for a full summer to gain valuable, relevant job experience as a fully functioning member of a communications team. The internship can be an important part of students’ post-graduation job hunt, providing demonstrable, resume-expanding experiences as well as a valuable network of contacts in the field.

Back to Top

COPR K4030. Developing and Implementing Ideas. 3 pts.

Description

This course will guide students through the dynamic process of taking an idea from inception to completion on behalf of internal and external clients. Students will learn how ideas are developed and implemented and be able to use research, mobilize teams, and devise solutions for a variety of challenges across various industries. The value of measurement will be stressed and methods for ensuring actionable results will be taught.Back to Top

COPR K4035. Developing a Moral Compass. 3 pts.

Description

Through a series of case studies, guest speakers, discussions, and lectures, students learn about ethics in communication and how to use moral reasoning in a variety of contexts. They learn how to defend their ethical decisions and how to deal with a variety of ethical situations in their professional lives.

Back to Top

COPR K4040. Practice Seminar. 3 pts.

Description

Students choose one of three specializations. Each course provides the tools students need to understand the larger context of each area and gives students a foundation on which to base their portfolio projects:

  • Brand DNA
    This course will help students looking to launch careers in branding: developing, defending, and growing brands for companies, at agencies, or for nonprofits. The course explores the essential elements of branding, including target audiences and segmentation, brand benefits, brand personality, differentiation, and key brand equities. It also surveys conceptual approaches for the diagnosis of brand growth opportunities and for planning integrated brand communications.
  • Corporate Communications
    This course will help students looking to launch careers in corporate communications: developing and managing communications strategies for companies or nonprofits. The course will help students explore the essential elements of corporate communications, and begin to construct their own concepts of thinking and learning more about corporate communications as their careers progress. Students learn the essential elements of putting together a corporate communications plan and preparing essential deliverables. Guest speakers will bring real-world experience into the classroom.
  • Communicating for Good: The Savvy Non-Profit
    This course examines how communications principles and techniques can be effectively adapted to deliver value that benefits society. Through hands-on exercises, case studies, and discussion with industry leaders, students explore the applications of research, messaging, social media, public relations, cause marketing, and advertising to the real-world issues facing non-profits today. In addition, students learn how non-profit communicators make the most of their resources to deliver measurable results.
Back to Top

COPR K4045. Portfolio Project. 3 pts.

Description

The portfolio project is a guided independent study course giving students practical experience in their areas of specialization, and resulting in professional work samples that showcase students' skills to potential employers. Working individually with the guidance of the instructor, each student selects and studies a real-world challenge faced by an organization. Using primary and secondary research, critical thinking and analysis, and with knowledge of the specific practice area, students draw conclusions about the lessons learned in the form of a case study which is then written and presented to a review board.

Back to Top