CMCL-C 122: Interpersonal Communication
Class Number: 6978
Summer Session I

MTuWThF, 11:45 AM-1:00 PM, SY 0009

Fulfills COLL S&H Requirement

Course Director: Leila Monaghan
E-Mail: monaghan@indiana.edu
Office: Mottier Hall 221
Phone: 855-4607

Interpersonal Communication is an introduction to the study of
communication, culture, identity and power and asks each student to
do original ethnographic research on the interpersonal themes
discussed in class.  We are particularly interested in the
performance of identity and power—how do people in everyday
conversation create the world they live in?  We will encourage you
not only to analyze others' communication but also to use the
theoretical principles you learn to become more aware of how your
interpersonal interactions are connected to broader questions of
power and social identity.

The specific topics covered are very broad.  The course takes a
cross-cultural approach and looks at material ranging from North
Africa to 17th-century Quakers to a modern-day Deaf Church to high
school and college students in San Francisco, Virginia and the
Midwest.  One strong focus of the class is examining language used
every day by Indiana students—gendered language, slang, cursing and
verbal play.  Past students have told us that this course changed
the way they view the world and that they now see patterns in their
conversations and lives that they had never even considered before.

Interpersonal Communication classes are a lively mixture of lecture
and discussion. Students are asked to connect rigorous theoretical
readings to their own lives—how they interact with friends, family,
lovers and disliked acquaintances.  In addition to the ethnographic
research project where students tape and analyze the interpersonal
communication of a social group of their choice, students will be
expected to make low-key presentations of the material they read.
Students in this class develop a unique set of analytical skills,
making them more confident in reading and speaking about complex
material and in understanding how communication impacts their own
lives.  It is also one of the few opportunities for original primary
research at the undergraduate level.