Graduate Course Descriptions and Offerings
To find out what courses are currently being offered, please view the LSU Course Offerings page.
4000 Level Courses for Upper Division Undergraduate & Graduate Students
(All of the noted courses are worth 3 credit hours; a few carry restrictions or additional requirements for graduate students)
CMST 4012: Communication and Relationships
Survey of theories of interpersonal communication and misunderstandings in relational
development and deterioration; more effective communication
CMST 4100: Political Communication
Factors and strategies in contemporary political communication in the U.S.; emphasis
on electronic communication, candidates and images, campaign management, speech making,
and advertising; study of recent and current elections
CMST 4101: Organization Communication
Theories surrounding how people communicate within the organization setting, as well
as how communication relates to the process of organizing; examines relevant theories
and research
CMST 4102: Communication and Careers
Examines theoretical and practical discourses surrounding careers on individual and
group levels; includes key career issues; meanings of work, work/life balance, mentorship,
career analogies
CMST 4107: Communication as Culture
Creation, maintenance, and alteration of cultural norms, institutions, and values
through both mass mediated spectacle and intimate communication ritual
CMST 4111: Intrapersonal Communication
Examination of mental imagery, imagined interaction, and listening across a variety
of context
CMST 4112: Health Communication
Communication in the health care context; application to pragmatic problems in the
healthcare industry; critical examination of health messages in popular culture
CMST 4113: Communication and Leadership in Teams
Analysis of communication processes in groups and teams; includes examination of theories
and research findings; addresses individual and team participation, leadership, and
decision-making skills
CMST 4114: Contemporary Theories of Communication [Theory]
Current methods and theories of human communication; research literature; behavioral
antecedents and consequences of messages and their variations; how messages interact
with communicators to produce behavioral outcomes
CMST 4115 Listening (3)
Explores affective, cognitive, and behavioral facets of listening as central to successful
human communication and interpersonal relationship functioning (Prereq: CMST 2010
or equivalent)
CMST 4118: Modeling Communication Within Marital and Family Relationships
Role of communication within marriages and other family arrangements
CMST 4119: Nonverbal Communication
Nonverbal message systems such as kinesics and proxemics; relationship between nonverbal
and verbal communication
CMST 4130: Communication Skills Training and Assessment
Provides students with a theoretically-based understanding of training communication
skills
CMST 4140: Analysis and Performance of Poetry
Advanced study of selected forms, styles, and genres of oral and written poetry through
solo and group performance
CMST 4141: Analysis and Performance of Narrative
Advanced study of selected novels, short stories, and oral narratives through solo
and group performance; stylistic and rhetorical analyses
CMST 4142: Selected Topics in Performance Studies
Divers topics, such as autoperformance; nonfiction; documentary; installation
CMST 4143: Performance of Southern Fiction
Study of selected texts of contemporary southern fiction through solo and group performance;
literary criticism of texts performed; relevant narrative and performance theory
CMST 4144: Performance Art
History, theory, criticism, and practice of 20th century avant-garde performance and
performance art
CMST 4145: Group Performance
Theory and techniques of adapting and staging nondramatic literature and other materials
for group performance
CMST 4147: Body Performance Culture
Theories and uses of the body as a site of cultural production and communication in
everyday life and more formal performance events
CMST 4150: Tourism as Communication & Performance
Communication and performance-centered study of contemporary tourism and travel
CMST 4160: Persuasive Communication
Nature of persuasive communication; the role of message, source, and recipient factors
in persuasive impact
CMST 4162 Crime, Communication & Culture
Explores rhetorical dimensions of crime and incarceration in the United States; special
attention to historical and contemporary expressions of race, class, gender, sexuality,
national identity, etc. in and around criminal justice system.
CMST 4164: Advanced Argumentation
Argumentation in different types of speaking situations; trends in argumentation theory;
argumentation in practice
CMST 4165: History and Criticism of American [U.S.] Public Address
U.S. public address from colonial times to the present; speeches of outstanding statesmen
and women, lawyers, and clergy and sources of their effectiveness
CMST 4166: History and Criticism of British Public Address
British public address from the 18th century to the present; speeches of outstanding
British statesmen and women from Pitt to Churchill
CMST 4167: Contemporary Rhetorical Theory
Developments in rhetoric from contemporary theoretical and critical perspectives;
key concepts in the philosophy of rhetoric
CMST 4168: Rhetoric and the Arts
The arts as a means of transforming experience and influencing social change
CMST 4169: Visual Rhetoric
Methodological approaches useful in understanding how images communicate messages
and make arguments
CMST 4200: Practicum in Communication Studies
Practical experience in major interdepartmental activities outside the classroom under
direct faculty supervision
CMST 4312: Topics in Critical Media Theory and Practice
Topics such as “Basic Concepts of Cinema,” “Aesthetics of Film and Video,” and “Cyberculture
Theory”
CMST 4971: Special Topics in Mass Communication
See MC 4971
7000 Level Seminars for Graduate Students
(Unless otherwise noted, all courses are worth 3 credit hours)
CMST 7900: Introduction to Graduate Study in Communication Studies
A CMST core course required of all CMST graduate students
CMST 7901: Pedagogy for the Communication Classroom
A three-credit CMST core course required of all CMST graduate students on a teaching
assistantship; provides information and support for first time college teachers; teaching
skills; core teaching values and instructional strategies
CMST 7902: Professional Development
A CMST core course required of all CMST graduate students in their first two academic
semesters; provides information and support for new graduate students
CMST 7903: Research Writing in Communication Studies
A CMST core course required of all CMST graduate students; emphasis on refining research
and writing skills for careers in the discipline
CMST 7910: Interpersonal Communication Theory
Current theoretical approaches to interpersonal communication, including developmental
approaches, cognitive and relational theories
CMST 7911: Communication and the Individual
Current theoretical approaches to the role of the individual in communication. Topics
such as individual differences, imagined interaction, and listening
CMST 7912: Communication and Relationships
Examination of theoretical perspectives and concepts over the life cycle of interpersonal
relationships across contexts including relationship types, roles, emotion, conflict,
third-party influences, deception, persuasion, and dissolution processes
CMST 7913: Communication Theory
Foundational and contemporary theories in communication [theory]
CMST 7914: Communication in Health Care Contexts
Topics such as interpersonal communication in health care contexts, intersections
of family and health communication, and social support and health communication
CMST 7915: Research in Communication Theory
Research literature on advanced topics in communication theory
CMST 7923: Qualitative Research Methods in Communication Studies
Theoretical and practical considerations of current methods of qualitative research
in the discipline – e.g., ethnography
CMST 7940: Performance Theories and Methods
Survey of theories and methods of 20th and 21st century performance practices in western
cultures
CMST 7941: Studies in the History of Performance
Historical development of select Western performance practices outside the institution
of theatre; methods of historical research in performances studies
CMST 7943: Performance and Culture
Theories and research exploring the relations between performance and culture central
to the field of performance studies; emphasis on two main trajectories: performance
as a subject of cultural inquiry and performance as a method of cultural invention
CMST 7944: Performance and Media
Critical, historical and/or creative research in topics related to media in performance
in contexts such as media theatre, film, video, television, Internet and virtual reality
CMST 7945: Contemporary Theories and Research in Performance Studies
Diverse topics, such as problems in performance theory and criticism; autoperformance;
technologies; new media; identity politics; memory
CMST 7946: Theory and Performance of Narrative Discourse
Narrative theory in literature and performance; rhetoric of narrative discourse
CMST 7961: Evolution of Rhetorical Theory, Classical Period
CMST 7962: Rhetorical Criticism
Types of speech criticism, criteria, and measures of effectiveness of public address
CMST 7963: Southern Oratory
Oratory of the South from about 1860 to the present; significant speakers of a given
historical period
CMST 7964: Evolution of Rhetorical Theory, British and American [U.S.]
Developments in rhetorical theory in Britain and the U.S. from about 1529 to the present;
discussion of major works by Campbell, Blair, Whately, and Kenneth Burke
CMST 7965: Rhetoric and Social Theory
Survey of key social theorists relevant to rhetorical theory and criticism
CMST 7966: Problems in Rhetorical Theory, Criticism and History
Selected problem that goes beyond present advanced course offerings in public address
CMST 7967: Development of Contemporary Rhetorical Theory
Pivotal questions in contemporary theory from I. A. Richards through postmodernism;
future of rhetorical theory and its relationship to the humanities
CMST 7968: Rhetoric and Public Culture
Scope and function of rhetoric in formation and dissolution of publics and public
opinion; the reciprocal influence of rhetoric and culture
CMST 7969: Visual Culture
Intellectual genealogies, theories of the visual, and problems in a visual culture
CMST 7970: Rhetoric and Citizenship(s)
Addresses the concept of citizenship in rhetorical studies, role of rhetoric in defining
citizenship, and ways in which concepts of citizenship include and exclude different
communities
CMST 7971: Feminist Critique Examination of modern feminist theories and their deployment in the critique of communicative artifacts and texts
CMST 7976: Rhetoric and Aesthetics
The relationship between form and function in rhetorical discourse; the constitutive
nature of aesthetics in language and the arts
CMST 7998: Professional Practice Projects in Communication Studies (3-6 credits)
Project-based course for MA students pursuing a field-based, professional practice
experience as an alternative to thesis
CMST 7999: Independent Research in Communication Studies
For advanced graduate students to pursue research on special topics
CMST 8000: Thesis Research
For MA students who have finished their course work and are writing their thesis and/or
studying for their final comprehensive exam
CMST 9000: Dissertation Research
For PhD students who have finished their course work and prospectus and/or their final
general exam