Common Course Outline

Course discipline/number/title COMM 2220: Communication and Gender

Catalog Description

Credits 3
Hours/Week 3
Prerequisites (Course discipline/number) None
Other requirements College level reading and writing skills
MnTC Goals (if any) Goal 1/Written and Oral Communication, Goal 7a/Human Diversity

Course Description

The course focuses on how communication and culture create, maintain, and change gender. Patterns in women's and men's verbal and nonverbal communication, why these patterns differ, and how communication differences are perceived will be emphasized. This course explores gendered communication in a variety of interpersonal and situational contexts, including the family, friendship, romantic relationships, education, the workplace, and the media.

Date Last Revised (Month, year)

December, 2024

Outline of Major Content Areas

  1. Communication, gender and culture
  2. Theoretical approaches to gender development
  3. Verbal and nonverbal gendered communication
  4. Gendered communication in context (media, family, close relationships, power and violence, and practice)

Learning Outcomes (General)

The student will be able to:

  1. Explain behavioral awareness of gender roles (self and others).
  2. Determine empathetic abilities and various perspectives regarding gender relations.
  3. Identify the rhetorical nature of the social construction of gender.
  4. Analyze gender communication theory in various contexts: academia, family, friends, media and advertisements, business, and personal experience.

Learning Outcomes (MnTC)

Goal 1/Written and Oral Communication

The student will be able to:

  1. Participate effectively in groups with emphasis on listening, critical and reflective thinking, and responding.
  2. Locate, evaluate, and synthesize in a responsible manner material from diverse sources and points of view.
  3. Select appropriate communication choices for specific audiences.
  4. Use authority, point-of-view, and individual voice and style in their writing and speaking.
  5. Employ syntax and usage appropriate to academic disciplines and the professional world.
Goal 7a/Human Diversity

The student will be able to:

  1. Demonstrate an awareness of the individual and institutional dynamics of unequal power relations between groups in contemporary society.
  2. Analyze their own attitudes, behaviors, concepts, and beliefs regarding diversity, racism, and bigotry.
  3. Demonstrate communication skills necessary for living and working effectively in a society with great population diversity.

Methods for Evaluation of Student Learning

Methods may include but are not limited to:

RCTC Core Outcome(s)

This course contributes to meeting the following RCTC Core Outcome(s):

Communication
Students will communicate appropriately for their respective audiences.

Special Information (if any)

None