Org Studies/Psychology 177c: Seminar in Organizational Communication

Fall Semester, 2009

Meeting Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:00-1:10 p.m.	Room: Avery Hall 224
Professor: Jeff Lewis	Office: Fletcher 214
Phone: 73069 (607-3069 from off campus)
E-Mail:  jeff_lewis@pitzer.edu	Web Page:  http://www.pitzer.edu/~jlewis
Office hours: Tuesdays at 11 p.m. and Thursdays at 3 p.m.

Texts:

Clampitt, Phillip G. (2010). Communicating for Managerial Effectiveness (4^th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage. (Abbreviated C below) Miller, Katherine (2009). Organizational Communication: Approaches and Processes (5^th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. (Abbreviated M below)

Goals of the Course: We will investigate aspects of communication within organizational systems, with a special focus on psychological characteristics, relationship dynamics, and the impact of changing technologies.  Theoretical views of communicative behavior will be discussed first, followed by an investigation of topical issues within this growing field.  The course should provide the foundation for further investigations related to what one might observe in an organization, and various prescriptive points of view will also be discussed.

Course Requirements: This course will require the completion of both in class and outside projects.  Grades will be based on:

Weekly Discussion Questions (40%): The readings are important parts of the class, and to enhance your understanding (as well as your motivation), you will each be asked to turn in three questions derived from your weekly assignments.  Friday morning, prior to the class meeting, you will turn in your questions electronically to me or physically to my office.  The best ones will be compiled into a list (emailed to you before class sessions) that will form the basis for the week's discussion.  You may also be asked to write out answers for selected questions, depending on the quality of the in-class discussion.

Communication Audit/Observational Study - (35%):  Your work in this class will culminate with a group research project that involves the design and implementation of an observational study related to the general area of organizational communication.  The proposal will consist of an outline of your project, research justification for the idea, and what you expect to find.  At the end of the course, you will also hand in a written summary of your findings and present your final results to the class. A more detailed overview of this project will be distributed separately.

Topic presentation (25%): You will be asked to organize the class discussion for one of the weeks during the semester.  You will be expected to lead class discussion, present important points from the reading, and possibly design a project that illustrates the week's topic.

Schedule of Lectures and Readings

Dates	Topic	Readings
September 1^st and 3^rd	Class introduction	C 1; M 1
September 8^th and 10^th	Communication Approaches and Classical work	C 2; M 2
September 15^th and 17^th	HR Approaches and Ethics	C 3; M 3
September 22^nd and 24^th	Systems View	M 4
Sept. 29^th and Oct. 1^st	Cultural and Critical Approaches	C 4; M 5 & 6
October 6^th and 8^th	Communication Technologies	C 5
October 13^th and 15^th	Knowledge Management	C 6
Fall Break –October 17^th through 20^th (no class October 20^th)
October 22^nd	Communication Audit Presentations	--
Communication Audit Proposals due October 22^nd
October 27^th and 29^th	Climate and Culture	M 7
November 3^rd and 5^th	Decision-Making and Feedback	C 7; M 8
November 10^th and 12^th	Boundaries and Conflict Management	C 8; M 9
November 17^th and 19^th	Change and Leadership	C 9; M 10
November 24^th	Diversity and Emotion Regulation	M 11 & 12
Thanksgiving Holiday Break – November 26^th – 29^th (no class November 26^th)
December 1^st and 3^rd	Communication innovation and Effectiveness	C 10 & 11; M 14
December 8^th and 10^th	Group Presentations	--