Appendix C: North Idaho College Communication Course Offerings

Communication courses involve much more than public speaking! Remember, businesses consistently rank one’s ability to communicate effectively one of the most important skills they consider when hiring a person. Good communication skills complement any career choice or relationship, and since most students must round out their studies at North Idaho College with electives, why not receive some additional communication training that could pay off dividends? Here’s a brief description of other communication courses North Idaho College offers:

Oral Interpretation

COMM-103: 3 credits

This course makes literature come alive through effective reading and interpreting is the goal of this course. Students will learn to select, analyze, and perform literary pieces including stories, plays, poems, and famous orations.

Interviewing Techniques

COMM-111: 2 credits

This course provides practical experience in the development of interviewing techniques for a variety of settings and career applications. The process is analyzed and practiced, including setting up, conducting, and assessing the interview. Students learn to design and carry out effective interviews through study and practice of the practical “do’s and don’ts” for several types of interviews. Skills gained are helpful to those pursuing careers in journalism, communications, law enforcement, psychology, oral history, and counseling.

Dynamics of Social Media

COMM-207: 3 credits

This course explores emerging and established social media communication platforms and their impact on human interaction. Topics discussed and explored include social media history, structure, and functions; virality; and persuasion and marketing via new media.

Argumentation

COMM-209: 3 credits

Arguments are all around us. Learning how to use and refute arguments will be beneficial to anyone’s career and personal life. This class will equip you with critical thinking skills which will help you create and evaluate arguments. While argumentation involves debate, this class is much more, as it is an exercise in deciphering and delivering arguments in spoken, written, and visual form.

Nonverbal Communication

COMM-212: 3 credits

75% or more of all communication messages are nonverbal! So, what you don’t know about what you are not saying could hurt you! This course introduces you to the basic concepts of body language, symbols, and various means of communicating without using the spoken language.

Introduction to Intercultural Communication

COMM-220: 3 credits

We live in a shrinking world, and our contact with other cultures is inevitable. This may be the only course you can take in college that addresses the crucial issues of communicating successfully with other cultures. (GEM 5 course)

Interpersonal Communication

COMM-233: 3 credits

This course deals primarily with understanding one’s own communication in relationships, and how to improve relationships through better communication. It is an excellent course for developing skills necessary in everyday life and living where relationships must be developed and maintained. It is impossible not to personally benefit from this course! (GEM 6 course)

Small Group Communication

COMM-236: 3 credits

This is an interactive and practical course that teaches you how to become a more effective and productive member of a small group/career team. As more organizations use small groups to solve problems and conduct business, acquiring team leadership skills can be an asset on any resume. This course includes service-learning projects in our community.

Mass Media in a Free Society

COMJ-140: 3 credits

This course examines the development, successes, and failures of today’s American media. Students will learn to become media-literate consumers of books, magazines, newspapers, film, television, the internet, and other modern formats. Media theories, public relations, and advertising will also be discussed. (GEM 6 course)