Family Communication Theory and Research

Catalog description

Family relationships are powerful. They represent our foundation, our growth, and our potential. Family relationships are complicated. They endure change, hardship, and adversity. And family relationships are ever changing. They shift with the diversity of family systems, they blend blood, legal ties, and social connections, and they move with the experiences of the individuals embedded in the family unit. In the midst of all that family is communication, functioning as the creator, the designer, the mediator. Without communication, the family unit would have no identity. This course centers on family communication as the means through which family identity is constructed. Family communication is the way in which families (re)define themselves, how they make sense of their experiences, and the way they adapt to changing circumstances. The course focuses on family communication as a vibrant and cross-disciplinary field, one that is dedicated to understanding the unique experiences and issues facing families. Theory and research are the foundation of the course with the goal of building bridges between theoretical frames and praxis, identifying ways in which theory illuminates many of the challenges facing families, while exploring how research can help to resolve these problems. By the end of this course all students should be able to comfortably negotiate the tension between theory and practice.