Communication in the Digital Age

Catalog description

Contemporary relationships exist across space and time in ways that are continually transforming through computer-mediated and digital communication. Social networking, chat, email, online gaming, and online dating present new challenges for how and why we engage and enter relationships with others. This course examines the foundations of interpersonal communication in light of digital (new) media, evaluating the effect that mediated communication has on relational strategies. Students will evaluate communication behaviors across multiple digital mediums and examine concepts related to relational development, maintenance, and deterioration, interpersonal conflict, nonverbal communication, and identity and culture.