CMM 480/580 C. A. Brammer, Ph.D.
Family Communication Office SH 248
Fall 2007 Ph. 696-2810 (O) 522-2194 (H)
Office Hours Posted
Turner, L. & West, R. (2006). Perspectives on Family Communication (3e). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Family Communication is designed as an introduction to communication phenomena in the setting of the family. The overall goal is to help you understand how we develop, maintain, enhance, or disturb family relationships through communication. You will learn verbal and nonverbal skills which can help promote healthy family communication.
“We are born into a family, we are socialized and acculturated within a family, we mature from a family using information and behaviors learned from a family, and, when we die, we diminish a family. Families surround us, shape us, contribute to our destiny.” (Judy Goldberg, family therapist)
1) To develop an understanding of the ways in which members in the family system interact verbally and nonverbally to influence each other.
2) To develop a communication perspective on the family.
3) To understand the major theoretical perspective underlying the area of family communication.
A former professor of mine inspired me by the following message: Perhaps the most important task of a teacher is selecting and/or creating opportunities for student learning.
I fear that too often this task is interpreted to mean the selection of curriculum materials without regard to the original intent of the materials or how those materials will be packaged or used with students in a classroom.
This course is based upon several premises relative to the above. Most important, I believe that students can be a powerful part of the teaching and learning process. I wish for you to comprehend the course’s fundamental concepts in a relatively quick time frame. I am committed to the precept that understanding develops and endures through active involvement. Therefore, you are expected to assume a high level of mental activity and responsibility for your own learning. I will do everything I can to make this classroom a rigorous, practical, and enjoyable learning environment. There will be times when you do not agree with me; there will also be times when I do not agree with you. This should be the beginning of mutual learning. I hope you join me in achieving our potential.
1) Because this course involves many in-class activities, habitual absence from class is not acceptable and may result in failure of the course. If you MUST miss a class, please notify the instructor PRIOR to the class meeting. You may do so via telephone or e-mail. Excessive absence (more than 2 EXCUSED absences) will result in a lower class grade.
2) All written or oral assignments must be the original work of the student and may not be submitted concurrently in any other class without the specific written permission of both instructors. Plagiarism or ghost writing will cause failure of that assignment and may result in failure of the course and other administrative actions. Please refer to the University Student Handbook for an explanation of student expectations and penalties.
3) Because this course involves in-class exercises which elaborate on the materials in the text, it is the student’s responsibility to have read the assigned material prior to the day it is assigned. You know the reading assignments for each class. Please read them PRIOR to attending class. While I will discuss important concepts during class, I will not review all of your assigned reading. I will, however, welcome any and all questions you have regarding these readings.
4) All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the day due. No late assignments will be accepted unless negotiated IN ADVANCE of the class session in which they are due. You will forfeit points on any assignment that is not submitted on the assigned due date.
5) Class participation is encouraged. Please be considerate of others’ viewpoints. I encourage you to listen to others’ experiences and ideas. If something offends you, please respond in an appropriate manner. If something interests you, let us know!
6) All written assignments must be typed and double-spaced. These assignments will be graded on both content and writing style. Because writing is so important to a successful career, grammatical errors, spelling errors, typos, incorrect punctuation, and the like will be deducted from your total grade for a written assignment. APA is the style format for all assignments.
7) The mid-term and final examinations will be held in class. All students will take the exams at the scheduled times. Each exam will consist of multiple choice and short answer questions. The exams will cover content from the text and information provided in lectures and class discussions. If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to secure the notes from that day. Remember: if it is discussed in class, it is fair game for the exam.
8) All class discussions, papers, and journals are CONFIDENTIAL. I will not share any information learned in or out of the class with anyone else.
9)You are in control of how much you share about your own family experiences. You do not have to be self disclosive if you do not want to be. Your grade does not depend on revealing personal material. You can always opt to apply the theory to fictional families or other families you have observed if you do not wish to talk about your own family.
10) Students are responsible for adapting to any announcements in class concerning changes in due dates, examinations, and schedules.
CLASS TOPIC TEXT READING
Week One Introduction to Course CHAPTER 1
Aug. 21 Introductory Activity
Families & Cultures/Diversity in Families
Week Two Providing a Definition for the Study of Families CHAPTER 1
Aug. 28
Week Three Providing a Theoretical Framework CHAPTER 2
Sept. 5
Week Four Telling Stories, Making Meaning, & Identity CHAPTER 3
Sept. 11 Approval of Family for Family Analysis
Week Five Communicating Roles in the Family CHAPTER 4
Sept. 18
Week Six Communicating Rules in the Family CHAPTER 4
Sept. 25
Week Seven Communicating Conflict in the Family CHAPTER 5
Oct. 2 Review for Midterm
Week Eight Midterm Examination
Oct. 9 Written Genogram Projects Due
Week Nine Communicating Intimacy CHAPTER 6
Oct. 16 Oral Reports on Genograms Due
Week Ten Family Communication and Stress CHAPTER 7
Oct. 23 Family Role Play Journals Due
Week Eleven Family Communication and Stress CHAPTER 7
Oct. 30 Annotated bibliography Due
Week Twelve Societal Influences on the Family CHAPTER 8
Nov. 6 Graduate Research Papers Due
Week Thirteen Managing Challenging Dialogues in the Family CHAPTER 9
Nov. 13 Analysis of Fictional Family Due
Week Fourteen FALL BREAK NOV. 19 -25
Week Fifteen Conclusions About Communication in the Family CHAPTER 10
Nov. 27 Parent Interview Project and Presentations
Week Sixteen Parent Interview Project and Presentations
Dec. 4
December 11, 4 P.M. FINAL EXAM
You are to conduct a thorough review of the research that has been published on a topic area related to families and communication. This review MUST include academic journals, but may also include popular periodicals and textbooks. Your final paper should include the following sections: 1) Introduction; 2) Rationale (Why is this area important to examine?); 3) Review of research; 4) Weaknesses/gaps in the published research; 5) Suggestions for future research. You MUST include a bibliography of all sources with your paper. The final paper should be 10 – 12 pages in length. The paper will be due on Nov. 6, 2007 at the beginning of class. You must submit an annotated bibliography of all sources that you are including in your paper on Oct. 30, 2007.
Sample research paper topics might include: Divorce and Communication; Mother-Daughter Communication; Sibling Conflict; Marital Satisfaction.
You will give an oral report and a written essay of your genogram.
You are to draw a genogram of your family or someone else’s family. This drawing covers three generations and graphs marriages, the number of children in each marriage, birth order, and birth and death dates if applicable. Follow the symbols shown in Table 1-2. Additional symbols may be found on the web in such drawing programs as Genopro. Note that the creator or subject of the genogram is outlined in a bold or double symbol, so that the eye goes right to this person. Significant relationships between individuals are also shown. These symbols are in Table 1-3. You may use poster board, display board, or PowerPoint to do the drawing.
In the essay you should explain the genogram and then comment on patterns and changes in patterns over the generations. These patterns can be health issues, longevity, occupations, geographical, religion and spirituality, ethnicity, marital and divorce, and family disorders, such as violence and substance abuse. Look for a minimum of three patterns. Discuss how we benefit from knowing about our family-of-origin. You might want to begin by interviewing family members, such as a parent, sibling, or grandparent. Paper length should be 2 to 4 pages.
In the oral report, begin with an interesting observation about your genogram or your family (attention getter). Explain your genogram (first main point). Make sure every one can see the genogram. Use display board or PowerPoint. Tell us the three observations over the generations that you were able to make (second main point). Tell us what you learned about doing the genogram and what you want us to remember (concluding comments). Be prepared to answer questions from the class. The time frame is 5 to 7 minutes. Practice several times at home.
You are to conduct a critical analysis of a family from a novel, film, or television program from a family communication perspective. Select a novel, film, or show and examine its portrayal of communication among family members. You should be very familiar with the source that you choose to write about in your paper. This will be demonstrated in the specific examples that are included in your discussion. You will be asked to submit a family source for instructor’s approval on Sept.11, 2007. The final paper should include the following sections: 1) Introduction of film and characters; 2) Rationale (Discuss the importance of examining film portrayals of family life—this may require you to do a bit of library research); 3) Discussion of family communication (Be sure to include a discussion/description of specific communication issues, concepts, or theories that are presented in this course—and don’t forget to reference them!) ; 4) Conclusions & Recommendations (Discuss conclusions as well as recommendations for the portrayal of family life in other media). The final paper should be 8 - 10 pages in length. The paper will be due on Nov. 13, 2007. at the beginning of class.
You will be placed in role play families on the first class meeting and will have 15-20 minutes each class session to interact with these families. After each interaction, you should record the following information in a notebook:
1) Date
2) Brief description of family discussion.
3) Relationship between discussion elements and text (i.e. what did your discussion illustrate that Turner and West have discussed? Cite specific pages from the text.)
4) Suggestions about what the discussion reveals about the family (for example, that they
are struggling with the dialectic of closeness and distance, or that they have a family myth of one for all and all for one, etc.)
During the second week of class, you will select a class date on which you will be the discussion leader. Each student will have a 30 minute time period as the discussion leader. The discussion leader has four responsibilities:
1) You will prepare a summary of your section of the class meeting’s readings. Your summary should be typed and a maximum of 2 pages. Make a copy for each member of the class. You should be prepared to share information from your summary, as well as additional information where you feel necessary, with the class.
2) You will bring a media or other creative example of the topic in your reading and share the example with the class as part of your report. You will provide a complete introduction and explanation of your example, and relate it to the specific concept(s) in your reading.
3) As part of your summary, you will prepare a minimum of 2 discussion/thought questions based on the readings (and/or your creative media example) for the class meeting. Your discussion questions should be included as the last item on your summary report.
4) You will be prepared to offer thoughtful and informative comments concerning the day’s readings.
Your grade on this activity will be based on the following criteria:
· Your demonstrated understanding and written summary of the assigned readings.
· The strength and creativity of your example and the completeness of your explanation of the example.
· The effectiveness of your discussion questions and your ability to manage and facilitate an active discussion.
· Your ability to offer insightful examples and thoughts related to the topic
For this project, you are to interview at least FOUR individuals who are or who were parents. Be sure to change the tense of the questions as necessary. In addition to seeking out basic demographic information, glean the following:
1) What is your definition of “family” and why is it constructed this way?
2) What is an “effective parent”? Explain behaviors associated with them.
3) What communication skills are necessary for a family to cope in our culture?
4) Do you believe we are living in “turbulent” times? Why or why not? How does your response
relate to families?
5) What is your impression of the different family types in this country, such as homosexual parents, working parents, single parents, and others? Do you long for the “good ol’ days” when family types were not so complex? Why or why not?
6)What types of discussions do your family have when you are all together? What are some frequently discussed topic areas discussed in your family?
7) Talk a bit about the stresses involved in being a parent.
8) Some people compare their family to something else to make a point about their family (e.g.,
a waltz, a circus, etc.). What would you compare your family to and why would you make this comparison?
In addition to these, you are asked to develop three additional questions of your own choosing. Be sure to be pointed (direct) in your questioning.
You may have to tape record the answers which are provided to you for future writing. Be sure to get prior permission from the participants. I would appreciate some collating of responses; that is, please do not construct your final paper as a set of questions with responsesYou will need IRB certification and approval to do this.
Participation and Attendance 50 points
Research Paper Project (Graduate Students Only) 100 points
Oral Report Genogram 30 points
Genogram Written Essay 50 points
Midterm Examination 75 points
Analysis of Fictional Family Project 100 points
Family Role Play Journal(4 entries @ 20 points each)80 points
Parent Interview Project 150 points
Leadership/Participation (Graduate Students Only) 50 points
Final Examination 100 points
TOTAL 785 points
100 - 93% = A 84 - 76% = C
92 - 85% = B 75 - 68% = D