Communication and Theatre Courses Get Revamped

With a new emphasis on social justice, community organizing, negotiation, conflict management and health communication, the communication option in the Department of Communication and Theatre is the latest program at Millersville University to undergo a redesign of its curriculum. The first section of one of the newly designed courses, “Communication, Culture and Community” will be offered this summer.

The main goals of this course are to have students develop an understanding of how community life is created and maintained through communication, while investigating the complex tensions that exist between the needs of individuals and the communities they live in. Additionally, questions surrounding place and identity, conflict and cohesiveness, issues of class, gender, race and ethnicity will be observed as they inflect various dimensions of contemporary life. Lastly, this course will address questions of how one might rebuild a more satisfying community to live in while exploring the problems that arise in contemporary community lifestyles.

“It took about two years to put everything together for the new courses. I drew a lot of inspiration and ideas from friends who have taught similar courses in their institutions to incorporate in our syllabi,” said Dr. Gregory Seigworth, professor of communication.

In comparison to other communication courses, this one will have a broader social orientation and deal with political organizing and agitating, especially the history and impact. Also playing a key role is social media and its modern day role.

This course will connect students with the Lancaster County community through various projects that will take place during the semester. “Community and communication are shaped by context of locale,” explained Seigworth. Lancaster County will provide a unique setting in regards to how race and/or ethnicity impact participation in community service organizations.

While it may be too early to determine which groups within Lancaster County the students will work with, the course will require students to write journals about their community undertakings, response papers to the course readings and thought papers that engage conceptual issues. All of these assignments, including the final paper, are designed to make up for the writing requirement that the course fulfills.

“I think that the course will be very interesting to teach and to take. I am excited to think about the course in relation to the evolution of social media and correspondingly the changes in how communities and political/community organizing is done today,” explained Seigworth.

Additional new course offerings in the communication and theatre department include “Communication in the Nonprofit Sector,” “Gender and Communication,” “Small Group Communication,” “Communication and Conflict Management,” “Health Communication” and “The Body in Communication.”

For more information, contact Seigworth at Gregory.Seigworth@millersville.edu or 717-872-3874.