MARITAL AND FAMILY COMMUNICATION

Communication 378Q
Fall 1999

Telephone:
E-Mail:

442-4874
[email protected]

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course is designed as an introduction to communication in families. The goal of the course is to help you understand how we develop, maintain, enhance, or disturb marital and family relationships through communication. The course offers conceptual and theoretical frameworks that will help you understand communication and interaction between intimate partners and between family members. It provides opportunities for gaining experience in observing and analyzing family interaction. By the end of the course, you should a) become more aware of interactional patterns within your own relationships, b) gain insights for enhancing those relationships, and c) learn communication skills that can promote healthy family communication.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

• To develop a communication perspective on the family
• To increase your understanding of the major theoretical perspectives in the area of family communication
• To enrich your understanding of the ways in which intimate partners and family members interact with each other

REQUIRED TEXT

Yerby, J., Buerkel-Rothfuss, N., & Bochner, A. P. (1995). Understanding family communication. (2nd edition) Scottsdale, AZ: Gorsuch Scarisbrick Publishers.

COURSE POLICIES

1. Because this course involves many in-class activities, habitual absence from class is not acceptable. More than two absences will result in a loss of points on the Attendance and Participation component of the grade.
   
2. All written assignments must be the original work of the student and may not be submitted concurrently in any other class without the permission of both instructions. Plagiarism or ghostwriting will result in a fail on that assignment and may result in a fail in the course.
3. It is a student's responsibility to read the assigned material before the class for which it was assigned. Good class discussion depends upon students' keeping up with the reading. If the instructor suspects the students are not keeping up, she may institute surprise quizzes. She welcomes any and all questions and comments on the assigned readings.
4. All written assignments must be typed and double-spaced. These assignments will be graded on both content and writing style.
5. Students are in control over how much they share about their own family experiences. Grades in no way depend on revealing personal material. If they do not wish to talk or write about their own families, students may choose to apply the theories presented in the course to other families they have observed.

COURSE ASSIGNMENTS AND REQUIREMENTS

You will be assigned exercises to complete in class and at home. These in-class and homework assignments will be graded on a credit/no credit basis. Your performance on the exercises will count in the Attendance and Participation component of the grade.

You are required to write a term paper that explains and illustrates a selected set of course concepts as they apply to a family. You may use either your own family or one that you have had the opportunity to observe closely. The term paper should be 7-10 double-spaced, typed pages in length and is worth 20% of your final grade. You are encouraged to turn in a rough draft no later than two weeks before final paper is due. That will allow sufficient time for feedback and revision.

There will be three examinations covering course material (text, lectures, and class discussions). They will consist of a combination of multiple choice, true/false, short answer and/or essay questions. Each exam is worth 20% of the final grade. No make-up exam will be given after the scheduled test date unless you provide a documented medical excuse for missing class. If you have a scheduling conflict, it is your responsibility to contact the instructor before the exam to make arrangements to take the exam early.

COURSE GRADES

CLASS SCHEDULE

Week 1 (W 9/8)
Introduction to the Course

Week 2 (M 9/13, W 9/15)
Premises and Perspectives on Family Communication
M 9/15 Yerby, et al. Ch. 1
W 9/15 Yerby, et al. Ch. 1

Week 3 (W 9/22)
Communication Processes
W 9/22 Yerby, et al. Ch. 2

Week 4 (M 9/27, W 9/29)
Communication Processes; Families as Meaning-Making Systems
M 9/27 Yerby, et al. Ch. 2
M 9/29 Yerby, et al. Ch. 3

Week 5 (M 10/4, W 10/6)
Families as Meaning-Making Systems; Courtship and Commitment
M 10/4 Yerby, et al. Ch. 3
M 10/6 Yerby, et al. Ch. 4

Week 6 (M 10/11, W 10/13)
Courtship and Commitment; Review for Exam 1
M 10/11 Yerby, et al. Ch. 4
W 10/13 Review

Week 7 (M 10/18, W 10/20)
Exam; Marital Reality Construction
M 10/18 EXAM 1 (Chapters 1-4)
W 10/20 Yerby, et al. Ch. 5

Week 8 (M 10/25, W 10/27)
Marital Reality Construction; Expanding Complexity
M 10/25 Yerby, et al. Ch. 5. Also the term paper assignment will be distributed.
W 10/27 Yerby, et al. Ch. 6

Week 9 (M 11/1)
Expanding Complexity
M 11/1 Yerby, et al. Ch. 6

Week 10 (M 11/8, W 11/10)
Rules
M 11/8 Yerby, et al. Ch. 7
W 11/10 Yerby, et al. Ch. 7

Week 11 (M 11/15, W 11/17)
Review for Exam 2; Exam 2
M 11/15 Review; Turn in drafts of Term Papers
W 11/17 Exam 2

Week 12 (M 11/22, W 11/24)
Family Stories
M 11/22 Yerby, et al. Ch. 8; Drafts of term papers returned with comments
W 11/24 Yerby, et al. Ch. 8

Week 13 (M 11/29, W 12/1)
Myths, Metaphors and Themes; Roles and Family Types
M 11/29 Yerby, et al. Ch. 9; Term Papers due
W 12/1 Yerby, et al. Ch. 10

Week 14 (M 12/6, W 12/8)
Roles and Family Types; Change and Growth
M 12/6 Yerby, et al. Ch. 10
W 12/8 Yerby, et al. Ch. 11

Week 15 (M 12/13)
Change and Growth; Review for Exam 3
M 12/13 Yerby, et al. Ch. 11; Review