Topic 3: Communication Study and You

Activity 6: Reading – Communication Study and You

Please read the following text which helps connect the study of communication to you.

^{This activity contains text and images from Chapter 1: Introduction to Human Communication by Terri Johnson. (n.d.). LibreTexts. (CC BY-NC-SA) Minor changes for readability and Canadian context.}

If you think about Smith, Lasswell, and Casey’s statement that those of us who study communication investigate “who says what, through what channels (media) of communication, to whom, [and] what will be the results,” you can realize how truly complex a task humans perform. While we’ll explore many examples later in the book, we want to briefly highlight a few examples of what you might study if you are interested in Communication as a field of study.

Studying communication is exciting because there are so many possibilities from which to focus. For example, scholars have studied elements of the history and use of YouTube (Soukup, 2014); the use of deception in texting (Wise & Rodriguez, 2013); college students’ “guilty pleasure” media use (Panek, 2014); how sons and daughters communicate disappointment (Miller-Day & Lee, 2001); an examination of motherhood in lesbian-headed households (Koenig Kellas & Suter, 2012); or daughters’ perceptions of communication with their fathers (Dunleavy et al., 2011).

The above examples demonstrate just a small taste of what we can examine through the lens of communication. In reality, studying communication has almost limitless possibilities. That’s what makes this field so dynamic and exciting! When you think about the infinite number of variables we can study, as well as the infinite number of communication contexts, the task of studying “who says what, through what channels (media) of communication, to whom, [and] what will be the results?” is open to countless possibilities. The study of communication has proven helpful to us as social beings as we work to better understand the complexities of our interactions and relationships.

Communication and Your Career

As a university student taking an introductory Communication course, you might be thinking, “Why does this matter to me?” One reason it is important for you to study and know communication is that these skills will help you succeed in personal, social, and professional situations. A survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that “College students who wish to separate themselves from the competition during their job search would be wise to develop proficiencies most sought by employers, such as communication, interpersonal, and teamwork skills.” The more you understand communication, the greater potential you have to succeed in all aspects of your life.

Communication Study Now: Organizational Leadership: 73 Tips from Aristotle

Does Aristotle’s work still apply today outside of college classrooms? Of course! For example, in “Organizational Leadership: 73 Tips from Aristotle,” Tyme takes Aristotle’s work and applies it to leadership in organizational contexts. The book describes how leaders can take lessons from an important historical and philosophical figure. It is important to note that Aristotle started a 20-year journey as a student of Plato the Philosopher when he was only seven years old. He believed that education was valuable and that people should seek continual education in order to improve their lives. When Aristotle was not chosen to be the successor to lead Plato’s Academy upon Plato’s death, Aristotle did not reject and refute the decision. Instead, he reflected on the decision and made a choice to make his own mark in society, philosophy, and culture. Aristotle opened his own school and continued to impart the basis of generational and organizational leadership similar to Socrates and Plato with his own great students — one of whom was Alexander the Great. Aristotle spoke openly about the art of persuasion, which is a topic that we will address later in this course. His principles are still considered the most important work on persuasion ever written, and his models are still used today.

Careers with a Communications Degree

The kind of skills developed by Communication majors are highly valued by all kinds of employers. Courses and activities in Communication departments both teach and make use of the skills ranked consistently high by employers. Students with a degree in Communication are ready to excel in a wide variety of careers. Forbes listed “The 10 Skills Employers Want in 20-Something Employees” (Adams, 2013). Read this article and consider how many of the skills relate directly to what you would learn in a variety of Communication courses and programs.

Activity 7: Interactive – Personal Identity Hotspots Activity

Please complete the following interactive activity.

Media Attributions

Goodman, J. (2019, March 15). Woman placing sticky notes on wall [Photograph]. Unsplash. https://unsplash. com/photos/woman-placing-sticky-notes-on-wall-Oalh2MojUuk?utm_content=creditShareLink&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash

Onojeghuo, C. (2017, September 17). Selective focus photography of woman wearing black cold-shoulder shirt using megaphone during daytime [Photograph]. Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/selective-focus-photography-of-woman-wearing-black-cold-shoulder-shirt-using-megaphone-during-daytime-DoA2duXyzRM

References

Adams, S. (2013, October 11). The 10 skills employers most want in 20-something employees. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/10/11/the-10-skills-employers-most-want-in-20-something-employees/

Dunleavy, K. N., Wanzer, M. B., Krezmien, E., & Ruppel, K. (2011). Daughters’ perceptions of communication with their fathers: The role of skill similarity and co-orientation in relationship satisfaction. Communication Studies, 62(5), 581-596.

Koenig K., & Suter, E. (2012). Accounting for lesbian-headed families: lesbian mothers’ responses to discursive challenges. Communication Monographs, 79(4), 475–498.

Miller-Day, M., & Lee, J. (2001). Communicating disappointment: The viewpoint of sons and daughters. Journal of Family Communication, 1(2), 111–131.

Panek, E. (2014). Left to their own devices: College student’s guilty pleasure media use and time management. Communication Research,41(4), 561–577.

Soukup, P. A. (2014). Looking at, with, and through YouTube. Communication Research Trends 33.3 (2014): 3–34.

Tyme, J. (2012). Organizational leadership: 73 tips from Aristotle. Amazon.

Wise, M., & Rodriguez, D. (2013). Detecting deceptive communication through computer-mediated technology: Applying interpersonal deception theory to texting behaviour. Communication Research Reports, 30(4), 342–346.