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Communication in a Diverse World Syllabus
Communication in a Diverse World Syllabus
COURSE OVERVIEW
This introductory course to the communication discipline focuses on the skills and understandings associated with competent communication in a diverse society within interpersonal, family, group, organizational, health, and intercultural communication contexts
Communication in a Diverse World is designed to teach you fundamental concepts pertaining to what affects how we communicate across myriad relationships and contexts. Ultimately, this course will raise your awareness of the complexities of competent communication critical to interaction in a diverse society within interpersonal, intercultural, organizational, and group communication contexts. Students will become more self-aware and better appreciate persons’ individual differences and the important role persons’ unique experiences play in competent communication. Various experiences and perceptions shared by members of underrepresented groups will be explored as well as other factors associated with differences according to race and ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, and ability as they affect communication.
SUPPLIES NEEDED
Duck, S., & McMahan, D. T. (2021). Communication in everyday life (4th Edition) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. (Teacher may update this so check before buying a book)
Honors Section also needs to buy Lustig, M.W. and Koester, J. Among (2006). US: Essays on Identity, Belonging, and Intercultural Competence (2nd Edition)
Respondus Lockdown Browser/Monitor--Free for download
COURSE OBJECTIVES
Upon completing this course, students should be able to do the following:
1. Identify communication influences in a variety of contexts: perception, listening, verbal and nonverbal symbols, culture
2. Identify multiple communication models and how they describe human organization and behavior.
3. Identify challenges associated with the diversity encountered by individuals, organizations, and societies.
4. Identify the communication challenges and opportunities created by technology.
5. Identify the affectual influence of technology on individuals, relationships, groups, and social institutions.
6. Identify ways to adapt communication behaviors for an ever changing, interconnected, and global society.
7. Identify the best method of inquiry for varied types of communication research.
TYPES OF INSTRUCTION
This class is so exciting and it includes so many opportunities for discussion and application. I don’t believe in busy work and I don’t believe in lectures that don’t add value to your life so I work hard to find meaningful ways to help you understand and apply the material. I will do my best to consider you in my approach to this class so I will use a variety of ways to teach you. You can expect any of the following methods of instruction in this class.
Selected reading: You will have readings from the textbook and other sources. Some of the reading material is easy enough to read and understand without me lecturing on it. I will reserve class time to dig deeply on topics instead of talking about every idea in the book. You can expect to see some of the test questions come from the class readings that were not discussed in class.
Classroom discussion: I may ask you to turn to your neighbor to discuss the topic at hand. I find that most students learn better when they are given an immediate chance to apply the the material.
Group work: You will meet with a group of other students and will be given directions on how to proceed. Sometimes you will be discussing items and other times you will be doing an activity.
Warm up activities: I often have short activities that are designed to get you thinking and to give you a chance to get to know others in the class. These are always purposeful and meet specific learning objectives.
Lecture: The primary means of instruction in this class is the lecture. When I lecture, my goal is to help you to understand the big ideas and to help you make connections. In the lecture, I will not read the textbook to you. Instead, I will tell stories about items and share applications to help you better understand the concepts. I will make a few of the slides available for you (usually the slides that have charts or specialty items) but overall, you are responsible for taking notes in class.
Videos: How lucky for us that there are so many wonderful videos on our topic. You will watch weekly videos on different topics.
Your Grade Will Come From These Activities
Midterm Exam
Final Exam
Textbook Reading Quiz
Weekly Lesson Folder with Videos to Watch and Quizzes to Take
Participation/ Group Work Points
Inviting Parents to Class
Inviting Parents to Class
On the week before Family Weekend, students are invited to bring their parents to class. I use that as an opportunity to bridge the generational communication divide! I created an assignment to help students practice intergenerational communication. Each group translates slang word from their generation.
Parent Kyle Livingston noted, "Dr. Meade's class was engaging, lively, and culturally relevant to both Madison’s generation and mine. We’re still referencing that class discussion weeks later!”
Engagement in Large Lectures
Engagement in Large Lectures
Communication in a Diverse World is a large lecture class that meets large auditoriums. Active learning takes more thought in large classes, but I am determined to find ways because students learn so much more when allowed to participate in their learning. Here students are doing the construction challenge that is used worldwide to teach leadership. Students who succeed are those who are willing to try, fail, and do something different. Most students try to over plan and then refuse to adjust so they are not as successful. A very memorable object lesson since students don’t really “get it” until they try for themselves.
Hands on Learning
Hands on Learning
Students separate red from black cards in a timed test. They retake the test separating hearts/space and clubs/diamonds for a timed test. When we see how much longer the second test takes, we can talk about automatic preference. This activity is followed up by students taking the Implicit Association Test and then we have in depth discussion about hidden bias and the implications of what that means for everyone.
Innovative Teaching in Communication in a Diverse World
Innovative Teaching in Communication in a Diverse World
It is important to me that students have meaningful encounters with material where they can discover things for themselves. My role in this class is to give them the scaffolding, vocabulary, and the tools to contemplate the material. I do that through guest speakers, complex projects, discussion groups, and in class activities. I also focus on creating both safe and brave spaces where students are free to challenge and discuss ideas. Below are some of the ways that I have worked to accomplish this:
I had guest speakers from different backgrounds come to talk about communication concepts. Students read an article before the guest and were prepared with questions to engage the speaker. In 2017, I had someone from Saudi Arabia and someone from Lagos, Nigeria share about their cultures.
I created a learning activity where students had to interview individuals from subcultures around Northwest Arkansas and talk about their unique cultures and their communication challenges. Student had to research a culture, synthesize the information, use that research to construct interview questions, consolidate all the items into a focused speech presentation and paper. For example, one group looked at the new age movement and another looked at people from Laos and we learned how each tried to preserve their culture while integrating to the culture at large.
Every Friday we do discussion groups. As part of the project they read an article, are quizzed over the article, then they get in groups and discuss challenging parts of the article. They have to relate what the information meant in its original context and then how it applies today. Finally, they compare and contrast their own experiences. Students are given value statements to wrestle with for example, “Should students from other countries change their names so they are easier for Americans to say or should they keep their names and teach others to pronounce them.” In addition, they rotate as leader and they must evaluate their communication as a leader.
I make it clear from the first class that I invite open discussion. On the syllabus it reads, “My goal is never to “lead you to Lynn” but rather to make you challenge your assumptions, learn to find credible information on topics, so that you can decide for yourself what you think and feel about a given subject.” I feel very strongly about creating “brave spaces” in classrooms where students can discuss challenging topics and wrestle with ambiguous concepts. One of the greatest things I can teach my students is how to be open minded to listen to the ideas of others and how to have well researched ideas of their own that they can clearly articulate.
On parents’ weekend, I allow students to bring a guest to class to participate. I have a custom-made assignment that begins with slang words used by different generations. For example, parents explain what is meant by “the rabbit died” and the students discuss why “boujee” is a thing. Groups then discuss why that word is important in the context of that generation. After they warm up on slang words, they discuss more complex challenges such as “What is meant by saying someone is lame” or “What does it mean to be gypped.” I love to watch students discover the meaning of these words and then struggle with how they are going to react based on this new knowledge.
The Active Learning Higher Education White Paper highlights that active learning is more durable and lasting because students must give effortful mental work to make sense of things and for the knowledge construction. The activities that I create require students to employ Mayer’s primary cognitive processes--they select ideas to attend to, and organize how they are related, and finally integrate key ideas to other things they know. At the end of each of the discussion groups, they have to report: “What’s the big idea and how did it make you think about things differently.” Many students report back to me that they continued to discuss the topics with friends and family over the weekend. One student reported on the end of the semester evaluation: “ I love how you had us discuss topics or situations with groups in class. It gave me some good perspective and I really like how your tests weren't just regurgitation of definitions, but you challenged us to apply them in real life situations.” Fall 2016 Communication in a Diverse World
TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
(From the course syllabus)
TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
(From the course syllabus)
Teaching is my hobby. I LOVE to teach. It is not the job that I have to do --it is the hobby that I want to do. Working with students is truly one of my greatest joys. If you need help, please come and visit with me. I consider it a privilege to work with you one-on-one to develop your full potential.
I believe that this class will make a difference in your life regardless of the major. I will teach the class with you in mind. It will be relevant.
Learning can be fun, and I intend to make this class enjoyable.
My goal is never to “lead you to Lynn” but rather to make you challenge your assumptions, learn to find credible information on topics, so that you can decide for yourself what you think and feel about a given subject.
I believe that by connecting content with stories, the information will be more relatable and more memorable. I won’t waste your time with random stories but rather challenge you to engage with concepts thru stories.
Communication in a Diverse World Student Comments
Communication in a Diverse World Student Comments
Communication in a Diverse World is one of the few classes I've taken so far that actually gave me information that I feel I could use in the real world. Surprisingly, it was full of advice on how to deal with relationships between, well, everyone in my life. It was insightful and overall a refreshing course. Dr. Meade is amazing at her job, she is so sweet, and I felt as though she really valued our opinion and wanted us to expand our thoughts toward all the people around us. Course evaluations, 2018
Dr. Meade provides a lot of real world examples in this course that comes from her own personal experiences. Her stories are interesting and absolutely enhance the material we're learning. She genuinely cares about each student's voice and encourages people to share their view on the world, which seems to be the central theme of the class. She has definitely shaped the way I perceive how others might be viewing their environment. She's one of my favorites :) Course evaluations, 2022
You're fun, quirky personality and teaching style made this class so much fun. And I love how you had us discuss topics or situations with groups in class. It gave me some good perspective and I really like how your tests weren't just regurgitation of definitions, but you challenged us to apply them in real-life situations. Course evaluations, 2016
Coming from a suburb in central Arkansas, this class has been relatively new territory, and I have enjoyed getting to explore my personal ideas more deeply and encounter unique perspectives. Email from R.S. 2020
I know Thanksgiving Break is beginning but I just can't get this morning's discussion from Communication in a Diverse World out of my mind and I need a place to talk about it! (Well...besides talking to my poor little sister more.) In my group today, I talked about autism representation in media.... I think discussion like what we had in class are really helpful for helping people see beyond their own perspectives, and I wish more people would be willing to think that way." Email from M.P 2020
I would say Mrs. Meade is very well versed in communications and it shows. Her classes are very well planned out, her lectures are interesting, and she gives you fair ways to earn what will end up being a fair grade. Course evaluations, 2021
Heavy influence of connecting with classmates and thought provoking videos that are worth the watch. The videos are a medium I thoroughly enjoy and make the class feel more centered around me. Your teaching style worked really well for me and I feel like the stories you tell helped me connect to my life. Course evaluations, 2022.
I think professor Meade did good at making this class inclusive & enjoyable. I feel this class could have been really interesting or either really boring & I think professor Meade did a really good job at making it interesting. She was always enthusiastic, making it easier to pay attention & enjoy the class. I had many eye opening lessons in this class. Course evaluations 2022.
Recommendation from a Former Student
Recommendation from a Former Student
I had the privilege of being under Dr. Lynn Meade’s instruction in the fall of 2021. Dr. Meade has created a classroom atmosphere that fosters much needed empathy and compassion in her students. Despite the effects that COVID has had on hands-on learning, Dr. Meade has been creative in finding ways to engage students beyond the typical lecture structure that many professors follow.
The first day I walked into class I heard Dr. Meade say, “The things you learn in this class will help you in your life regardless of your major.” Dr. Meade would remind us often that she wanted to equip us with effective communication and critical thinking skills that we could actually use. Dr. Meade is genuinely passionate about what she teaches, and this attitude captures the attention of students. One of the most impactful lessons for me was when Dr. Meade taught on cognitive distortions. She provided each of us with a worksheet that gave examples of ways we might talk to ourselves, some of which included “all or nothing thinking” and “labeling.” Essentially, in a class about communication, Dr. Meade seamlessly paired it with a much-needed conversation on mental health. Dr. Meade taught with a gentleness and relatableness that translated well to the students.
During “Family Weekend” Dr. Meade invited all of us to bring our parents to class. She intentionally crafted the lesson to be about slang and how slang is developed and created in different generations. Not many parents were in the room; but, regardless, a conversation on different diction across generations was had that was very uniting. This lesson was out-of-the-box thinking that was very engaging and educational. On another day, Dr. Meade had us all line up against the wall. She would read a statement and if it were true to us then we were to take a step forward. The statements might include “I have been in love” or “I have not got my textbooks yet.” By the end of the activity, we were able to see the purpose of finding and appreciating both what we have in common with people as well as the things we might not quite understand about others.
There was an occasion Dr. Meade came to class with uncooked spaghetti, tape, and string. We were intrigued to say the least. Dr. Meade put us into groups and gave us a challenge to build the tallest structure. Through what some may consider a silly activity we began to learn about group dynamics and how we can cultivate a group that will have success. All the students were invested in the activity and were able to gain insight from Dr. Meade about communication in group work.
Dr. Meade is a master teacher because she has honed the skill of balancing the classroom. She will come to class well prepared with anecdotes and images that support the concepts she’s teaching and will mix in classroom and group discussion to allow for students to learn through doing. Dr. Meade makes the classroom personal. She is quick to share experiences from her life that communicate the victory and losses about the things we are learning. Even more so, she invites students to share their own stories that relate to the class.
Dr. Meade also made herself available to us and even counseled me through making a decision about my major. She would often ask a question such as “What have you learned?” or “What has been your favorite thing we have learned?” Dr. Meade has her finger on the pulse of her students and is incredibly receptive to the needs of her students. As a future educator, I plan to implement the same skills and habits as Dr. Meade.
Sincerely,
J.T. 2021
Communication in a Diverse World Honors Comments
Communication in a Diverse World Honors Comments
The honors section of the course offers more advanced readings and more student led discussions. In addition, students work in groups on a final honors project.
Dr. Meade is a wonderful professor. My favorite parts of this course were the weekly Friday honors discussions and the big group project. I've never had a group project that I've been this excited for. Working with other honors students in the environment provided by this course has been such a wonderful opportunity. 2020
I also really liked the final honors project. It pushed me past my limits and I learned a lot about my topic, communicating in a group, and the importance of communication in this world. 2020
Lessons from breakup songs
Lessons from breakup songs
In Communication in a Diverse World, I teach students the model of relational disengagement. As a fun way to anchor the concepts, I made this YouTube video of popular break up songs. Students get in groups and try to match the break up song to each phase of relational dissolution.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Activity
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Activity
I made this video for a High Impact Practices Conference. In this video, I share an in-class activity where students discuss words that might be sensitive to a particular group. This activity is one that I do in the Communication in a Diverse World class.
An unsolicited email from a former student
My computer still sends me weekly messages reminding me my "folder is due by 5pm tomorrow" every Thursday. I refuse to mark this notification as completed simply because it makes me smile each time I see it. I thoroughly enjoyed your class last semester, most of all, the guidance you provided. You were the first class I took in college- so a lot of my expectations were to be set by your course. Although I presented myself with a cheesy smile and was covered in Razorback gear, I was totally nervous. We all were, naturally. College is scary when you're hours away from any friends or family. I was recently reminded of a phrase you told us during the first week:
"Live in the now, be where you're at."
My mother has echoed this phrase countless times over the past few months. She recently sent it to me over a text to remind me of what I am doing for myself- and I figured I'd share the importance of it. I believe that college has allowed me to find myself, and a lot of that is indebted to you. During your first week of actual lectures, you asked the class how you were aware that you had gained your attention mid-lecture. The entire class was silent. I looked at you and put two fingers on my chin and rotated my head to signify my answer as "the audience will tilt their head in interest." I did this very subtly, afraid that my answer would be wrong. You then turned to my side of the classroom and copied the exact motion that I had just done, followed by a roar of realization from the class. Oddly enough, that was the moment your quote clicked. I am at a prestigious school surrounded by professors, such as yourself, who actively want to see me succeed. I have nothing to be afraid of- as my not speaking out was the only "wrong answer" I could get. Even if I was nowhere near the right solution, there was nothing to be ashamed of as I was on pace with it. I needed to be where I am at, and take advantage of the resources in front of me. When in mid-November Mullins library hosted an "Americans and the Holocaust" panel discussion, I thought of your quote and how it applied to me right then and there. I had been offered to play video games and get Whataburger with my friends, but that wouldn't be living in the now. Living in the NOW would be to go to a powerful, heart-touching experience that I may only have the opportunity to see once in my life. I attended the event and was moved by the testimonies of victims and researchers- something I will remember forever. I have countless other stories of friends I've made, places I've been, and lessons I've learned by living in the now. I am taking advantage of enrichment opportunities I would've never thought possible- all of which tie back to my 8:35am communication class. I don't believe "thank you" is enough, but I hoped it would land in your heart somewhere.
I apologize for sending such an essay on a Thursday night, but I felt moved to let you know tonight. What are your office hours? I would love to catch up whenever you're available next week.
Last Day of Class Selfie
Last Day of Class Selfie
Creating Community
During COVID
Creating Community
During COVID
One of the sections that I taught had 150 students and was in a large lecture hall. Since I am committed to student to student interaction, I designed the course so that every Friday, they had discussion groups where they wrestled with controversial topics related to the week's content.
It was especially important for me to help students make connections during COVID so they could develop and maintain important communication skills.
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