COMM 100 Human Communication Communication When do you

COMM 100: Human Communication

Communication • • When do you communicate? What do you communicate? Why do you communicate? When do you stop communicating? Can you choose not to communicate?

Origins of Communication Studies As an idea, communication has two origins. • First origin—classical antiquity: • Greek antiquity: • Plato—philosophical rhetoric • Aristotle—rhetoric proper • Middle ages: • Peter Ramus—classical education and the trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric) • Thomas Aquinas—rhetoric and religion

Origins of Communication Studies • Second origin—modern era • Early modern • • 16 th century: word communication enters the English lexicon Latin root—communicare (to share). Communication is about sharing meaning. The purpose of communication is “bridge the looming abyss between self and other” • Late modern • 19 th/20 th century: advances in communication (telegraph, telephone) • Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver (Bell Labs)—model of communication

Transactional Model of Communication • Source/receiver • Encoding/decoding • Message • Channel • Feedback • Feedforward • Noise • Context

Principles of Communication • Communication: • • is purposeful. involves choices. is ambiguous. involves content and relationships. exists within networks of power. is punctuated is inevitable, irreversible, and unrepeatable. • You cannot communicate!

Group Discussion In groups of about 5, please discuss the following items: 1. Briefly describe yourself as a communicator. 2. Identify and explain one area that you feel need improvement. 3. Identify two or three things you’d like to improve in the area that you identified. Try to make them goals that you might be able to accomplish over the course of the semester.

The Paper Telephone Game

Journal 1 • Which communication model best describes your communication patterns? Analyze a recent interaction (phone conversation, text message, face-to-face, email interchange, etc. ) you’ve had with someone important to you. Apply the elements of the communication model to it. What insights can you draw from this? • When you have finished writing your journal, be ready to discuss it in a small group. • Small groups should be ready to share their observations with the class.