Program in Communication, Technology and Political Culture

College of Arts & Sciences: School of Communications, Departments of Speech Communication and Political Science

College of Engineering: Department of Technical Communication

This program is a joint proposal from the the Arts & Sciences' School of Communications, Departments of Speech Communication and Political Science, and the College of Engineering's Department of Technical Communication. It will draw on the complementary strengths of these four units--and eventually others with shared interests--to develop a new, interdisciplinary graduate program in Communication, Technology and Political Culture. It will offer integrated theoretical and research perspectives on the ways in which communication and its supporting technologies shape the life of contemporary societies. We will also develop undergraduate programs in Political Communication and in the Social Impact of Technology. We expect to provide a common administrative structure for faculty to organize integrated curricula, collaborative teaching and research, and shared facilities.

Contact:

Anthony Giffard
Director, School of Communications
giffard@u.washington.edu

Barbara Warnick
Chair, Department of Speech Communication
barbwarn@u.washington.edu

Lance Bennett
Professor, Department of Political Science
lbennett@u.washington.edu

Judy Ramey
Chair, Department of Technical Communication
jramey@u.washington.edu

Allocation:

$386,657

Date Funded:

October 1998

PROGRESS REPORT, October 1999:

We are happy to announce the debut of the website for the Tools for Transformation project on the Interdisciplinary Study of Communication at UW.

The units involved in the communications Tools for Transformation initiative - the School of Communications and the departments of Political Science, Speech Communication and Technical Communication - have made considerable progress toward meeting their goal of strengthening the study of communication at the UW, while achieving greater administrative efficiency.

Most of the year has been occupied with planning. We began with wide-ranging discussions, involving faculty and students at all levels, to identify common interests and areas where it would be of mutual benefit to cooperate, under the general rubric of Communication, Technology and Political Culture. This effort included weekly seminars in Autumn and Winter quarters, at which faculty in the four departments presented examples of their research. These drew large audiences, and spurred some stimulating discussions. The series culminated in a graduate seminar in Spring Quarter that brought nationally and internationally known speakers to campus. The visitors also spoke to more general campus audiences, usually attracting several dozen people from a broad range of disciplines.

We examined the existing course offerings in each department, grouping them into coherent fields and identifying what gaps we needed to fill and where we could achieve efficiencies by eliminating redundancies. We also looked at what was being offered in other units on campus and how peer institutions are structuring their own communications programs.

We set up committees to develop interdisciplinary studies in two undergraduate fields and one graduate program.

Political Communication:
The undergraduate committee on political communication recommended that we begin by offering a concentration that would facilitate interdisciplinary breadth within current departmental majors by offering students a structured and coherent path of study. Faculty in all four participating units have approved the concentration, which has the potential to develop into a major. Several students already have singed up for Fall Quarter. We are still working on how best to recognize their participation on student transcripts.

Communication/Information Technologies and Society:
The Undergraduate Committee on Technology and Society proposed creation of a minor that would develop analytical skills which could be applied to new technologies and their impact on society. Faculty in three of the units already have signed off on the program, which probably will be submitted to the College Curriculum Committee this summer. The minor could be up and running by Fall or Winter Quarter.

Communication, Technology and Political Culture:
After examining several options the graduate committee on communication, technology and political culture recommended that we develop, in the first instance, interdisciplinary field concentrations. The intention is to identify those sub-fields of communication studies where there is a critical mass of talent across units, and to organize coherent curriculum structures that also would encourage collaborative research.

Facilities and Equipment:
A facilities committee has examined what the departments need individually and collectively to implement the Tools for Transformation initiative. The committee analyzed the facilities and equipment required for instruction and research. Pooling, rather than duplicating resources, has resulted in significant cost savings.

All of these efforts should be regarded as exploratory - a cautious first step toward closer collaboration among the units involved, and possibly others on campus. We will see what works and build from there.

PROGRESS REPORT, October 2000

The Tools for Transformation proposal made jointly by the School of Communications and the Departments of Political Science, Speech Communication, and Technical Communication and funded in autumn 1998, requested funding for the development of collaborative programs in Communication, Technology, and Political Culture. During the past two years, we have succeeded in developing five new programs and interdisciplinary curricula.

The initiatives described in our original proposal have come to fruition in the form of new courses, new curricula, improved facilities, and platforms for further program development and administrative cooperation. Specifically, the results of our work have taken the form of:

Development of Ph.D. concentrations in Political Communication, Technology and Society, and Communication and Culture;
Approval by the Faculty Council on Academic Standards of the undergraduate Political Communication Option;
Acceptance by the Faculty Council on Academic Standards of the minor in Communication/Information Technologies and Society;

Undergraduate Studies

Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Minor in Communication/Information Technologies and Society
The minor includes four areas of interest. "New Media" includes the convergence of traditional media with electronic media. "The Virtual Society" considers computer-mediated communication. "Electronic Civic Discourse" is communication in the online public sphere, including political activism. "Communication, Information Technology and Public Policy" will consider specific policy issues.

Political Communication
The program is organized much like a major, with sequences of courses that enable students to find a coherent interdisciplinary curriculum across departmental boundaries. The four components recommended to students are: discipline foundations, theory and methods, institutional and social contexts, and advanced political communication.

Graduate Studies
The interdisciplinary Ph.D. program features three new area concentrations:

Ph.D. Concentration in Political Communication
Political communication examines how the ways people communicate influence political life, civic culture, and smaller communities and organizations. In turn, politics and government shape the media institutions. Ph.D. students in the Political Communication concentration will conduct original research, working alongside faculty to gain first-hand experience.

Ph.D. Concentration in Technology and Society
The concentration in Technology and Society studies the impact of technology on society. One block of courses provides a number of theoretical perspectives from which to consider the interactions of technologies and society. Another block focuses on policy and policy-making related to technologies. A third block addresses the social and cultural dimensions of technology use. A fourth block examines technological artifacts and practices such as the design of various forms of Internet communication.

Ph.D. Concentration in Communication and Culture
The concentration in Communication and Culture is concerned with the variety of ways that humans communicate in and across social groups and communities. It encompasses verbal and nonverbal codes in naturally occurring interactions as well as in experimental, electronic, and text-based contexts. The concentration draws course work from the graduate offerings of each of the cooperating units and then combines these into an integrated program of study.

Facilities and Equipment
The $187,900 originally budgeted for facilities and equipment has been leveraged across a variety of sources such as the Student Technology Fee, enabling us to create a more sophisticated instructional and research environment. The infrastructure of the partnering units has been improved markedly, including new equipment and higher speed networks.

Additional Outcomes
Developing the new interdisciplinary programs has produced an unanticipated result in that the College of Arts and Sciences has entered into serious discussions about the amalgamation of the School of Communications and the Department of Speech Communication. Faculty representing the two units are developing plans for such a move, with preliminary recommendations due by the end of autumn quarter. After further discussion, the two units will vote on whether to accept a plan for a new, combined unit. If the plan is approved, implementation is expected in autumn 2001.

Primary responsibilities for coordinating the research, learning and outreach activities of the Center are shared by the faculty and students in the School of Communications, the Departments of Political Science, Speech Communication and Technical communication and the School of Public Affairs. More information is available on the CCCE Web site: http://www.depts.washington.edu/ccce.

Tools for Transformation Funded Proposals