Welcome to the Managerial Communication faculty development blog. In this online area we will work towards three main objectives.
The first is to develop the content of the COM3068 course: Managerial Communication. The second is to create a teaching and learning space for all faculties interested and or teaching the Com3068 courses. The third is to have a creative workspace where faculty can explore and experiment with different areas of pedagogy and content for the com3068 course.
Hopefully it will be a place where non-judgmental feedback and resources are readily available and helpful for full time or adjunct faculty. Please join in the discussion and explore the different pages and categories…
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Bob and Jana, could one of you share with Suzanne and Linda the ‘story’ behind why 3068 is called ‘managerial communication’? I think both of you have told me various stories about this class originally being called ‘organizational communication’ but then needing to be changed due to enrollment issues, etc.
Baruch Catalog Course Description
“This course introduces the study of managerial communication within complex organizations through a review of recent theoretical contributions, empirical findings, and methodological advances in the field of organizational communication.”
Building on this description, we thought we’d start to develop a more detailed course philosophy with respect to: theoretical contributions, empirical findings and methodological advances.
Here’s a start . . .
3068 “Working” Course Philosophy
This course is designed to share with students the power of communication, language and social interaction in the workplace and about work in broader society.
Four key values shape this class:
1.History: To understand organizational life today, students need a sense of history. The language of organizational life is a product of a multitude of historical meanings about public and organizational life as well as the private sphere. That is, how we talk about and experience organizational life cannot be isolated from larger historical societal meanings and their historical residue. For example, to understand why we talk about particular types of work as ‘feminized’ (i.e., nursing, daycare, etc.), we have to look at the historical development of gendered meanings for domestic work and caring. This is only one example. But, to the extent possible, recognizing how history shapes contemporary communication, language and social interaction at work should be recognized.
2. Diversity: We strive to represent a variety of organizational experiences through class readings, activities, and/or assignments. Rationale: As future managers in any corporate environment today, our students must understand that employees’ communication experiences are not all the same. To be an effective manager, students must reflect on their own attitudes and experiences as well as ‘others’ different from themselves. While various factors affect these experiences, race, gender, class, sexual orientation, religion, and/or ability are key social locations. Incorporating this value into the classroom can happen in various ways, depending on the instructor’s interests and/or expertise. While putting a ‘diversity’ chapter on the syllabus is one way to represent various voices, more fully integrating varying work experiences throughout the topics discussed in class may allow for the mainstreaming of diversity rather than its marginalization in the curiculum.
3. Technology: So many organizational and managerial communication experiences in today’s organizations (and about organizational life, such as ‘IBMers’ communicating on Facebook) are mediated through new social media. We do our students a disservice not integrating both the topic of technology but also the use of various social media to deliver course content. We strive to provide cutting edge technological experinces in the 3068 classroom as well as allow for critical reflection on new social media.
4. Ethics: We live in an organizational environment embedded in ethical debates and the consequnces of unethical workplace behaviors. While ‘teaching’ ethics per se is a difficult charge, bringing up the ethical dimensions of organizationl and managerial communication practices is essential. Giving students a forum for critically thinking about the positive and negative consequnces of communication practices is a valuable part of this class.
This values are ‘working’ ideas. Please amend, add, edit, etc. If there are reasons why you don’t belive one of these values should be included, please argue why. If you have examples of how you have embraced these values in your own 3068 class, please add. Let’s just use this list as the beginning of the conversation.
I look forward to hearing all of your thoughts in the coming week.
Take care, Caryn