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CAS 560 – Theory Construction

Students Teaching Students

In coordination with an undergraduate-run organization called Students Teaching Students, CAS department faculty members mentor exemplary students who develop and teach 1-credit courses on a variety of subjects that advance expertise in communication and its role in public life. This semester, Associate Teaching Professor Lori Bedell is supporting undergraduates Kara Miller (who was in Lori’s RCL course a few years back) and Jess Strait as they teach a course titled “Period Talk: The Impact of Stigma on the Menstrual Equity Movement.”
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CAS 560 – Theory Construction

CAS 560 examines the nature and substance of social scientific theory as it applies to understanding and explaining human communication.  This course introduces students to research paradigms, and therefore considers questions of ontology (the nature of being), epistemology (ways of knowing), axiology (the role of a theorist’s values), and methodology (the procedures for investigation).  Students will learn how to build and evaluate social scientific theories, while also learning about prominent theories in communication science.

Course Objectives

CAS 560 is intended to help students become expert in the philosophical issues surrounding theory construction and acquire the skills to build and evaluate communication theory.