Introduction to Human Communication is the beginning of your communication journey at ASU. The class explores basic theories and concepts of human interaction and behavior. The coursework aims to give students opportunities to improve themselves, become better global citizens and develop skills they’ll use in their professional careers.
As artistic director of the venue The Empty Space, Jennifer Linde serves as advisor, script consultant and director for performances presented by faculty and undergraduate and graduate students. She has also participated in the design and development of ASU’s Civil Dialogue sessions, which are meant to foster civil communication when discussing controversial topics.
Linde has developed and taught performance studies courses relating to communication and creativity, oral interpretation of literature, performance theory and civil communication. She’ll guide students through COM 100 by bringing not only her communications experience to the table, but also her performance and artistic experience.
This course surveys communication topics related to culture, gender, identity, organizations and relationships through online lectures, discussions and reading materials. The course provides an overview of many of the specialty areas within the communication studies discipline: intercultural, interpersonal, organizational, media studies, performance studies and rhetoric.
Linde believes the class teaches invaluable life lessons.
“Employers list communication as one of the most important skills they’re looking for in people,” she says. “COM 100 enables students to take something academic and connect it to their personal lives. So all of a sudden, they understand things they’ve been doing their entire life — like tying their shoes — much more deeply.”
By the end of the course, students can expect to be better communicators and listeners, and to have a greater knowledge of nonverbal communication, intercultural communication and conflict negotiation.
“All of these things will make a difference, because students will not only use them as they go through their course of study here at Arizona State University, they’ll also take them out into the world, back to work, to their families and to their conversations with their friends,” Linde says.
